THIS WEEKEND - Austin Mini Maker Faire

This weekend down in Austin one of my favorite events of the year is happening--The Austin Mini-Maker Fair.  This is a chance for you and your kids to get hands on creating everything from stuffed animals to Lego Robotics.   Don't let the "mini" fool you...there is more than enough to do to fill a whole day.

There was so much to do last year.   Here's a sampling...

They always have some amazing mechanical creatures, like this bird who

moved his head, claws, and beak.



There were fun robots to play with.

And a lobster car (all those lobsters dance).

But the best stuff is the hands on stuff, like this marshmellow shooter.

We didn't get to keep it, but we did get to try it out.

But there was lots of other stuff we made and did get to keep.

My son worked diligently to finish a stuffed rocket that, because it used conductive thread, could be used as a pen for an iPad or iPhone!  How cool is that!  We still have it but not sure where it is now, so unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished piece.  This is why we didn't get to all the exhibits.  There's just a lot of them that you could sit at and create for a long time.  If you have several kids you'll want to either split up or agree beforehand which projects everyone wants to do. 

This was a nice touch.  When you have young kids that have been walking around for a while, the Happy Hut is a nice quiet place to sit and cool off with a book and just chill for a while.  Whoever thought of this...thank you!

I didn't even get pictures inside...where my husband spent most of the day with our older too kids.  We  get in there in time to enjoy the planetarium, and to do some building with lego mindstorms. 

It was a fun, fun day....well worth the price ($15 for adults, $10 for kids).  This is going on THIS Saturday and Sunday, May 16 - 17.  

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