Making Art - Itty Bitty Infant Maker

This is the beginning of the making. 9 months old. Making art.

Making Squishy Circuits

I originally found the idea for squishy circuits in the book Design Make Play. Squishy circuits are constructed from two different playdoh recipes. One which allows electricity to flow through it (conductor) and one which does not (an insulator). Recipes for both types can be found here 

 http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/howTo.htm

My itty bitty maker helped me make the dough. She likes to spoon out ingredients and stir them up. And then she got to knead the dough. I colored the conducting dough green (go!) and the insulating dough red (stop!). We then connected a battery to the dough and started putting in our LEDs. LEDs are directional. This means that they only allow current to flow in one direction, so if it doesn't light up right away, try turning the LED around. 

Making a Butterfly Box at the SLO Mini Maker Faire

We went to the San Luis Obispo Mini Maker Fair earlier this year. It's tiny compared to the Bay Area Maker Fair and was probably just the right size for our Itty Bitty Maker. She got to check out all the exhibits and had time to go to the Children's Museum. 

The pictures below are of her favorite booth - building a butterfly box - and some pictures of the cocoon and of the day the butterfly emerged and we let her (or him) free. 

The box was a shoebox with a screen on top. The children decorated it with pieces of paper. 

Another fun booth for her was a sewing circuits booth. Vivi picked out fabric and we made a patch (two layers of conductive fabric, separated by a non-conductive fabric) with an LED that lights when a safety pin goes through the fabric, completing the circuit.

Making things at Home Depot Kids' Workshops

On the first Saturday of each month, we are usually at Home Depot. They have a Kids' Workshop (targeted for ages 5 and up) where kids get to build and paint projects. We have found that, with help, this itty bitty maker does just fine. At first mom or dad did all the hammering and our itty bitty maker just did the painting. Now, we start the nails for her and she gives them a few whacks and then she does all the painting (and color schemes) herself.

What I love most is her pride in making things. We have her completed projects hanging on the wall or (for the cars) in her toy bins. She loves seeing them and tells us, "I made that!" We now have a birdhouse, picture frame, valentine holder, pencil holder, firetruck, herb planter, and 2 cars -- all made by our itty bitty maker.

Introducing the Itty Bitty Maker

This is the Itty Bitty Maker.

She's two years old (and a few months). She has quite a few making skills already. She can paint anything (her own belly is her specialty), hammer a nail, stick stickers on paper, stack blocks, build with legos, tear paper, break crayons, rapid prototyping with playdoh.

Itty Bitty Maker

The Maker Movement is taking off. People are making things at Maker Faires, in school, at home. The folks at Make Magazine started (or at least named it and added some momentum) the movement for adults. But as I've been watching my toddler grow and learn and investigate new materials, I realize she (and probably all little children) is a maker.

Recently this has become obvious to everyone around, because she learned and loves the phrase "I made that!" In this blog, I intend to chronicle the making adventures of my itty bitty maker.