If I had all the time in the world, my mornings would look like this: 7:00 Morning run 8:00 Meditation 8:15 Make a hot breakfast for my family 9:00 Sing 9:30 Write 10:15 Tinker in my workshop 11:45 Tidy But I have three little kids, a career, friends, the vibrant treasures of Los Angeles to...
Author: Jonathan Bijur
Trash and recycling in Santa Monica, CA; tinkering our way to a better planet
As you drive into Santa Monica on I-10, you’ll pass a huge American flag on the right side of the highway. This flies over Southern California Disposal, the main transfer station for all garbage produced by Santa Monica and selected surrounding neighborhoods. Take the exit and make a few rights and soon you’ll find yourself...
Book Review: Tinkering by Curt Gabrielson
Tinkering: Kids Learn by Making Stuff, from Maker Media, is great for parents or educators who have some experience tinkering and are looking for ideas for projects and advice on improving a tinkering workshop and fostering a culture of exploration. Author Curt Gabrielson draws on his extensive experience as a tinkering teacher at the Community...
Tinker Bell is, guess what, a tinkerer
If all you know of Tinker Bell is the spot of light in the play or the wordless sprite in the 1953 film, the modern Disney machine has transformed her into, wait for it, a tinkerer. In a 2008 reboot and many subsequent movies, books, games, etc., Tinker Bell is now a representative of a...
There’s Treasure Everywhere!
I keep finding myself mentally shouting “There’s Treasure Everywhere!” It’s the title of a Calvin and Hobbes book, which like all Calvin and Hobbes, celebrates the explosive power of a child’s imagination. Calvin means it literally, as he digs holes in his backyard, and by Bill Watterson figuratively that the world is full of wonders...
Rosie Revere is an Engineer. But is she a tinkerer?
Andrea Beaty’s Rosie Revere, Engineer is a beloved modern classic children’s book. Rosie is a kid who never stops inventing fantastical machines, such as python-repelling cheese hats. Through the course of the story she overcomes failures, embarrassment, and fear, with a little encouragement from her great-great-aunt Rose, a WWII Rosie the Riveter. It’s a great...