I want to let you know about a fun, educational, & interactive event going on all weekend:


Mikko and I have gone for several years now to this event created by Make Magazine, but this is the first year it's at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, making it super easy to get to — and FREE! (Best part!)

So I wanted to share so you get a chance to attend. If you have a mini inventor or scientist or gadgeteer in your house (like our future engineer — I'm calling it!), you'll have a great time.

Here's a little video diary of the joy we had yesterday:


The fun continues Saturday & Sunday at a Barnes & Noble near you, so find the full schedule of presentations and DIY opportunities at your local B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/makerfaire


Meet the makers of cool robots, see demonstrations of exciting new tech, and do your own making in the collaboration space.

I am getting absolutely no sweet, sweet maker dough for promoting this faire — we just always have a good time, and I'm delighted it's so easy to attend this year.

Yesterday evening, we got to see Sphero the rolling robot and Meccanoid, a voice-programmable one. We watched a 3D printer and saw the interior honeycomb results. We met the makers of an R2-D2-like unit (that rolled around and "talked" to us!), painstakingly sculpted Power Rangers helmets, and 3D-imaged cosplay figurines.

In the Make & Collaborate space in the children's book section, we got to play with Lego Bionicle, Snap Circuits, littleBits Electronics, and Colossal Paper Machines. (We need us some littleBits, let me tell you.)

And, being at a bookstore and all, we walked away with some books (about dinosaurs for Mikko and My Little Pony for Alrik) and used our cool 20% off discount for being homeschoolers! We even found some YouTube and Minecraft books we'll need to buy next, and then we hung out in the café to read about whether T. Rex was a hunter or a scavenger. (Wouldn't you like to know!) If you're a homeschooling parent (or a traditional teacher), make sure you sign up for the educator's discount — it was super easy. They got us our card right at the register, piece o' cake. Hooray for homeschooling!

In so many ways! I love these laid-back, kid-centric ways to learn.

Hope you also get to enjoy some MAKING this weekend!

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