How can we give more kids the opportunity to make things and bring them to exhibit at Maker Faire? That was the question asked first by Tony DeRose of Pixar, who realized how much he and his family enjoyed working on a project and exhibiting it at Maker Faire and wanted to help provide a similar opportunity for others.
The Trash to Treasure contest for kids recently wrapped up with a weekend of making for the three teen winners at Continuum’s offices near Boston. Daniel, MaryAnn and Lily all submitted text and image entries of their devices intended to make use of recycled materials that would make an improvement for others.
My local library picked up on the festive trend of Cardboard Tube Fighting.
The Boston Globe covered the preparations:
The group discovered cardboard tube fighting last summer in time to incorporate a bit of it into a presentation on Greek mythology at a reading program party.
The weapons are cylindrical pieces of thick cardboard about 4 feet long. The appeal, explains young-adult librarian Ellen Snoeyenbos: “It’s totally ridiculous.”
As word of mock combat with reliably harmless weaponry spread among the town’s youthful warriors, Snoeyenbos and the Bookmarks seized on the fund-raiser as a chance to exploit their discovery of the fighting fad made popular by YouTube.
Saturday’s event will feature one-on-one tournaments, guild-on-guild skirmishes (up to 10 fighters per team), “and an all-out battle for possession of the Royal Crown,” according to the club.
How-To: Felt Photo Frame by Diane Gilleland Show off your favorite photo in this crafty felt frame. (We used dreamy Edward Cullen from Twilight here, but you can use a photo of anyone you like.) There’s a handy clip on top, so you can attach it to your bag and carry it with you.
One teen said that today was the “best day of the entire school year.” He was enthralled with the “Make” guys and knows that he “wants to be those guys.” Thanks for getting one teenager very, very excited about the future.
