A man asked me recently what was I most proud of making. I answered without even thinking about it: “My family.” I realize how lucky I am to have a wonderful family, a product of love and effort, and like other things in my life, I couldn’t have done it alone. (Thanks to my wife, Nancy.) My family and I are enjoying a trip to Italy this week. Traveling together to experience history, culture and food of Rome and Sicily is a great joy.

To honor Maker Dads this weekend, we have four stories — two of which came from submissions by readers of this newsletter last week. Plus we have an excerpt from the Make: book, Making Makers by AnnMarie Thomas.

All of us at Make: wish Dads and Granddads a special Father’s Day.

I came across Peter Kaminski’s reflection on the tools his father used as a home woodworker and the AI tools that Peter now uses. He thinks his father would have really enjoyed building systems to make things with AI. The connection that Peter makes between his father’s way of working and his own seems like a fitting appreciation for Father’s Day.

We published Peter’s edited article in Make: Vol97 titled “Woodworking Tools and Knowledge Tools” and I put online this week Peter’s original article.

Retired engineer Eric Albert, Ph.D., wrote me last and shared the story of how his father knew how to be resourceful, which served him well in the Merchant Marine and in life. "If he didn't know how to do it, he would take time to learn the ins and outs of what was needed," wrote Dr. Albert about his father. Dr. Albert himself developed an interest in electronics and designing electronic devices as both a hobby and a profession.

Hans Stam, who lives in Berlin and consults on getting things made in Shenzhen, wrote me to tell me about his two children, Lizzy and Peter, who have become makers. Hans has also worked with his son to create a website, raiseabuilder.com, which is "dedicated to raising kids that love to make things."

When I think of Maker Dads, I think of projects that Dads can do together with their kids. Make: Editor Sam Freeman published on Makezine a collection of projects that his father would have enjoyed.

There's no one way to raise a maker, but it’s clear parents make a huge difference, even if they themselves are not makers. It's not just that parents expose their kids to maker skills or that they reinforce certain habits of mind, like resourcefulness. Parents who encourage their children to make things are introducing them to a way of learning as well as a way of living.

“Makers are curious,” writes AnnMarie Thomas in Chapter 2 of Making Makers, a book that explores how parent can support the process of their children becoming makers.

Chapter 2 is provided as an excerpt in PDF below.

Make Things is a weekly newsletter for the Maker community from Make:. This newsletter lives on the web at makethings.make.co

I’d love to hear from you if you have ideas, projects or news items about the maker community. Email me - [email protected].