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STEM: Spin Art with Tinker Crates

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Spin Art with Tinker Crates

The other day my son had a lot of fun putting together the spin art machine from Tinker Crates.   He made a simple spinning machine using the motor and disc, and then was able to create some different art effects. 

Watching my son drop paint in to the Spin Art Machine

My son explained why the camera didn’t pick up the spin from the Spin Art Machine.

I really wish I could have shown you the spin, as it made some really interesting colour patterns as it whirled around.   But Alas was not meant to be.  The art looks way better spinning than being still art. 

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The concept was fairly simple.  Make a machine that spins, in this case it has three different speeds.  Insert the paper you want to design on, then drop paint on it quickly or in single drops.  My son also experimented with some markers held lightly on the paper (just barely touching) which had a really neat affect as well, but I never managed to get that in video or photo. 

It’s one of the things that I like most about Tinker Crates is the questions it opens up for him.  The What if I try this?  Or I wonder what will happen if…  I love how I can just see his brain working away.   And reading the tinkerzine?  Ah.. it’s a good thing that.  And then when he takes what he’s learning and turns to his favourite learning mechanism.. YOUTUBE and does more research.. even better!

Spin Art by Tinker Crates, reading the magazineIt is such a gratifying thing to hear when  a lad expresses an interest in physics and how motors work and what causes different things to happen.   I love it!  And this to me is the biggest benefit of Tinker Crates and their lovely TinkerZine.   The broadening of horizons and the questions it poses in a lads mind.  It’s a grand grand thing.

If you want to see questions posed in the minds of your children, check out Tinker Crates.

Other Tinker Crates you might be interested in as well: 3D viewer.   Spy case. 

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Review: Whoosh, Boom, Splat

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STEM is all the rage right now eh?   How can we encourage the learning of engineering, science, math and technology?   Whoosh, Boom, Splat takes the love of launchers of all different sorts, to encourage hands-on experimentation in your middle school and up youth.   11 different types of launchers, with variations for several of them.   It’s a rather neat book!

whoosh boom splat, an excellent hands-on STEM experiments book

Whoosh, Boom, Splat is a revised and expanded second edition.  In it you can learn to build jam jar jets, elastic Zip Cannons, clothespin Snap Shooters and more.   These aren’t your average experiments.  Things CAN go wrong and you might get hurt IF you don’t pay attention and follow the instructions.   Lots of pictures and text accompany the instructions so if you take your time and follow the directions well, you can make a good variety of launchers to amaze and delight each other.   This book is meant to be done with adult supervision (often as a safety measure) but also because some of the builds are harder to do.

Each of the 11 chapters has a good introductory section where they give you a real life application.. for instance with the jam jar jet we learn about the V1, a Nazi built cruise missile, that used a pulse jet.  These jets are still used in cruise missiles today.  With the mechanical toe we learn a bit about football and talk about Newton’s Second Law of Motion.   We get to learn about a famous engineer Gianibelli with the clothespin snap shooter. 

A complete tools and a separate materials list, plus step by step instructions walk you through each build.   Numerous pictures accompany each set of instructions helping to make each step easy to follow.

I have to admit how much I appreciate the attention to safety and the clear instructions.  It makes this book easy to use.  We were able to build this explosive device!  I also want to make the vortex launcher and clothespin snap shooter. 

 

The lad had a lot of fun helping me make this, and if we could have gone longer we would have but what with having a new cat in the house whose a tad bit skittish, we thought this length worked and proved the lesson works.  It also gave us a chance to talk about chain reactions and the atomic bomb. 

My thoughts: 

The strong emphasis on safety, along with the troubleshooting tips, and the historical origins of each machine made this a fascinating book.   The experiments range in experience needed, but all can be accomplished by any teenager and up as long as they take their time to read and understand the instruction.   The good images just add great instruction. This DIY projects will help teach STEM to your students. 

Whoosh, Boom, Splat
    Build Jam Jar Jets, Elastic Cannons, Clothespins
Snap Shooters, and more Legendary Launchers. 
Revised and Expanded Second Edition
William Gurstelle
Chicago Review Press, 154 pages, softcover
STEM, engineering, technology, science, math, 
Middle school, high school
Reviewed for: Chicago Review Press.

Where to buy: Amazon Link.

STEM: 3D viewer by Tinker Crates

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My son and I have been doing KiwiCrates for a while now, and last year finally upgraded to doing the TinkerCrates. Tinker Crates are for kids 9-16.  They are a bit more involved and have a fair number of projects available to them in the TinkerZine.

When we first started doing the crates, the lad needed a lot of support from me in order to finish them, so I think it is just superb watching his confidence blossom.  It admittedly took a while for my sensitive minded boy to realize that as much as mom LIKES building these crates with him, I also LOVED watching him branch out on his own with Tinker Crates.  Now of course, there is no stopping him.

Recently he took on this project “3D Viewer”

It was great to watch him work through the stages to building it, step by step.  He played close attention to the instructions. The instructions are so clear, and the images show the pieces exactly, so properly making the3D viewer is pretty easy to do “as long as you pay attention, make sure you tell them that part okay mom?”.   So pay attention, don’t miss steps, and you can make your own 3D Viewer.

Slowly but surely it came together.   Piece upon piece, fitting together just perfectly.

It hardly seemed like anytime had passed and he was calling me “come see mom, come see”.  And low and behold we had a 3D viewer.

Once he finished this big build he turned his attention to the smaller activities found in the tinker zine.   Here he learned about perspective by looking at some art, and playing with 3D mirrors.

My son really likes the tinkerzines because “they tell you stuff, like more about what you just built, and teach you new ways to look at stuff”.   “They give you good small projects to try too”.

After seeing how perspective was influenced by a 3d mirror he had a chance to try his hand at drawing within that knowledge.  It worked!   I’m glad he figured it out because I struggled with this one.  He’s got a better grasp on the spatial aspect of things I guess.

  To see this viewer being built, check out this video.

Anyways, Tinker Crates are a great monthly addition to our home.  I hope you will consider them for your home as well.  They are a great way to involve your children in a monthly STEM project and have fun learning.  Foster that independence, learn some good science, you never know where it will take you.

In case you are curious, Kiwi Crates also makes crates for children of all ages and interests.  Cricket, Koala, Kiwi, Doodle and Tinker.  I am tempted to get the doodle crate as well….just to see what type of activities they put in them for artists to do.   But so far, the Tinker Crates are a hit.

Now if you want to round our your experiences with Tinker Crates, NotebookingPages.com will be on sale January 24-26. Here you can find all sorts of notebookingpages to help round our your studies with the Tinker Crate.  It’s worth your time to check out their lifetime membership.

Art Book: Maya Lin – Thinking With Her Hands

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Have you ever visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.?   Have you seen it’s mirrored surfaces and how it brings the past toward the present, bringing unity?  In Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands, we learn the story of the artist behind this memorial.

This was a very interesting book to read, it was fascinating to see into the mind of a young woman as she worked on her skills in architecture and design, seeing her reasoning behind why she builds memorials the way she does.   I just love stories about the why of how people do things, it’s always a fascinating look into the mind and will of another person.  I thought it clever the way the chapters were labeled with building mediums. 🙂

We are brought from her early life, onwards to her current projects.  Well-written text with good illustrations brought her life and her work into clarity.  Written on a level for middle school and high school students to easily read and understand. As an adult, I was able to read through the book in about an hour.

I loved the graphics…all the real life pictures along with the occasional topographical map, brought her work to understanding in my mind, about the effort involved to bring her concepts to life.  She built so many sculptures, and takes her time working to truly understand the project before making a decision about how to approach it.  I appreciated the fact that she used all sorts of mediums to convey her thoughts.. moulding the ground, building with various materials, utilizing water, weather, and more. 

The typeface used was a clear and not muddied, very easy to read.  You need to check out a map she was working with to create a sculpture using the earth?  Neat eh?

One of the elements I most appreciated was how they showed Maya Lin’s determination to have her work presented in the way she deemed best WHILE she took her opponents thoughts into perspective.  Not forcing her own way, but using their thoughts to improve her own work.   It shows humility combined with skill.. and that’s a good thing to have eh?

My Thoughts:

This would be an excellent book to have any middle schooler read and think about it. It’s good to see how people think about how their past can affect their future, and how even a school project can get you noticed. Maya Lin took a chance and succeeded. Taking in advise from others and knowing how to stick to your goals and ideas, and how to modify them if needed. It would be a nice add-on to a study of the Vietnam War as well as other memorials scattered around the United States. 

Maya Lin: Thinking with her hands
Susan Goldman Rubin
Chronicle Books 
Age 10+
112 pages, hardcover
Biography, art, Architect, architecture
Middle School

Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

Where can you buy it?  

Amazon link.

Review: Ellie, Engineer

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Ellie, Engineer.  What can I tell you about a young girl who likes to build and create?  This lovely little easy read chapter book contains: One Ellie, one toolbelt, one skirt, one sketchpad and one very active mind along with one friend with a birthday coming up.  Then a mishap happens….

… and then another…. and then… well you know what.. I can’t tell you the WHOLE story. 🙂

Friendship and engineering fill the pages.   Truthfulness and dishonesty place close seconds.  Will Ellie and Kits’ friendship handle the tests put to it?   Will new friendships become needful? Will Ellie lose it all in the end or will more be gained than could be even dreamed of?

An easy read chapter book with decently developed characters.  It was a fun read with a handy “these are an engineers tools” section at the close of the book.   Ellie’s sketches filled several pages throughout the book.

My Thoughts:

I laughed more than once.  🙂  I think it’s geared more 8-10 years. It was a good story filled with all sorts of engineering tasks and explanations about how a youth could engage in engineering tasks.   I love the list of tools at the close of the book. A fun read with short chapters and sketches that add well to the story. 

Ellie, Engineer
Jackson Pearce
Bloomsbury Kids
Softcover, trade paperback, fiction
ages 8-12
Engineering, girls, creativity, 

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where to purchase: Amazon Link.

Review: This Book is a Planetarium

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Who doesn’t like a hands-on book, a book that let’s you experience it as you read and learn?  This book is a Planetarium (affiliate link) is one such book.   Kelli Anderson brings us a book filled with pop up’s like you have never seen before!

You get these pop-ups: A speaker, a planetarium,a spiralgraph, a decoder ring, a perpetual calendar and a music instrument fill the pages of this book.   Heavy paper supports them, which considering their quality is an integral part of each construct.

When you first open this pop-up book you will find tissue paper protecting each of the constructs. This attention to detail helps to reinforce the obvious care and concern put into making it.  Defying every expectation of what a book can be, this pop-up extravaganza transforms into six fully functional tools: a real working planetarium projecting the constellations, a musical instrument complete with strings for strumming, a geometric drawing generator , an infinite calendar , a message decoder , and even a speaker that amplifies sound. 

Now will this book last forever?  🙂  Of course not, it’s made of heavy paper, but it is well made and if parents and their offspring use it carefully it will last for a good long while, at least as long as many of the disposable toys made now-a-days.  🙂   Uses?  Oh…. varied eh?   A good book to explore the senses, for studying the engineering of paper, to attempt replication, to get an introduction to making codes or to just have fun!   It’s a rather neat book!

Why do I like it so much?   This book is meant to be a hands-on, tactile science book.  A book with explanations and then “do it”.   The object is to be involved in the world, doing, listening, experimenting.   Then, as you’ve experimented with the book, to see how the book is brought to life in the physical world.  It’s geared to help the reader/doer.. ask questions and want to know more.  The fact that the font is smaller and in dark print helps you to focus on the learning and discovery FIRST, and then to go back after for answers.  Well designed.

My thoughts:

I LOVE, just LOVE books that help people ask questions.  That don’t necessarily provide ALL the answers, but enough to get the student going in the right direction.  This book encourages those questions, giving the student a good place to start, and then leaving them to it.  A good thing that!

This Book is a Planetarium and other extraordinary
    Pop-up contraptions
Kelli Anderson
Chronicle Books, hardcover, 5 pages
Pop-up, activity, science, engineering, Papercraft
Age range: 6 and up 

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where can you find it?    Amazon Link.

Art Book: Beasts from Bricks

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Oh, who doesn’t like to build with lego?  I spent hours as a child playing with lego and have had lots of fun playing with my boy child…though the older he gets the more he keeps himself busy with other things and plays less with his mama.  BUT this book is cool!  Making animals from around the world, using the designs in Beasts from Bricks.  It’s great!


15 different animals which take you through the different continents of the world, teaching you the skills you need to design your own lego models of various animals you can meet in your life (or perhaps WISH you could meet in real life).

You get to build animals such as the African Elephant, Indian rhinocerous, Suffolk sheep, walrus, jack rabbit, anteater and a wombat (as well as others).   I loved that each new animals was introduced to us along with why the author builder created them.

You will find detailed parts lists along with a colour key.  The parts list is in full colour with numbers written alongside.  I didn’t find those numbers worked well with the Lego Store, so they might be with another area?  I don’t know.  BUT I do know you could go into any Lego Store with this book and they could help you find any pieces that you need, since the picture is on the page along with it’s colour.  Easy peasy!

After the opening section you get into the meat of the build.  Full colour illustrations walk you step by step through the build. As long as you are paying attention (and don’t skip steps) you can complete your build.  You may even find yourself inspired to find other animals you can build.  Sometimes to just be changing the colour (as in making a white sheep black, or multi coloured), or by using the skills you have been taught to come up with your own designs.  Who knows what you’ll be able to build eh?

Little things I liked: Each animal is colour coded, so you know all the blue is one animal, different builds he’s made pictured at the back of book, clear instructions, image of finished animal, and the pedestal each animal is placed on so you aren’t limited to stance or flat surfaces.

My Thoughts:
Get this book.  Have fun learning about and then building animals from all over the world. It’ll be great fun, you know it!  🙂

Beasts from bricks
Ekow Nimako
Quarry books
144 pages
Softcover, oversized
Lego, building, STEM, animals, engineering

Reviewed for: Quarto Group

Where can I find it?
Beasts from bricks.  Amazon.ca    Or    Amazon.com.

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