MakerKids

Web developer Andy Forest wanted to share his love of computing with his kids, so he ran an informal tech-based summer camp in his garage for his own brood and a few neighbourhood friends. His students — and their parents — immediately begged him for more. So when he bought a building in 2012 to house his own tech company, he renovated the basement to create a maker’s space for kids. MakerKids emerged, quickly becoming so popular it took over the entire place.

A maker is a loose term for someone who tinkers with technology, and a maker’s space is a place to explore ways to incorporate technology into designing new objects. Makers build or re-build components of electronics with other objects to make new creations, often tweaking both hardware and software to produce hybrid creations. Andy and his partner Jenn Turliuk recognize that this kind of play is natural for kids raised in our technology-dominated world. But rather than have our youth turn into passive consumers, MakerKids gives kids the chance to control technology and make it their own.

Jenn draws on her education from NASA’s Singularity University to help Andy keep pace with the demand for technology-based learning. Kids can take 10-week courses in electrifying subjects such as Arduino robotics, videogame programming or Internet controlled robotics. Summer camps are equally compelling, with titles like Minecraft & Digital Media Camps, Toy & Game Inventors Camp and Entrepreneurship Camp. Jenn’s favourite class combines toy-hacking with robotics, which creates some singularly styled, super-charged playthings.