Pi Day 2015

Tags

3.14, Albert Einstein, CMNH, Dover, New Hampshire, nh, Pi, Pi Chain, Pi Day, Sarah Terry

Yesterday, March 14th, in addition to being Albert Einstein’s 136th birthday, was Pi Day. March 14th = 3.14 = Pi Day. Since Physicist Larry Shaw put together the first official Pi Day celebration in San Francisco back in 1988, the deliciously mathematical holiday has only grown exponentially in popularity.

Last year, we focused more on the delicious side of Pi Day festivities. This year? We got down to pi business. Because many of our visitors are still in elementary school, trying to explain pi exclusively with terms like “irrational number”, “mathematical constant” or “Madhava-Leibniz series” isn’t exactly the most fruitful plan of attack.

So how can you make the math fun? Multiplication? No problem. Geometrical shapes? Sure. But the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter? That’s a bit bigger of a fraction to follow!

Enter Museum Educator Sarah Terry. I asked Sarah, who returned to CMNH at the end of 2014 after first joining our team in October of 2011, how she approached a subject that seems, on the surface, to be rather dry and difficult to build a day of fun around.

“I’ve always thought math was a lot of fun,” Sarah said. “There’s something so satisfying about working with problems and equations that can be solved. In the humanities, you don’t come across too many situations where there is a definitive right answer. It tends to be based on opinion. Well-reasoned and supported opinions, but still debatable. The rationality of mathematics always seemed comforting in comparison.”

But can Rational = Interesting? Can Rational = Fun? Sarah was confident it could be both.

“When you come across something like pi, which is an infinite number with no apparent pattern or repetition, it’s pretty mind-blowing,” admits Sarah. “How can something as crazy and enormous of a number that’s been calculated out thus far to over 12 trillion digits also be considered a mathematical constant? Every circle that has been or ever will be created will find that its circumference divided by its diameter will be pi. It’s unwieldy and baffling and I looked forward to coming up with activities that could show our visitors that things as awesome as pi actually make math – yes, math – pretty cool!”

Using CMNH’s Colorful Classroom space as her home base, Sarah taught visitors young and old about pi. Some had never heard of it. Some had learned about it in school but had forgotten the specifics. Some were wearing Pi Day shirts. Using a variety of colorful craft activities coupled with the promise that if you located her over the course of Pi Day and recited a fact about Pi, Sarah would paint the pi symbol on your cheek, visitors left yesterday with a newfound appreciation – and hopefully, enthusiasm – for the wild, wacky, infinite constant that is pi!

We hope you and your family had a Happy Pi Day and look forward to you spending Pi Day 2016 with us here at CMNH!

Circles, circles, everywhere!

“Pi lets us show off the oddball side of math and lets us stretch our imaginations,” Sarah said.

What’s a Pi Chain? Good question! Here’s the answer: 0-9 are each represented by a color. Following the order of numbers in pi, can you make an accurate chain that is correctly represented by the 10 colors? Can you make a longer Pi Day Pi Chain than your friends and family?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the streamers never rested from the continual recitation of pi!

 

 

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Dover Mini Maker Faire: Putting a Spotlight on NH Ingenuity

Tags

art, children's museum, creativity, Dover, Dover NH, exhibits, experimentation, families, Henry Law Park, learning, Maker Faire, making, New Hampshire, nh, problem solving, science, technology

New Hampshire is known for its “Yankee ingenuity, ” a place where generations have worked the land, manufactured goods and come up with creative solutions for reusing and repurposing materials. That spirit of making is alive today, and the Dover Mini Maker Faire is the place to find it. A hands-on festival for all ages, Maker Faire celebrates the thriving resourcefulness, innovation, creativity and forward-thinking technology that can be found in New Hampshire today.

On Saturday, August 23, the Dover Mini Maker Faire will take over downtown Dover, with four locations: upper and lower Henry Law Park, The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, and One Washington Mill. Maker Faire attendees will be able to experience everything from quad-copter launches to spinning yarn from wool … 3-D printing to vertical gardening … driving an underwater submersible to learning how to tie flies … making a paper circuit pin to finding out how to make Star Wars costumes, and much more.

Over 50 makers and groups of makers will be on-hand hosting interactive demos, hands-on projects, small talks and workshops designed to inspire and educate attendees between the ages of 3 and 93 as to a sampling of “making” that is happening in New Hampshire businesses, schools & universities, organizations, and garage workbenches throughout the state and beyond. From engineering and product design, to arts, crafts, technology and homesteading, Maker Faire is the place to be inspired and connect with your inner maker!

2014 marks the 2^nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire. The first Maker Faire was hosted in the Bay Area of California in 2006 as a place for makers to show what they made and share what they learned. In 2013, 100 independently-produced Mini (one day events) and Featured (2 or more day events) occurred around the World. In fact, this year’s Dover Mini Maker Faire is scheduled on the weekend between Sydney, Australia’s and Trondheim, Norway’s Faires. A licensed event through Maker Media, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is the host and coordinator of the Granite State’s only Maker Faire at this time.

In early 2012, the Museum began the process of becoming licensed to plan and host what would become the Dover Mini Maker Faire. “The Maker Faire concept was a perfect fit with the Museum’s focus on developing creative problem-solving skills and building a strong community focused on learning and collaboration,” says Jane Bard, Museum President. “What better way to shine a light on the innovation and creativity happening in NH but through the people, businesses, organizations and schools that are making that happen.”

In our increasingly complex world, the objects and technology that surround us can be intimidating and hard to understand. “There’s a growing distance between us and the world,” says Chris O’Brien from the LA Times. “We don’t know where our food comes from, how the energy we use gets made, and how to take apart our computer and fix it…The Maker Faire dares us to reverse that trend. And it inspires us to do that by gathering together thousands of people who embody that simple joy of creating things every day.”

Here is a sampling of the 55+ makers and maker activities scheduled to happen at this year’s August 23^rd Faire in Dover:

TOOOL – The Open Organization of Lockpickers – Teaching people to pick locks and understand how they work and why.

TDB Monsters – Focused around making creatures and characters out of discarded items and junk laying around. They create all sorts of other items, from a slithering bicycle, to jewelry made from almost nothing. Recycling objects is a major factor in what they do.

Port City MakerSpace and Manchester Makers – Projects and demonstrations by both organization’s members

Reproduction Retro Computers – Reproductions of Apple 1 and the SCELBI 8H computers. The Apple 1 is the first product of Apple. The SCELBI is the first personal computer, released in 1974, a full 2 years before the Apple 1.   There were around 200 of each system originally built. There are around 70 original Apple 1’s remaining. Original SCELBI computers are even scarcer, as there are only about a dozen original SCELBI’s known to exist. Both will running vintage computer software games from the 1970s. Users will be able to operate both computers.

EPLIS Comics – An all ages sci-fi action adventure comic book series. We’ll have a vendor table for our comics, and we’ll be doing two workshops: learn to draw cartoon characters, and how to create your own comics

3-D Printed Coins – Come make a fun maker crab coin or pin. You will be able to create a fun DIY project with a few materials.

Air Rocket Glider – Featured in MAKE issue #39. With its wings folded back, it launches on a blast of compressed air, on our new v2.0 Compressed Air Rocket launcher (CAR v2.0). When the ARG reaches apogee, the wings pop out for a gentle glide back to the ground.

Vertical Gardening by KinneBotanicals – Using long-lasting and environmentally friendly materials, they will demonstrate how to grow plants on walls instead of the floor, be they edible or ornamental. This method drastically reduces space requirements. It also adds an interesting aesthetic to any indoor or outdoor space.

Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House – 14 year old George Farrow’s passion for the past six years has been creating the Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House. This small attraction held in his parents’ garage every year focuses on using high quality detailed sets/scenics as well as computer controlled animatronics and spectacular sound and lighting. George will share some of the methods used to make his event come alive, such as foam carving/sculpting, carpentry, lighting/sound design, casting, molding, and more!

NEMO Equipment – This Dover-based company designs and manufactures outdoor equipment, tents, and shelters. Founded in 2002 NEMO Equipment has won numerous awards for its designs. Sold nationally around the US and in numerous other countries around the world, NEMO is recognized as a leader in outdoor equipment.

Automotive Technology – See how modern vehicles work! There will be demonstrations on the anatomy of an automotive wheel bearing, how Tire Pressure Monitoring systems work, and how modern computer systems measure air flow into the engine. Look inside the operating system of a modern vehicle to see what all the electronics do!

Advance tickets are now on sale for $10 and tickets at the gate will be $12. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.makerfairedover.com. For more information on the Dover Mini Maker Faire, please call 603-742-2002 or visit www.makerfairedover.com

Dover Mini Maker Faire returns on August 23, 2014

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is hosting the second annual Dover Mini Maker Faire in Dover, NH on Saturday, August 24, 2014. Last year’s event — the first-ever Maker Faire in New Hampshire — featured more than 50 makers and attracted over 1,200 attendees.

This year, the museum is working with community members and local organizations to develop an even more amazing day of invention and creativity! Makers and interested visitors can follow updates from Dover Mini Maker Faire on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Maker applications are available now and event tickets will be available later this spring. All details are available at http://www.makerfairedover.com.

ABOUT MAKER FAIRE:

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning.

Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

The original Maker Faire event was held in San Mateo, CA and in 2014 celebrated its ninth annual show with hundreds of makers and more than 100,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in five years to 500+ makers and 55,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Newcastle (UK), and Tokyo are the home of “featured” Maker Faires (200+ makers), and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires are now being produced around the United States and the world. Dover Mini Maker Faire is independently organized and operated under license from Maker Media, Inc.

About MAKE Magazine

MAKE is the first magazine devoted entirely to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology projects. MAKE unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will.

BESIDES THE MAGAZINE AND THE FAIRE, MAKE IS:

– a vital online stream of news and projects, blog.makezine.com;
– a retail outlet for kits and books, the Maker Shed;
– a steady stream of fun and instruction via our YouTube channel;- Make: Projects, a library of projects with step-by-step instructions
– a book publishing imprint with best-in-category titles on introductions to electronics, Raspberry Pi, Arduino and more.

Save the date for Dover Mini Maker Faire: Saturday, August 23, 2014 – we look forward to seeing you there!

When Ice is Nice

Tags

art, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, Dover, Family Fun, Henry Law Park, Ice Art, Muse Studio, Naturalist Study, New Hampshire, nh, science

Embracing the cold . . . all year long

The weather in New England is always interesting on any given day, but this winter has been especially memorable. When it’s not snowing close to two feet of snow causing people (and cars, buildings, Giant Blue Crabs, etc.) to be totally buried in the fluffy white stuff, it’s in the mid-50’s with families walking, jogging and playing outside.

At CMNH, we offer a safe and warm facility for families to enjoy – especially on those sub-zero Polar vortex days we’ve recently experienced. On moderate winter days, one of our favorite activities is guiding families into Henry Law Park in front of our building and creating Snow Art!

Our visitors use spray bottles full of non-toxic watercolor paint and water to decorate the landscape in Henry Law Park

But whether the weather is freezing, windy, hailing or sizzling, one of the most popular indoor activities we run at CMNH is Ice Art. When we set up larger Ice Art projects (consisting of several tubs of ice) they can be worked on in the Muse Studio, while our smaller ones (usually one tub with one large or several smaller pieces of ice) can be found in the Naturalist Study near the CochecoNature exhibit on the first floor of the museum.

Parents & children (and staff!) experiment with cups of colored saltwater to see how their actions affect the ice.

– Does the salt make the ice melt faster or slower?

– What is the advantage of using a pipette to administer the solution?

– Do colors mix the same way on ice/water as they do on paper?

– How does an items density affect how it freezes inside the ice?

– How much time do you think it will take to free a trapped treasure from the ice?

– How do you make stripes of color – or a rainbow – in the ice without the colors mixing?

Through the help of our visitors, here’s some knowledge we’ve gleaned thus far in our years of ice exploration:

– Some dice floated to the top before freezing while some sunk.

– Glitter always floats before freezing.

– We had to weight the plastic sharks so they would freeze in the center of the ice.

– Ribbon is fun to freeze. Fabric is not fun to freeze.

– Pencils are fun to freeze. Pens are not fun to freeze.

– Plastic bugs look cool trapped in ice. Plastic food looks gross trapped in ice.

– Colors that slowly drip from one section of ice to another can create cool swirling effects. Too many colors in the ice at once causes brown and gray water. Yuck.

– Freezing different colors side-by-side takes a few days as each color must be frozen on its own first.

– The plastic human brain mold was our most popular ice shape. (Sadly, human brain mold developed a crack last year and had to be retired.)

– Visitors most favorite trapped ice objects are – hands down – plastic dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.

Ice Art is an inexpensive, fun activity that can be done at home with Plastic containers, small cups, pipettes or paint brushes, table salt and watercolor paint or food coloring (but we recommend the paint as it washes off easier). The bigger the shape that you’re freezing, the more time it will need in the freezer. Museum Educators often set up their ice projects at the end of the museum day to be ready for the following morning.

Enjoy this short video of some of our most interesting ice art that we’ve seen at CMNH!

Zach once ate so many coconut flavored popsicles in a row that everything he ate for six months tasted like coconut.

August 24, 2013: Join us for NH’s first Maker Faire!

Tags

art, children, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, creativity, Dover, education, experimentation, family learning, how chiildren learn, ingenuity, invention, Maker Faire, making, museum, science, technology

We’re ecstatic to share that more than 50 makers from around New England will be coming to the Children’s Museum of NH for our very first Maker Faire in downtown Dover! Our planning committee had a goal of 30 makers and we’ve blown that out of the water, thanks to the enthusiastic support of our local maker committee and grassroots promotion that has spread far and wide.

Tickets are available online at just $10 in advance for adults and kids ages 6 and over (kids 5 and under are admitted free) and $12 at the gate on Saturday.

Check out the list of makers who will be joining us on August 24th, along with a quick preview of what they’ll be sharing with attendees.

UNH Luna Cats:  design & build a Lunabot vehicle

ReVision Energy: solar-powered water fountain demostration

Open Org of Lockpickers – Southern ME chapter:  learn about locks, how to pick them and reuse them

Marissa Vitolo Glass/Ceramic Accessories:  create earrings, brooch, pendant, ring

UNH College of Engineering & Physical Sciences:  build a STEM compass

Port City Makerspace:  screen printing of Dover Mini Maker Faire logo

Art Lab for Kids:  make art using a recycled map

McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center:  make & launch paper rockets

Bike Part Art:  creative projects related to physics, engineering

Giants In The Woods – band that mixes traditional instruments with electronics like cell phones, tablets to create electronica music performance

Get MESY (Math, Engineering, Science & You, program by NHPTV:  hands on engineering challenges

Emily Drouin:  comic book art

JesterType:  open source Arduino-based human interface device that converts gestures into text

New England Model Engineering Society: learn about making working models of steam engines, gas engines, Stirling engines and more

Steampunkinetics:  display of Steampunk art & design

TDB Monsters:  making monsters w/recycled art

Air Rocket Glider:  building & launching rockets

Squirrelcat Designs:  face and body art including temporary glitter tatoos, plus knit items and painted horseshoes

Nathan Walker:  demonstrating how to make large-scale recycled metal art

GTR Kit Car:  Roe Cole will be displaying sports car custom-built from a kit

New Heights Stilt Troupe:  demo of stilt making and stilt walking

New Heights:  Makey Makey demo

Olde Englande Ironworks: Demonstration of traditional blacksmithing techniques

SeaPerch:  attendees can drive Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles in a 1000-gallon tank

Corky’s Projects:  variety of DIY tech projects

Tiny Little Room:  making hand-sewn creatures

Jean O. Hearn Fiber Creations:  felting demonstration

Mad Science of Southern NH & Northern MA:  Science Exploration Station

UNH Precision Racing Team: Look for the team with its car in the Big, Loud & High-Flying Zone!

Port City Makerspace:  demonstrating a variety of projects

Cris & Company:  making hand-crafted gifts, some with recycled materials

Iron Pour:  melting cast iron into molds – make a resin mold

TRACIMOC:  transforms comic books into wearable art, will have DIY station to make pin/keychain/zipper pull

Michael Lang:  30-minute workshop on how to tell a story; the art of storytelling

Anabean Designs:  childrens/infants tutu’s & dresses

One Story Houses:  doll houses and miniatures

3-D Printing Demo:  demo of Maker-bot THING-O-MATIC 3-D printer

Hottie Biscotti Bakery:  gluten-free & vegan baked goods

RepRap Prusa 3D Printer:  demo of open source 3D printer

TRIBEY:  bicycle/snowboard electrically powered hybrid demo

Paint for Fun:  kids can make plaster art

Raspberry Pi Projects for Evil Genius:  robot car and radon detector controlled by Raspberry Pi

Lone Oak of Rochester:  ice cream making demo & samples

Ikibuku Hooping Co:  make a hula hoop

Pam Tyson:  demo of making quilted art

Poly Recovery:  sustainable plastic recycling demo

Assistive Technology:  iPad solutions made with corrugated plastic & Loc-Line, demo of mini McGyver tape kits

Discovery Toys:  demo of learning toys and sets

Steven Abbadessa:  demo of Wood Gassification process, taking wood chips and converting them to synthetic fuel gas, same as used in Victorian days

UNH Interoperability Labs: learn how to control lights using simple programming

Creative inspiration for all at Dover Mini Maker Faire on August 24

Tags

art, change, child development, children, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, creativity, Dover, education, experimentation, family learning, fun, kids, Maker Faire, makers, making, nh, problem solving, science, technology

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is on a strategic path to inspire kids to think big and think different. Our Mission Statement puts it right up front:

We exist to ignite children’s creative potential through enriching experiences that tap into their talents, stretch them beyond perceived limits, and build strong, joyful relationships.

This focus on igniting children’s creativity and getting them excited about learning is what has inspired us to host New Hampshire’s first-ever Maker Faire event. We’re ecstatic to share that more than 50 makers from around New England will be joining us for Dover Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, August 24th! Check out the list of makers who will be here, along with a quick preview of what they’ll be sharing with attendees of all ages.

UNH Luna Cats:  design & build a Lunabot vehicle

Open Org of Lockpickers – Southern ME chapter:  learn about locks, how to pick them and reuse them

UNH College of Engineering & Physical Sciences:  build a STEM compass

Screen print a t-shirt

Port City Makerspace:  screen printing of Dover Mini Maker Faire logo

Art Lab for Kids:  make art using a recycled map

McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center:  make & launch paper rockets

Bike Part Art:  creative projects related to physics, engineering

Giants In The Woods – band that mixes traditional instruments with electronics like cell phones, tablets to create electronica music performance

Get MESY (Math, Engineering, Science & You, program by NHPTV:  hands on engineering challenges

Emily Drouin art

Emily Drouin:  comic book art

JesterType:  open source Arduino-based human interface device that converts gestures into text

Marissa Vitolo Glass/Ceramic Accessories:  create earrings, brooch, pendant, ring

New England Model Engineering Society: learn about making working models of steam engines, gas engines, Stirling engines and more

Steampunkinetics

Steampunkinetics:  display of Steampunk art & design

TDB Monsters:  making monsters w/recycled art

Air Rocket Glider:  building & launching rockets

Squirrelcat Designs:  face and body art

Nathan Walker:  demonstrating how to make large-scale recycled metal art

GTR Kit Car

GTR Kit Car:  Roe Cole will be displaying sports car custom-built from a kit

New Heights Stilt Troupe:  demo of stilt making and stilt walking

New Heights:  Makey Makey demo

Olde Englande Ironworks: Demonstration of traditional blacksmithing techniques

Sea Perch Tank

SeaPerch:  attendees can drive Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles in a 1000-gallon tank

Corky’s Projects:  variety of DIY tech projects

Tiny Little Room:  making hand-sewn creatures

Jean O. Hearn Fiber Creations:  felting demonstration

Mad Science of Southern NH & Northern MA:  Science Exploration Station

Port City Makerspace:  demonstrating a variety of projects

Cris & Company:  making hand-crafted gifts, some with recycled materials

TRACIMOC comic art

TRACIMOC:  transforms comic books into wearable art, will have DIY station to make pin/keychain/zipper pull

Michael Lang:  30-minute workshop on how to tell a story; the art of storytelling

Anabean Designs:  childrens/infants tutu’s & dresses

Iron Pour:  melting cast iron into molds – make a resin mold

One Story Houses:  doll houses and miniatures

3-D Printing Demo:  demo of Maker-bot THING-O-MATIC 3-D printer

Rolling Owl Stools

Owl Furniture:  ergonomic designed furniture

Hottie Biscotti Bakery:  gluten-free & vegan baked goods

RepRap Prusa 3D Printer:  demo of open source 3D printer

Raspberry Pi Projects for Evil Genius:  robot car and radon detector controlled by Raspberry Pi

UNH Engineering & Physical Sciences Dept: Make a STEM compass & learn about STEM careers

Tribey Hybrid

TRIBEY:  bicycle/snowboard electrically powered hybrid demo

Paint for Fun:  kids can make plaster art

Lone Oak of Rochester:  ice cream making demo & samples

Ikibuku Hooping Co:  make a hula hoop

Pam Tyson:  demo of making quilted art

PolyRecovery

Poly Recovery:  sustainable plastic recycling demo

Assistive Technology:  iPad solutions made with corrugated plastic & Loc-Line, demo of mini McGyver tape kits

Discovery Toys:  demo of learning toys and sets

Steven Abbadessa:  demo of Wood Gassification process, taking wood chips and converting them to synthetic fuel gas, same as used in Victorian days

UNH Interoperability Labs: learn how to control lights using simple programming

CMNH Brings Mini Maker Faire to New Hampshire!

Tags

Children's Museum of NH, creativity, Dover, experimentation, innovation, kids, Maker Faire, making, New Hampshire, nh, problem solving, science, technology

The Maker Faire is coming to New Hampshire! The first annual Dover Mini Maker Faire is scheduled for Saturday, August 24, 2013 in and around the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover. This is the first time a Maker Faire event has been held in the Granite State.

“We are over the moon about bringing Maker Faire to our state,” said Justine Roberts, Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of NH. “This event aligns perfectly with our mission to ignite children’s creative potential by challenging them to think big. What better way to bring our mission to life than with this amazing event that showcases our community’s creativity, engages children’s imaginations and inspires them to be the makers of tomorrow.”

The Dover Mini Maker Faire takes after its enormous parent event, Maker Faire, which hosts 110,000 visitors in San Mateo in May. The Dover Mini Maker Faire will be a smaller, community-focused event, but will follow the Maker Faire model of celebrating do-it-yourself creativity and tinkering.

“Make, create, craft, recycle, build, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology.”

Featuring both established and emerging local “makers,” the Dover Mini Maker Faire is a family-friendly celebration featuring rockets and robots, DIY science and technology, urban farming and sustainability, alternative energy, bicycles, unique hand-made crafts, music and local food, and educational workshops and installations. A Call for Makers will open on Monday, May 6.

In developing plans for the Dover Mini Maker Faire, the Children’s Museum of NH gathered a group of key advisors from New Hampshire and beyond to be part of the steering committee. Individuals and groups currently on the Dover Mini Maker Faire include: Angela Sheehan, Clint Crosbie of Port City Makerspace, Alex Nunn of Seacoast Makers, Lindsey Wright of Seacoast Robotics, Richard Cecchetti and Tara Hicks Johnson of the Sea Perch program, Mark Critz of FIRST Robotics, Tim Tabor and Taylor Poro from the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Wayne Moulton of New Heights Adventures for Teens and Sages of RPG, artist Nathan Walker, Rob Worobey of Black Sparrow Industries, local maker John McColley, Karrah Kwasnik of Genius Switch Studio, Doug Ridley of Vital Design, Dylan Haigh and Kristy Martino of Haigh & Martino, Jim Harvey of Letgo Your Mind and Chris Evilsizer of Metis Networks.

The original Maker Faire event was held in San Mateo, CA and in 2012 celebrated its seventh annual show with some 800 makers and 110,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in three years to 500+ makers and 55,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Newcastle (UK), and Tokyo are the home of “featured” Maker Faires (200+ makers), and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires are now being produced around the United States and the world. Dover Mini Maker Faire is independently organized and operated under license from Maker Media, Inc.

Follow the development of the Dover Mini Maker Faire on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

What happens if … ?

Tags

chemistry, children, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, education, experimentation, family learning, hypotheses, outdoor learning, outdoor play, problem solving, science, scientific method, snow, winter

We go through a lot of baking soda and vinegar in my house. We’re not cooking with it. We’re not cleaning with it. We’re mixing “potions” with it, erupting volcanoes, mixing it with food coloring and painting with it. Splashing salt on top to see what happens. Raiding the recycling bin and building courses for the bubbly liquid to travel down. (I highly recommend building such courses in a bathtub or on an outside deck!)

Although I’ve been an educator both in schools and the Museum for nearly 20 years, I’ve received some great insights into the way kids learn about the world observing my own kids try to figure out “what happens if” and “how does this work.”

The author's son in a previous winter when snow was abundant!

This past weekend, my 9-year-old son was lamenting the pitiful ½ inch of snow on the small hill he likes to sled on in the yard. “That’s a problem,” I said. “Can you think of a solution?” After trying to relocate snow from other parts of the yard to no avail, he asked for a bucket. His solution: to pour bucket-loads of water down a path on the hill. How long will this take to freeze? How many layers of ice do I need to put on the hill to make it thick enough to hold the weight of me and my sled without cracking? Does the water freeze faster if I put cold water in my bucket?

My son was playing, getting messy and having fun, but most of all he was determined to have a place to sled by the end of the day (which was how long it took for the multiple layers of ice to freeze). Did he realize that he was conducting experiments? Forming hypotheses? Using scientific reasoning? No, but that’s okay.

Here at the Museum, we may not have the icy hill in the backyard, but we know we’ve done our job when we observe kids (and adults) engaged in asking questions, experimenting, or creating something new together. Are you looking for some “what-happens-if” fun during the cold winter months? We’d love to have you visit and experiment with us.

And check out these websites for some science inspiration you can try at home – recommended by Museum colleagues through the Association of Science and Technology Centers:

“The SciGirls website, http://pbskids.org/scigirls/, is awesome! It’s great for girls and boys.”

“www.edheads.com is a great website that has some really fun kid-friendly interactives with accompanying teacher guide (including virtual surgeries, crime scene investigations and nanoparticle development.”

“Carnegie Science Center has a website as part of our girls program at www.braincake.org.”

Activities for school, home or group projects on a variety of science topics: http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/