Holiday Gift Ideas for Young Makers & Tinkerers

$15.30 (larger sets are also available)

Wicked cool reusable connectors, hinges and child-safe saws for building cardboard constructions.

$13.95

Wheel sets for cardboard boxes. You need these with Makedo!

$15.67

A zillion high and low-tech project ideas and suggestions for amusing yourself.

$13.92

A full-color project book for learning Scratch programming. It even includes a chapter on using the external Picoboard!

$16.25

Really cool and beautifully photographed tech projects ideas for kids and adults alike.

$13.59

The latest addition to the three book Geek Dad series for girls, their moms (plus teachers, brothers and fathers)

$18.97

A new full-color guide to building machines out of LEGO Technic! Mechanical principles are explained clearly.

$19.75

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

$13.98

This new book about the Maker revolution is by the former editor of Wired Magazine.

However, Neil Gershenfeld’s seminal book, Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication, does a better job of covering the “maker” revolution despite having been published seven years ago.

$60 – 70

My late friend, Steve Ocko, invented this programmable floor turtle (robot) for Milton Bradley in 1979. There has never been a more powerful easy-to-use robot available for kids since.

The good news is that some lunatic bought the rights to the Big Trak and is manufacturing new ones 30+ years later

Kids from 5+ will play and learn with Big Trak for ages.

$49.95 – $59.95

There’s no adequate way to explain Makey Makey, “the invention kit for everyone,” but you need to own at least one of them!

Learn more here.

$129.95

An early-childhood robotics construction kit that may be controlled via Scratch.

$36.24 (and worth it!)

This fantastic book makes real mathematics come alive for kids (and teachers) grades 5 and up through the exploration of cryptography. There is plenty to keep you busy for years within this book.

$14.83

A star-studded documentary chronicling the dizzying variety of street games invented and played in New York City, as well as the life lessons learned playing them.

This DVD should inspire a great deal of play and creative “research” projects among young people.

$14.95

A terrific print guide to playing classic games including: Kings, Skellzies, Potsie, Stick Ball and Hit the Penny.

The book even comes with bottlecaps, sidewalk chalk and a “spaldeen.”

$14.66

This book is filled with insanely creative ways to turn your photographs into amazing products and crazy ways to capture photographs you won’t believe. Fun for the whole family!

The LEGO Technic Idea Book – Fantastic Contraptions

The LEGO Technic Idea Book – Wheeled Wonders

The LEGO Technic Idea Book – Simple Machines

$12-14 each

$7.98

Legendary educator and education author, Herb Kohl’s beautiful meditation on life, teaching, learning, art and aging.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. It makes a lovely inspirational gift for the artist or educator in your life.

$20.06

Herb Kohl & Tom Oppenheim interviewed some of today’s most prominent artists about the educational experiences that led them to their creativity and then leading educators responded to each interview.

$10.85

The first magnificent memoir by this Nobel-Prize winning physicist, raconteur and tinkerer. This is a must-read for anyone over twelve years of age.

Feynman

$19.04

A fine biography in graphic-novel format. Appropriate for teens.

$18.69

Parent activist Juanita Doyon offers practical advice for protecting your kids from destructive school policies like standardized testing.