We have been going to the Maker Faire, created by our friends at O'Reilly Media, since its very beginning! Caterina has even written for one of their magazines, Craft.
It is just as fun and fascinating as it looks! We have gotten special clay that we used for making models of cells, hula hoops for, um, homeschool sports, little bottles to wear as necklaces for which we made magical potions. One kid was super interested in the aerodynamics of paper airplanes and entered a paper airplane competition; there were 3D printers everywhere making incredible stuff, robots, sewing, papercraft, you name it. The big one in San Mateo was a bit overwhelming to be honest, so we like the little ones. There was one in Greenbrae, in the parking lot of the strip mall there, where we met the guy who invented those fantastic maze balls, the Perplexus! He even had the original models that he had made out of wood and tubing and tape-- it was amazing.We have a lot of these.
There's something for everyone! Musical instruments, new games invented by kids, sports, cooking, doll-making. I really recommend going if you can get a ticket. It sells out every year.
