MAKE magazine

When you pick up an issues of MAKE magazine, you never quite know what you will find. Unlike many do it yourself (DIY) magazines that focus on crafts or home repairs, MAKE seems to go out of its way to pack an eclectic mix if projects in each quarterly issue. For instance, one issue has everything from making a robot, to a mini fume extractor, to a simple child's memory game made from only paper, to plywood furniture.

And that's just a sample of the dozen or so projects in a 175 page issue. There are also many inspirational articles highlighting artists, machinists, programmers, and scientists who are all making interesting things. Each issue has a theme, but there are many projects outside the theme as well as regular columns. One of my favorite regular columns is called "Make Money" for which the tag line is "Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself."

The magazine is best suited for teen to adult readers, however, we've completed several projects with our much younger children. Our daughter made her own lip balm, my son worked with his dad to make a vibro-bot, and both kids made a homemade cotton candy machine. Many projects require some experience with the tools and processes involved, others are suitable for beginning makers.

If you visit the website, be sure to stop by the Maker SHED for dream collection of books and kits for makers of all ages.