DIY Links

Resources: Project Collections, Tutorials, and Inspiration

Project ideas, Tutorials, Inspiration

• Howtoons - Comic strip stories to inspire building, designing, engineering and inventing.
• Geek Dad Blog - Besides writing books, Geek Dad blogs at Wired.com about doing projects with kids.
• How Stuff Works - Diagrams and explanations of how machines and everyday objects work.
• LooLeDo: Extraordinary Projects From Ordinary Objects - Crafts and projects using everyday materials
• Instructables - A DIY online community
• Toy-A-Day Blog - Fun toys to inspire and delight.
• Sylvia’s Super Awesome Maker Show - Ten-year old Super-awesome Sylvia and her father produce a whimsical video show showing how to build fun electronic projects.
• Make Magazine Projects - Projects in electronics, craft, science, art, robots, and many more categories in all ranges of challenge.
• FabLab@School - Main site for projects, video tutorials, blog posts, and more about the global network of FabLabs in K-12 schools
• Invention Projects - A list of activities to make your own light bulb, gramophone, and other famous inventions from the Spark!Lab at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC
• The Caberet Mechanical Theatre - Projects, blogs, and kits for building whimsical moving mechanical sculpture.
• Makerbot 3D Printing Education - Tutorials and STEM projects.
• Sparkfun Tutorials - Beginner, intermediate, and advanced tutorials for Arduino, electronics, wearable computing, and more.
• Adafruit Learning System - Projects, guides, and tutorials on Arduino, microprocessors, components, tools, and more.
• Adafruit for Educators - Special blog for educators focusing on making in the classroom around the world.
• Popular Mechanics - Published since 1902, this magazine and website is best known for automotive and home projects, but often runs science and DIY articles and projects.
• Popular Science - Magazine and website has DIY projects, science and technology news, and reviews on gadgets and computers
• My Open Source Education – a video by a young maker who goes by the name of QTechKnow about how he learns about technology, robotics, microprocessors, and more.

Project ideas, Tutorials, Inspiration: Good Starter Projects

• Digitally Interfaced Book: Paper, Graphite, Makey Makey, Scratch, and Imagination - Instructions for completing an interactive book project
• Marble runs and ramps - Small scale versions
• Marble runs and ramps - Large scale versions
• Scribbling machines - Easy to build robots using scrap materials with pens for legs and a small off-center motor. The vibrating motor causes the robot to dance around and scribble on a large sheet of paper
• LED Throwies - An LED taped to a battery and a magnet creates a crowd-sourced light show
• Wind Tubes - Easy to make large upright tubes with a fan at the bottom. Makers can build “stuff that floats” out of recycled materials, put their creations in the tube and watch them fly up to the sky!
• Glow Doodle Software - Software to create pictures with glowing light
• Glow Doodle Bottles - Make bottles for glowing light pictures

Project ideas, Tutorials, Inspiration: Books for your Makerspace

• A collection of tinkering books and resources - An assortment of recommended books and magazines for your tinkering library.
• Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun - A zillion high and low-tech project ideas with suggestions for amusing yourself.
• The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects - Really cool and beautifully photographed tech projects ideas for kids and adults alike.
• Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas - 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!
• 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do and Why) - Gever Tulley’s self-explanatory classic on messing-about in the real world with real stuff, just like real kids.
• 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: (And Other Discarded Electronics) - Computer hacking takes on a whole new meaning when you’re going at it with a screwdriver and hammer.
• The Best of Instructables Volume I - Do-It-Yourself Projects from the World’s Biggest Show & Tell
• Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children’s Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green - Essays from renowned children’s book authors provide an informative and inspiring call to kids of all ages to understand what’s happening to the environment, and take action in saving our world.
• The New Way Things Work - Every classroom needs at least one copy of David Macaulay’s beautifully illustrated book of how things work.
• Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share - The first book in this terrific series
• The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family - The second volume in the Geek Dad series
• The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists: The Coolest Experiments and Projects for Science Fairs and Family Fun - The third Geek Dad book
• Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st-Century Families - More fun projects for families to build together

Project ideas, Tutorials, Inspiration: Parenting Advice

• Free-range Kids - Common sense advice about parenting
• Beware Dangerism! - By Gever Tulley (Kindle Single)

Online Clubs for Kids

• DIY.org – Maker “Scouts” – online tutorials, upload pictures of creations with a phone app and collect badges
• Built By Kids Club – Project ideas, tool tutorials, and weekly projects for club members