Brian has been telling me about the concept of microadventures. The idea is to not only wait for the big adventures in life that come every once in a while, but to find ways to incorporate smaller, more attainable adventures into your daily lives. This idea really resonates with us. So with that in mind, we decided to have a little family microadventure this past weekend.
On Sunday, we went on a day trip to Orlando to attend the Maker Faire. The Maker Faire describes itself as the “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth.” There are two signature events, which are held in New York City and San Francisco, with smaller, local events popping up across the country. Since there was one coming to Orlando, we bought tickets and looked forward to finding out what it was all about.
The event took place at the Orlando Science Center, with exhibitors setting up tables all around the museum. Almost like one big science fair. The exhibitors were all some kind of “maker”. The people there covered such a wide range of mediums and industries. For example, there were people there who created customized Lego minifigures. People who invented computer chips that made technology talk to each other. There was a guy who made prosthetics for horror movies. Lots of computer programs, robots, and inventions.
“Maker Mindset” infographic poster. How awesome that this is being identified and put out there for this next generation!
In addition to exhibitors, there were many interactive activities throughout the museum. One of these was “Cardboard City”. The room was filled with cardboard boxes in all sizes so that kids and their families could create their own cardboard vision. This was Max’s absolute favorite part of the whole day. He loves turning cardboard boxes into all kinds of things at home, so having a room full of boxes to create with was so much fun to him.
One of the shows we went to was the Tesla Coil Show. It was really neat because they explained electricity on a kid level, which is is just about the only way I can even remotely begin to understand how it works. They called kids from the audience various times to show different principles and properties of electricity. Then, they brought out the Tesla Coil. We learned about Nikola Tesla, who invented it in 1891. In simple terms, the coil produces wireless electricity. And apparently Tesla invented this before Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb. But it never took off due to a lack of self-promotion and some bad PR.
One thing that made our day extra enjoyable was that many of the museum’s regular hands-on displays were still out among the exhibitors. So that meant we got to enjoy the museum as well. Since many of the makers and inventors had products to share that were a little over our heads, this was the perfect way to keep entertained as we walked through the exhibits.
Scooting balls across the Linear Motion table.
Making music with pipes and air.
Outside, there were a variety of different booths and activities. One of these was an artist who had taken fencing segments, and sketched out different pop culture icons for attendees to paint on each one. Once they fence segments were all completed, he was going to assemble to the fence along a local nature trail for people to enjoy as they walked. Ben and Max put their mark on Homer Simpson.
Our first time visit to the Maker Faire was a success. I credit that to the fact that we saw some really cool things and learned a little along the way. Also to the fact that the Orlando Science Center is a pretty awesome place in itself for hands-on learning. Next time the Maker Faire comes to town, I would definitely recommend checking it out!
