I learnt a lot on Saturday. With every maker event there are opportunities for collaborations and family learning activities, and this weekend’s #MakeBelieve focus was about young people imagining the tech of the future.
That saw paired projects with peers, intergenerational activities and individual inspirations and inventions at Leeds City Museum – all part of the awesome programme from the Leeds International Festival, and curated by Playful Leeds.
We transported Leeds Raspberry Jam to the festival with a range of family-friendly challenges.
Digital making projects using Raspberry Pi included Minecraft hacks with Python, gaming with Scratch and exploring connections with GPIO.
With imagination as the catalyst for invention, it was great to see how challenges progressed and digital stories changed directions with questions and input from others; not necessarily from a coding perspective.
We also had examples of projects from the group of digital makers at Swallow Hill, who have been making Yorkshire-themed robots and taking inspiration from the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s #Pioneers programme.
So what did I learn? On reflection later that evening, and catching up with the day’s news:
I want to bring back my imagination and gawp at the future like a child again. And then I’ll reflect like an adult. And then as a child. And as an inventor. I’ll reflect on them all as inspiration and insight, thanks.
Shout out to Playful Anywhere for inviting us along and curating a Maker event in Leeds for, literally, everyone. Through the eyes of the children and their inventions, I came away with so many ideas.
And to @BloodyNoraDJ for the images taken on the day – every one a unique maker story 😀
It looks a truly wonderful day and you’re right – children are so inventive. We do need to be like them!
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