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I recently received a copy of GeekDad's Ken Denmead's second book The Geek Dad’s Guide To Weekend Fun, courtesy of Penguin Group, for review purposes.
For days, I’ve been trying to figure out how to review a craft book, as there is no plot to dissect, writing style doesn’t necessarily play a role in the enjoyment of the book, there is no character development to break down, etc. In the end, I decided that it would have to come down to functionality, enjoyment and accessibility.
For me functionality and enjoyment go hand-in-hand with this book. Not only are there loads of neat projects to do with both my boys—aged 12 and nearly 16—but Ken describes some of the science and background behind each project.
I like this because I can hand the book to my children, tell them to read it and pick a couple projects they think would be fun to create—together or on their own—and they’ll end up learning something in the process. If your children are younger, you may have to go about the teaching opportunities given in this book a bit differently. Thankfully, Ken has added a really wonderful introduction, which may help give you some ideas on how to do that.
Personally, I’ve never had a problem getting my boys into the things that I love. I am fortunate that they think every thing I do is really cool and want to participate with me in these activities. Having said that, I know I’m in the minority here. I sure didn’t think my parents were cool and that will be most people’s experiences, so Ken has given a couple ideas on how to circumvent that.
In addition to the background information for each project, there is a handy legend which describes concept and materials needed, plus illustrates cost, difficulty, duration and re-usability. There is also an appendix at the end of the book which serves as a quick reference guide to the aforementioned. The instructions are easy to follow and adapt, if need be. There are many ways to hack these projects and make them your own design. As Ken said in the introduction, “Don’t treat these projects like recipes for delicately crafted soufflés that may implode if you deviate from the instructions slightly. Rather, think of them as guidelines that can get you from a beginning to an end. But it is up to you and your kids to figure out how best to apply these guidelines.”
Then comes accessibility and this is where things become a bit tricky. I live in a small Canadian city. By US standards, it is a small town. My area is not friendly to big box stores. We don’t even have a proper movie theater. Instead, we have a two screen theater with original seats and carpeting from the 60s, reel-to-reel, not equipped for 3D and it is cash-only. There are a couple projects in the book that I’d really like to do with my boys but I’m not even sure if I can buy the parts in town. I’ll either have to order them online and wait for delivery or drive 1.5 hours to the nearest city, round trip, in order to purchase them.
My other personal drawback is that I live in a small, rented suite with no storage, except for a small single closet in my youngest’s bedroom. Because of this, we have nothing unnecessary laying around the house. Things get thrown out pretty quickly around here if they are not immediately of function and use. Not only does this make finding spare parts, just laying around, nearly impossible, there a couple of projects that I would not be able to store when completed, never mind finding the room to build them. While that still leaves me with plenty of other gaming projects and cooking projects to with my family and does not completely limit my ability to make use of the book, I almost feel like a kid who got a really cool Christmas present and my parents forgot to buy the batteries, thus making me have to wait in order to use it.
That being said, I still recommend this book. Even if you are unable to do every single project, there are still learning opportunities for you and your family, plus loads of other projects to sink your teeth and creative brains into. Also, if you simply like to create, craft and hack but don’t have children, I think you’ll enjoy the book. Besides, I think I may be in the minority when it comes to wishing I could do every single project in the book. But that is just my personal opinion. Perhaps the limitation to accessibility, plus my huge want to do every single project, will cause me to find creative solutions. Does any one with a house want to host a robot building party?
You can purchase The Geek Dad’s Guide To Weekend Fun on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound and Powell’s.
