Easy 1+2+3 Projects: From the Pages of Make:

289 Pages·2015·16.31 MB·English

From the Pages of Make:
Easy 1+2+3 Projects
By the Editors of Make:
Copyright © 2015 Maker Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in Canada.
Published by Maker Media, Inc.,
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978-1-68045-044-6
[TCP]
Preface

“1+2+3” has been a regular feature of Make: magazine since its
earliest days.
As the name implies, the projects are all “as easy as 1, 2, 3.” Each
project is explained with a handful of easy-to-follow, step-by-step
instructions and simple, clear illustrations.
In the pages that follow, you’ll find projects that are fun, artistic, useful,
and educational. Most are perfect rainy-day activities that you can do with
kids. Parents and educators will find lots of suitable home and classroom
activities. A handful of the projects may call for garage workshop tools
such as a saw or a drill, but many require nothing more than scissors and
tape.
It’s easy to follow along and re-create the projects just as the authors
have presented them. But, of course, you can also use them as
springboards for your own ideas, mods, and hacks.
Let your creativity flow!
Part I: Toys and Games

YOUNG IMAGINATIONS get their greatest workouts from toys and
games that they make themselves or with a little help from parents and
educators. The simple but sturdy design of Ed Lewis’s “Fast Toy Wood
Car” is a great example. You can make it with a few basic workshop tools
and inexpensive materials; and it’s a perfect platform for putting
imaginations to work on new designs and modifications.
Paul Rawlinson explains how to make a working miniature canon using
party poppers. Gus Dassios provides instructions for a different kind of
popper—one that will liven up your next board game. A design engineer
by profession, Gus says, “When I’m not sleeping (and even then
sometimes), I’m always thinking of the next thing I want to make.”
Edwin Wise is a master of Halloween props and scares. His startle-
inducing “Boom Stick” is reprinted in The Best of Make: Volume 2. In
“Ping-Ponger,” Edwin shows you how to make something a little less
scary but still full of potential surprises.
Julie Finn says her children are the inspiration behind most of her Maker
projects. Julie’s “Custom Memory Game” is a great way to challenge
young minds. Check out her blog posts online at Crafting a Green World
for more great ideas for kids.
Ben Wendt, a lifelong tinkerer, has also been inspired by his kids to take
his Maker projects on further explorations. You may be inspired by his
“Remote-Controlled Camera Mount” project to make a “Hale’s Tour” of
your own neighborhood.
Ian Gonsher is an artist, designer, and educator on the faculty in the
school of engineering at Brown University. His “Coffee Shop Construction
Toy” demonstrates how to enlist simple everyday objects as design tools.
George W. Hart is research professor in the engineering school at Stony
Brook University, as well as a freelance mathematical sculptor and
designer. His “Two-Cent Wobbler” (aka two-circle roller) is addictively fun
to watch roll down an incline, but for the mathematically minded it also
demonstrates some important principles.