DIY Author Coming to Farmers Market to Build Water Rockets and Boomerangs with Kids
David Erik Nelson – water rocket building with kids at 2012 Detroit Maker Faire. Photo by Chris Salzman.
This Thursday from 4 to 7pm, award-winning DIY author and tinkerer David Erik Nelson is coming to the Manchester Farmers Market to show kids and their parents how to build make-and-take cardboard boomerangs and water rockets out of household materials. This free event will be hosted at the Manchester District Library booth.
Click HERE to watch a 45 sec long video of Nelson building and launching a water rocket.
Why water rockets? All you need to build one is a cork, tire stem, bike pump, bottle, and water. They are a safe, simple, cheap way for kids to experiment with rocketry and get a grasp on engineering concepts involved. Nelson explained “In order to put a rocket up in the air, you need to lift its entire mass. So, the lighter the rocket, the easier it is to launch. But you need fuel to launch, and fuel is heavy (in the case of the water rocket, roughly 92% of the mass of the launchable rocket is just the fuel). Making a rocket work is thus a matter of finding this balance between having enough fuel to reach the maximum height, but not so much fuel that your rocket is too heavy to get off the ground.” He also pointed out that water rockets beg for further exploration using the scientific method. Kids naturally want to try modifying them, experimenting with different amounts of water, pressure, bottles, etc.
Photo of Nelson-built water rocket about to be launched at 2012 Detroit Maker Faire. Photo by Chris Salzman.
Water rockets and cardboard boomerangs are 2 of the 24 projects in Nelson’s book Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred, published in 2010. It is packed full of heavily illustrated instructions for inexpensive projects kids and adults can build together, ranging from PVC teepees to a steam-powered milk carton boat to homemade musical instruments. He will have copies of his book available for sale.
Building water rockets is just 1 of 24 DIY projects featured in Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids by Nelson.
When asked why it’s important to make things with kids. Nelson replied “When you and your kids explore how to make things, you open yourselves up to the primary satisfaction in life: Getting exactly what you want. Because, when you make it yourself, you get to make it however you want. If I want a flashlight gourd–well, let’s be real: I’m *never* gonna find one in WalMart or REI or in the battery aisle at the drug store. But a quick trip to the farmers’ market this fall and a fistful of components I’ve already got on my workbench, and I could make a dozen of them, each unique, and each exactly how I want them to be. That’s incredibly, incredibly satisfying–and the weird truth is that every day we have access to more things (movies! music! books! cat videos!), but end up feeling less satisfied. I can’t recall the last time I watched a YouTube video and it made me feel as satisfied as cutting the first slice of bread off of a loaf I’ve just baked.”
Stop by the Farmers Market with your kids after school on Thursday and try your hand at water-rocketry and cardboard boomerangery or ask questions about DIY projects with kids. Nelson stated that he’s happy to talk about basically whatever folks want to talk about.
DIY author David Erik Nelson will be at the library booth at the Manchester Farmers Market Thursday, Sept. 4 from 4pm – 7pm to make water rockets and cardboard boomerangs with parents and kids. Photo courtesy of David Erik Nelson
David Erik Nelson is a freelance writer and former high school teacher. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and kids. He developed the water rocket project and others in his book at an alternative school, with plenty of feedback from his students. He is currently working on a new book: “Junkyard Jam Band: DIY Musical Instruments and Noisemakers” which will be aimed at elementary aged kids and adults and full of DIY musical instruments from nearly conventional (like an electric uke and a thumb piano you can plug into an amp) to pretty zany (like a “Droid Voicebox” voice-changer, little synthesizers, and water-proof pickups that allow you to amplify *anything*). He has done similar presentations at three Detroit Maker Faires, the Kerrytown Bookfest, two Detroit-Area Steampunk sci-fi conventions, and several Ann Arbor District Library events. He also happens to be an award-winning science-fiction author and essayist. His fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, StarShipSofa, and elsewhere (online and off). All proceeds from book sales go to paying for groceries and his mortgage. Find him online HERE.
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