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With Worm Science And Drivable Hammocks, Maker Faire Is an Epic Festival for Geeks

This weekend, hackers, hacks, parents, kids and unicorns that shoot fire all gathered at the World Maker Faire in New York City

Rose Eveleth

Contributor

October 1, 2012

Image: Anna Fischer

This weekend, hackers, hacks, parents, kids and unicorns that shoot fire all gathered at the World Maker Faire in New York City.

The “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth” boasted tons of booths for kids and adults alike to build and experiment with all sorts of gadgets, gizmos and soldering irons. There was Sean Charlesworth, with his Octopod of Doom that we’ve written about before. There was worm science for kids. For the lazy among you, North Street Labs unleashed their drivable hammock. Which is, exactly what it sounds like.

And yes, there was a Katy Perry Unicorn that shot colored fire, sneezed glitter and excreted soda. As Chris Anderson told NPR, “flame shooting is a long Maker Fair tradition.”

Despite difficulties in actually getting to the fair—the extravaganza was held at the New York Hall of Science and the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, on a weekend when the 7 train wasn’t running—the 50,000 who did attend seemed to come away with all sorts of useful skills. For kids, the Maker Faire was a great place to learn to use a soldering iron. New York 1 found William Grant, a seven year old, building a robot. “I just like building different things,” he told them. And, unsurprisingly, the faire was full of 3-D printed everything.

If you couldn’t make it to the fair this weekend, don’t despair. The Make community functions all year round. And there might just be a Maker Faire coming your way soon.

And, if nothing else, look at this picture of President Obama with a kid who built a marshmallow gun for display at Maker Faire last year.