Kids & Family

Big Weekend for Bay Area Young Makers

Big Weekend for Bay Area Young Makers

We have another two wonderful Young Maker/Open Make events happening in the San Francisco Bay Area Saturday, March 16. Just like last month, you’ll have to pick just one of these two happenings because they occur simultaneously on opposite ends of the Bay. Each offers a flurry of activity that starts at 10am and ends with an inspiring “meet-the-makers” panel discussion.

The events are at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose and Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. Each museum is also hosting a plussing session, where registered Young Makers can develop and finesse their projects for Maker Faire Bay Area.

Continue Reading Michelle "Binka" Hlubinka
Turnin’ Vermin into Learnin’

Turnin’ Vermin into Learnin’

Here’s a fun new take on 3D visualization and design: Make Your Own Gopher! Months ago, my colleagues and I were brainstorming the curricular connections we could make between making and high school coursework. Anatomy could be a rich area of overlap: students could laser cut slices of skulls and print mini skeleton models to have the kids explore skeletal structures, for example.

Dan Sudran, the executive director of Mission Science Workshop, was way ahead of us.

Continue Reading Michelle "Binka" Hlubinka
Making Movies with Kids

Making Movies with Kids

Anyone who has kids will, at one time or another, point a video camera (or smartphone) at them and make a little home movie. But how about getting kids involved in making movies? Bianca Giaever doesn’t have kids, but the young filmmaker has created a great short film called “The Scared is Scared,” based on a story invented by a six-year-old boy named Asa. Bianca’s questions and Asa’s often flip-flopping, cute-as-can-be answers form the narration of the movie. Bianca takes Asa’s imaginative story and brings it to life as he tells it. It’s clever, funny, and poignant. She offers advice on how to go about making a movie with kids.

Continue Reading Stett Holbrook8