Do-It-Yourself Project Books
These books include lots of great projects to work on by yourself or with others, from Scratch and Minecraft to fun maker space projects.
The Big Book of Maker Space Projects
What can’t you do with this book? That’s the question. There are projects for paper, smartphones, 3D printing, littleBits, sewing circuits, MakeyMakey, and more. Plus a section on low cost projects. The emphasis is on helping kids and adults discover the fun and joy of experimenting, creating, and learning through doing.
Written by a wife and husband team of long-time school librarians with a couple decades experience teaching kids hands on project learning, this is a well organized and thought out book. You’ll find it easy to get started.
ISBN: 978-1-25-964425-2
https://colleengraves.org/bigmakerbook/
From Video Games to Real Life
Written by a librarian based on her experiences in an active and innovative maker program, this book describes how to use Minecraft, 3D printing, sound, and other technologies to engage kids in projects and library events. There’s lots of useful details.
ISBN: 978-1-4408-4378-5
http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A5049P
Scratch Programming Playground
While there are many Scratch books, plus online materials, this book teaches the block drag and drop program through a series of video games kids can create by themselves and with help from adults. The adults also will find the games fun to create and tweak. Create maze runner, snake, brick breakers, and fruit slicer games.
ISBN: 978-1-59327-762-8
https://www.nostarch.com/scratchplayground
Block City: How to Build Incredible Worlds in Minecraft
Thirty-six amazing projects of futuristic cities, fantasy kingdoms, and zones. Strategies and techniques included.
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1618-8
http://www.abramsbooks.com/product/block-city-how-to-build-incredible-worlds-in-minecraft_9781419716188/
Hello Ruby
Ruby is a small girl with a huge imagination. Her adventures in this book teach any kid (and adults) the basic concepts of software programming. Activities are included in every chapter to fire up the imagination of readers. An approachable book for readers.
ISBN: 978-1-250-06500-1
http://www.helloruby.com/
Learn More
The Big Book of Maker Space Projects
https://colleengraves.org/bigmakerbook/
From Video Games to Real Life
http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A5049P
Scratch Programming Playground
https://www.nostarch.com/scratchplayground
Block City: How to Build Incredible Worlds in Minecraft
Hello Ruby
Author
Also In The December 2016 Issue
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Links from the bottom of all the December 2016 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.
Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology for December 2016.
What sounds like a country western dance actually is an efficient way to sort large sets of data randomly.
