before I get too far into iterations and troubleshooting… Because I am doing a Family Night at a racetrack for a local non-profit, I thought to make a couple of toy dragsters with interchangeable wheels for kids to experiment with {change wheel size, change weight…} I am thinking acrylic or wood for some parts and… Read more »

A colleague asked if you could laser a functional QR code onto anodized aluminum. I replied yes, even though I had not done that before. I remember seeing people talk about doing it. So i ordered some blanks, 10 business card size for $10 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H752BRS ). I did a little research and found a variety… Read more »

On Saturday, we went to the Dimension Mill to participate in their Lemonade Day event. There were booths about the many facets of having a Lemonade Stand : health/sanitation, budgeting, marketing, business pitch, customer service, and registering your stand for the online map. Our stand was about making a popsicle stick model of a stand…as… Read more »

On May 25th & 26th, the Collaboration of Shoals, Orleans, and Mitchell Schools (COSMOS) got together and held a Maker Camp for 45 students in grades 3-5 (15 from each school), from 9 am to 12 pm. We plotted and planned for weeks. We had 3 sessions each day, for about 45 minutes each. We… Read more »

We have done a few little things lately. We partnered with the STEM to Them Bus at MCCSC to hold some Maker Mondays at Bloomington Graduation School. We took in the laser, a couple of Cricuts and a couple of 3D printers. We had a mini lesson for each one week, then had open lab… Read more »

Do you think your kids (any age) would like making elements for a Fairy Garden around school? I have one near my Little Free Library at home. So I thought, how might this be another opportunity for creativity, and maybe some whimsy, in school. I don’t know where I am going to put this. My… Read more »

I was playing with a couple of designs for the laser. One is a trinket for an upcoming Maker Camp. The other is using periodic table blocks to spell out STEAM (you cant spell STEM….no element symbols for that combo). The trinket was the reminder that not all SVG’s are the same. A colleague sent… Read more »

Tinkercad ( tinkercad.com )  is an awesome browser based, free site, where you can design for #3Dprinting, code for design, and create circuit emulations, and most recently, some “physics simulations” with gravity and your designs. A few weeks ago i posted about importing custom fonts into it. There is also a “script” font – use… Read more »

Last week was some pollinator work with students. We were at Washington Community Schools Primary school for a few days working with 9 First grade teachers and 180 students. We discussed bugs and flowers and what they needed to survive. Many students knew lots of things, so usually we asked a question and someone shared… Read more »

Someone wanted to do some learning experiences with circular motion so my mind first went to making tops. Obviously we could make them from recycled materials & junk, or even some actual hardware (like bolts or eye screws). But Eric Steele had just shared “Grandchild Gift” on Cuttle to laser cut a Spinning Top. I… Read more »