The Tinkering Workshop Gift Guide 2024
If you are reading this blog post hopefully you already have my new book, The Tinkering Workshop, on your holiday gift-giving list for any tinkerers, educators or parents in your life. It’s full of open-ended inspiration for new STEAM projects that could fit in classroom, library or kitchen table workspaces.
There are many other tools and resources that go well alongside this playful guide to creative exploration. And here I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite ideas for gifts that can allow you to go deeper into some of the projects featured in The Tinkering Workshop. These gift ideas have a wide range of complexity and cost so pick and choose the ones that make most sense for the special people in your life.
Big Googly Eyes with Almost Every Project
One of my favorite reviews for The Tinkering Workshop came from Reid Bingham who wrote, “ the googly-eye per page ratio is A+++” which fairly encapsulates my love for googly eyes and predilection to add them to any and every tinkering project. A pack of giant googly eyes would be the perfect companion to the book and open up so many inspiring possible creations.
Chompsaw with Cardboard Forts
One of the projects featured in the book is cardboard forts and I think an amazing tool to make these even more complex is the recently released chompsaw. I saw this powerful and safe cardboard shaping tool at Maker Faire and would love to try it out with many of the projects in the book.
Conductive Chibitronics with Glow City
The ‘glow city’ project in The Tinkering Workshop involves making light-up circuits on cardboard houses. This process can often run into tricky moments when the surface of the material bends and bows, potentially breaking the connections. Luckily our friends at Chibitronics have created a bunch of cool sticker LEDs and conductive patches for repair that make building illuminated villages a breeze.
Mini Automata Kit with Cranky Contraptions
Building cranky contraptions with raw cardboard, wire and foam opens up lots of possibilities for working. To add even more ideas to the mechanism explorations I recommend mini-automata kits from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre and the delightful artist Loulou Cousins. These kits let tinkerers create playful motions and collaged elements.
Pustefix Solution with String Bubble Blowers
There’s bubble solution and then there’s BUBBLE solution. I’ve had conversations with some of the most world renowned bubble masters and they all sing the praises of this German brand. Use it alongside the string bubble blower project to make some absolutely massive bubbles.
Strandbeest Kit with Cardboard Linkages
Building cardboard and brass fastener linkage creations shows a low threshold starting point for these flexible mechanisms and the Theo Jansen Strandbeest kit demonstrates the high-ceiling possibilities. This ‘hackable’ kit can give inspiration for going back and forth between more simple and more complex linkages.
Two Gearmotors with Art Machines
Most of the materials used in the projects in the book can be found around the house but there are a few special parts that you’ll need to source. One of the most important special elements are these little yellow gearmotors. You can find them on SparkFun (along with a wish list that contains all of the needed circuit elements) and build them into your tinkering projects.
Hot Dog Trays with Setting Up a Tinkering Station
A 100-pack of paper hot dog trays is an underrated tinkering gift as these organizational tools make a makers life infinitely easier. I think you can use these simple containers to organize small parts so that you can easily find exactly what you need at any given moment in the project creation.
OctoStudio for Adding Computation to Projects
Use a QR code to “give” this free app to any tinkerer who wants to take the first step for adding code into their physical projects. OctoStudio is a block-based coding program can be used on phones and tablets to make playful projects that can interface with physical materials. I can imagine animated kaleidoscope images, digital windows in cardboard forts and musical levels for stacking.
More Books for Tinkering Inspiration
There were so many inspiring tinkering-related books that I can recommend (and in fact I made a list of over 100 books that connect to my tinkering practice) but here are three that I would like to highlight. The first is Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. I love all of his books about the process of iterating, troubleshooting and sharing creative ideas. The second is for those who want to learn more about electrical parts. Open Circuits by Windell H. Oskay and Eric Schlaepfer gives an unbeliveably beautiful look at the inner workings of all sorts of electronic elements. And finally I recommend everything by Bruno Munari! The book Roses in the Salad is one of my favorites and gives an amazing glimpse at seeing everyday objects in new ways.