This Week in Making: Teach Kids to Create, Capture a GIF with a Polaroid, and More

Thingamatink

Industrial designer Erin Fong and writer/illustrator Kayla Taron seek to inspire kids of all ages to face the fear of failure through creativity. They designed, Thingamatink, a book and toy pairing, to do just that. You may remember seeing them at Maker Faire Bay Area these past two years. They won Editor’s Choice in 2016 and Educator’s Choice in 2017.

The blanket can transform into numerous shapes. To accompany the blanket, kids also have access to a picture book that tells the story of a young inventor who uses his own origami-inspired blanket on an adventure that is filled with both mistakes and triumphs.

Together, this blanket and book will help the next generation of makers learn to accept failure as a necessary step on the path to success, and inspire them to creatively express themselves even at the cost of ridicule.

The duo are back in the news because they’ve been scheduled to appear on the second season of Toy Box, a kid-friendly toy-centered version of Shark Tank. Be sure to watch and support them!

WoodPatch

Ever wanted a cutesy design carved into a piece of wood? Well if you don’t have access to your own laser cutter, you could rely on WoodPatch. They deliver personalized wood carvings on commission, and specialize in providing carvings related to anime, cartoons, and comics.

Instagif NextStep

This polaroid camera captures GIFs. Called the Instagif NextStep, this camera was built by Imgur’s shekit. The camera appears to take a photo, when in actuality it records a short, three second video, converts that video file into a GIF, and ejects a little cartridge which displays the animated graphic. Cool huh?