Mini Northside Maker Faire is today!

The Mini Maker Faire on Chicago's North side is today from 10am-4pm!  Yes, Cinco de Mayo is also synonymous with crazy technological fun!

If you've never been to Maker Faire before you are in for a treat.  

The Schurz High School at 3601 N. Milwaukee Avenue (Milwaukee and Addison) gets taken over by Makers- craftsmen, artists, engineers, scientists, and hobbyists that have been creating cool things all year, and here's your chance to see what they do, how they do it, and how you can do it. You can ask questions, try stuff out, poke, prod, and share tips.

We've been to the big one in NY a few times, and the one here (while obviously not as big in scope) is in someways better.  They don't have as many cool bells and whistles (Have I told you about the Giant Life Sized Game of MouseTrap?)  but BECAUSE the scale is smaller, you get more time to ask questions and look around.  And the people who are exhibiting have been waiting for this all year, and can't wait to share their passion and knowledge with you.

You can learn to make ice cream, fly a drone, learn to pick locks, check out the latest in 3-D printing, and see all kinds of cool hacks, old-school technology, and just plain weird fun stuff.  

It's STEM and STEAM on Steroids.

It's free to attend (although there is a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for kids to keep the thing going) 

To see a complete list of exhibitors, see here:  https://chicagonorthside.makerfaire.com/makers-2/makers-exhibits/

To find out more in general.  Visit their website: 

https://chicagonorthside.makerfaire.com/

See you at the Maker Faire!

GreenApple Campus Camp-- Cool Contraptions

I thought we were all set for camp this summer, but then I heard from a friend of ours about a camp (GreenApple® Campus) that seemed too good to not try. When I read the descriptions of the classes to my son, he just about cried with joy.

As devoted readers will remember, my son is very excited by the Maker Movement.  We've been to a number of Maker Faires, and a couple of years ago, he was all about building mousetraps and Rube Goldberg machines after we saw the Life Sized Mousetrap  at Maker Faire NY.

VIDEO OF THE LIFESIZE MOUSETRAP:

THE FIRST INTERATION OF AA'S MEDIUM SIZED MOUSETRAP.

These machines continue to fascinate.  So it's no surprise that my  son will be attending the GreenApple® Campus class COOL CONTRAPTIONS.  This invention based program is all about building contraptions, vehicles and machines that move. Gears, beams, pulleys, wheels, axles, pieces that snap and flex.  All of the kind of gizmos that will inspire the aspiring Rube Goldberg. (And will hopefully inspire him to use up the buckets and boxes of springs, cardboard tubes, rubber bands, and various detritus that he refuses to throw out!)

GreenApple® Campus is an educational not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Their mission is to inspire the innovators of the future through creative, challenging STEM or STEAM programs for kids. All of the classes, programs, and workshops feature some combination of science, technology, engineering, math, architecture, design, and invention.  Classes are offered in robotics, programming and app development, tinkering and making.  (And there are also some Lego robotics and Minecraft modeling classes!)

They also have an entrepreneurship startup program called Startup to Achieve for kids grades 6-9 that brings you the basics of being an entrepreneur (and very cool, one of those sessions is Just For Girls, so that gender stereotypes about girls and science won't be fulfilled.)

In the Chicagoland area, GreenApple® Campus has 4 locations, plus the StartUp to Achieve program is in a couple of different places.  Go to their schedule page to find out where their classes are offered and which classes are offered when.  They've got a lot of classes available, and I'm sure one of them will be right for your tech-hungry child.

DISCLOSURE:  We are being provided free tuition at GreenApple® Campus in order to try the camp out.  As always my opinions and my son's unfettered desire to build cool contraptions are our own.  I take my critical reputation seriously, and so should you.