Sunday, June 8, 2014

NC Maker Fair 2014

Wow. It's been a long time since I last posted. I won't lie. I did kinda give up on this blog for a while... and pretty much any extraneous writing at all. 

The weight of things to keep up with was just too much for me. I even toyed with the idea of letting it go (a phrase heard way too much around here lately!). 

To enumerate all of the things that transpired this Spring would take me quite a while. Let me just say that I haven't been that stressed and overburdened with worry and commitments since we first started homeschooling eight years ago.

We have come to the lovely month of June, however, and I can finally breathe a bit, take stock, and reevaluate our lives. I have thought of my poor languishing blog but just couldn't face it until now.

It is odd what will point a person in a particular direction, and what has pointed me back here is the fact that we went to the Maker Fair yesterday. Yes, just a local event that was a ton of fun, and I have this tremendous need to share our experience with you and way too many pictures for Facebook or email!












I posted about this event last year

Most of the same organizations from last year were there this year as well, but there were some new things and well as the old things. The Fair got so big last year that they moved into a larger building at the Fairgrounds this time around, which was very nice. A little more elbow room made the experience a little less stressful. We had a lot of fun last year, but I was never one to love crowds. Also, it's easier to see what is on the tables if they are spread out a little bit.

There was a nice article in the local paper about it this morning here. However, I must say that the N&O is being very annoying and requiring an account to view it.

Let me just show you some of the stuff we did...


We met many friends while we were there. There was a large cross-section of homeschoolers in the building for various reasons. This is my son with his friend and a Chinese yoyo. They both love playing with these things.



We saw many, many 3D printers. It seems to be the technology of the moment.


Some students from NC State had rigged a "hot wire" that cut through styrofoam like it was nothing. Strangely fascinating to do.


Bike racing. Wait for the green light and peddle like mad!



Costumes for geeks.



My son found a Space Shuttle simulator. It had sound, lights, vibration and lots of cool buttons to push, flip or turn. It also had video and a joystick. Outside was a panel for "Mission Control". I think the maker was possibly showing it to see if anyone wanted to pay him to make them one.


The guy around the corner from this made puppets. They were SO COOL!





Meanwhile, my daughter really loves to spend time, lots of time, at particular tables making things. Last year she went right to the comic book table and made a little black and white comic book which took her almost a half an hour to do. This year she ended up at a table called "MAY DIT". First she made some word-find puzzles that she printed out, and then she made a sign that was then printed onto sticky vinyl and cut out. The sign is now stuck to her bedroom door.






Many people in our local homeschool group have gotten heavily into First Lego League. We have a group called Wake Robotics which has been expanding and is now trying to drum up money to move into a new space. They had a very large interactive space this year to both demonstrate some of the robots that were built this year and to showcase some fun activities for kids of all ages.



We discovered something called MaKey MaKey's, which are little kits you can order to do fun little activities with electronics. This one uses potatoes to play whack-a-mole. Also on my buying list are Snap Circuits and possibly littleBits. They both give kids some experience with building electronics and understanding how energy flows and how things are built... though my husband is more in favor of a good old fashioned radio set.


What's a good Geek-fest without a few robots? We had both real and imagined.



Robot hockey... my son's favorite thing. Too bad we didn't get there soon enough to get his name on the list to drive one. Competitions started on the hour throughout the day.
Also, a tesla coil.

Video games, both old and new. I think this one is called Frogger? Remember it from the arcade days.:/

 Homemade hovercraft rides.





 On the historical and sci-fi end of things, there was the Society for Creative Anachronism doing spinning and calligraphy. We had guys dressed up in Medieval costumes doing sword demonstrations, and we had the Steampunk aficionados showing off some of their costume and set creations.










Arts and crafts included paper creations, textiles, fairy doors and homes, knitting and weaving, jewelry creations, and my favorite, glass blowing.











This was a fascinating mix of art and science. Glass creations made to order, often for scientific purposes. It was so fun to watch. 


There were way more displayers than what I have mentioned here, of course. This post is too long as it is, and we didn't even see many of the tables. 

If you have a Maker Fair in you area, I highly recommend taking a day to explore. There are so many things to see and discover.







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