Maker Dad: Lunch Box Guitars, Antigravity Jars, and 22 Other Incredibly Cool Father-Daughter DIY Projects

I'm a father of 2 girls (5 and 9 years) who've decided they want to be a construction worker and electrical engineer (respectively) but both are still girls who love girl things. The book is a perfect mix of wood-working, crafting, electrical and computer projects for the ages of my girls as well as much older. For those unfamiliar with electrical work and soldering, the projects start simple and get more complex. Similar goes for the wood-working. At a minimum you need hand tools and a soldering iron ($10). However, a band-saw, chop/miter saw and drill press will make the projects go smoother. To the chagrin of my wife, I am always looking for excuses to buy more power tools. Many of the projects (skateboard, etc) would be of interest to a son as well but about 1/2 are definitely designed for girls.

I almost sent this back but for $10 I'll keep it around. There's a game programing tutorial in here that looked intriguing enough that if it's still relevant when my kid is old enough I may revisit it. There's a few fun day projects for littles but most of the projects are more appropriate for kids 8-ish and beyond. And they'll take longer than a few hours to accomplish. I think I was looking for a more comprehensive book on crafty stuff for my kids who are preschool age (4 and 6). Maybe in another year or so this Maker Dad book will hold more interest for the kiddos.

My daughters and I love the projects in this book. We're attacking one about each second weekend: so far, we did the anti gravity jar (using old hard disk magnets), the soap project (we're distributing soapy footprints now), and the "friendstrument" (even the baby is amazed). Only thing missing: I'd love to have some "satisfying for children" educational background info on some projects, i.e., presented in a way that would provide suggestions for explaining what's going on to my daughters, such as why the silicon hardens, or why there's a capacitor in the circuit. They don't prepare you for that in grad school! :-)

This was recommended to me by another dad. Some of the items are a little hard to build but my daughter and I are up for the challenge. Super fun and creative items in here that people love to talk about when they see them. Highly recommended for any DIYer dad.

I think Mark F hits just the perfect tone here. Highly motivated parents who already do lots of DIY projects with or without their kids will find plenty of fun things to do here. The less motivated parents who might be new to DIY projects will find good instruction and encouragement, and might actually try some of these projects. I like Mark's "you don't have to be an expert" and " embrace mistakes" attitude. There's a great mix of topics.You and your kids will learn about electronics, wood working, cooking, programming, logic, etc. while you make fun kid-stuff like skateboards, magic trick, snacks, jewelry, and lots more. Fun for moms and sons, too! ; - )

My husband was really tickled to get this. There’s some great ideas and he and our daughter are going to have some real memory building time together!

Great project ideas. Best for older kids.

Son does crafts like this with his daughters all the time. They sat with their heads together planning how they were going to make some of the items.

Super cute and totally doable ideas. Good difficulty rating scale. Would buy again for other dads!

My daughter and fiancé absolutely loved this! Perfect gift idea

I'm a father of 2 girls (5 and 9 years) who've decided they want to be a construction worker and electrical engineer (respectively) but both are still girls who love girl things. The book is a perfect mix of wood-working, crafting, electrical and computer projects for the ages of my girls as well as much older. For those unfamiliar with electrical work and soldering, the projects start simple and get more complex. Similar goes for the wood-working. At a minimum you need hand tools and a soldering iron ($10). However, a band-saw, chop/miter saw and drill press will make the projects go smoother. To the chagrin of my wife, I am always looking for excuses to buy more power tools. Many of the projects (skateboard, etc) would be of interest to a son as well but about 1/2 are definitely designed for girls.

I almost sent this back but for $10 I'll keep it around. There's a game programing tutorial in here that looked intriguing enough that if it's still relevant when my kid is old enough I may revisit it. There's a few fun day projects for littles but most of the projects are more appropriate for kids 8-ish and beyond. And they'll take longer than a few hours to accomplish. I think I was looking for a more comprehensive book on crafty stuff for my kids who are preschool age (4 and 6). Maybe in another year or so this Maker Dad book will hold more interest for the kiddos.

My daughters and I love the projects in this book. We're attacking one about each second weekend: so far, we did the anti gravity jar (using old hard disk magnets), the soap project (we're distributing soapy footprints now), and the "friendstrument" (even the baby is amazed). Only thing missing: I'd love to have some "satisfying for children" educational background info on some projects, i.e., presented in a way that would provide suggestions for explaining what's going on to my daughters, such as why the silicon hardens, or why there's a capacitor in the circuit. They don't prepare you for that in grad school! :-)

This was recommended to me by another dad. Some of the items are a little hard to build but my daughter and I are up for the challenge. Super fun and creative items in here that people love to talk about when they see them. Highly recommended for any DIYer dad.

I think Mark F hits just the perfect tone here. Highly motivated parents who already do lots of DIY projects with or without their kids will find plenty of fun things to do here. The less motivated parents who might be new to DIY projects will find good instruction and encouragement, and might actually try some of these projects. I like Mark's "you don't have to be an expert" and " embrace mistakes" attitude. There's a great mix of topics.You and your kids will learn about electronics, wood working, cooking, programming, logic, etc. while you make fun kid-stuff like skateboards, magic trick, snacks, jewelry, and lots more. Fun for moms and sons, too! ; - )

My husband was really tickled to get this. There’s some great ideas and he and our daughter are going to have some real memory building time together!

Great project ideas. Best for older kids.

Son does crafts like this with his daughters all the time. They sat with their heads together planning how they were going to make some of the items.

Super cute and totally doable ideas. Good difficulty rating scale. Would buy again for other dads!

My daughter and fiancé absolutely loved this! Perfect gift idea

Good resource

A good book, but agree with others that you need to read and get the supplies to execute the projects. Not a lot you can just do spur of the moment.

Way too complicated... I thought it’ll be more Accessible.

Daughter and I love this book. Awesome ideas and we love to read it together and make things.

There are tons of possibilities with this book! I like the magic tricks. And the robots. Robots are really cool.

handy son loved this guide for projects to do with his 5 year old daughter

Awesome Book!! So many great ideas. I would highly recommend!

It's a cool book but I wish there more activities that reflected a variety of ages. I'll definitely use it.

This is a cute book with some projects to help a dad spend time with his child.

Looking forward to working through this boom with my daughter.

Husband loved this as his gift from our girls for Father's Day.

engaging to both my 11 year old daughter and myself. a great book!

So many great projects. We went from selecting which projects to do to prioritizing them all in order.

Cool, lots of good stuff.

We loved it! It was a perfect Christmas present for Daddy!

Dad and daughter are having fun with this book!

We love the giant bubbles, cant wait to make a drawbot!

Good activities to Fathers and Daughters.

Well written with easy to follow instructions.

Many of the activities were mentioned on a brief TV program. Thought there would would be more activities.

Lots of great projects.

Have only glanced through the book so far but I'm a little disappointed so far.

I was excited to get this book, because I enjoy doing little projects around the house with my daughters. And there are some really, really neat projects in here, although most are likely best for kids at least slightly older than mine. It is clearly written, with step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow, and the author's personal notes give you context for each project. I don't think, though, that I'll be making many of the projects in the book, mostly because I don't have the tools to do so. Looking at the helpful list of tools you'll need, there are some things I'd imagine would be in every house (hammer, pushpins, scissors) and others that might not be (30-watt soldering iron, rotary cutting tool, Surform Shaver). Investing in the tools to make everything in this book is quite a big step if you're not sure you'll be able to actually execute the plans with any degree of competence, and I can see how people who aren't skilled at using the tools could be put off by that. If you've got a ton of tools already, though, this is a great book that will give you some good ideas on things you can make with your kids.

I loved making things with my Dad in his workshop, and it wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized how special I/he was for those experiences. Now, as a young adult, it's even clearer how stronger I am as a woman for it. There is a Verizon commercial running right now about how impressionable girls are to adult's unintentional gender-normative language around hobbies, that I think is fabulous and totally related to the goals of this book. At the end it points out that 66% of 4th grade girls like science and math, but only 18% of college engineering majors are female. I love the activities in this book, almost as much as my husband and daughter do. They had a ball with the lunchbox guitar and have their sights set next for silk-screening. This is not the first book I have bought at the beginning of summer vacation for project ideas, but it's definitely one of the best. Another I highly suggest is

Disclosure: Not every Mom is like me. When my daughter was small, she watched me repair plumbing and install a new toilet while her Daddy vacuumed the carpet. Every parent has different skill sets, and it's just a weird coincidence that this book meshes so well with mine. Whee! When I read this, I wished that my daughter was a kid again, so we could do all these cool projects, from a three string personalized lunchbox guitar to your own dehydrated "Astronaut" ice cream, which is even better than the expensive cubes you get at the Museum Gift Shop. There are 24 way cool projects, and at least a few of them will mesh well with the things that interest you. The directions are so detailed and there are so many photos describing each step that if you have the slightest skill in following directions, you can do these. If you can crochet a sweater or make your own pasta, you have more than enough skill to make these projects. Don't let the electronics stuff scare you. These projects are great for parents of any age, but your kids should be school aged (ideally pre-teen) to get the most out of the finished I mean, you can make your own silkscreened tee shirts with a three year old, but the parent will end up doing all the work, and the kid will be too young to remember.* This book fills that niche for when your kids are too old for coloring books and some such, but too young to start learning to drive. Besides, if you make three or four of these things with your kid and her friends, you will be the coolest parent in the neighborhood, maybe even the coolest planet in town! * = When my daughter was three, we sponge painted tee shirts with fish and glitter and made ourselves matching tee shirts for our visit to the Aquarium. The shirts came in handy; whenever one of the kids with me began to wander off, a passerby knew to return the child to me, as we were obviously together. Screen printing would have been entirely beyond my daughter's skill and interest level at that age, though. It was more of a middle school project.

This DIY soft cover book for dads and their daughters(although moms and boys could be involved, too!) offers a couple dozen projects ranging from science to magic to music to artistic to silly. We have two daughters ages 7 & 10, and since I'm off on Mondays, mom takes a break, and we do Daddy-daughter day. We homeschool and always are looking for various learning activities that capture the imagination, encourage creativity and allow the children to participate wholeheartedly. This is a neat book that spells out all kinds of fun and education as well. There's a short intro explaining the nature of making mistakes, a page for the Maker Dad Toolbox, stuff like, rat-tail file, surform shaver, pen-type soldering iron, brushes, screwdrivers, and such; however, you can pick out your project and put together your material list as needed. He features differing degrees of difficulty(more like time involved), and gives a short talk about how the idea came to pass, a list of what's needed and a step by step guide with pictures(ours were in B&W for the advanced reading copy- not sure if they'll be in color-would be nice). So far, the projects we've done have turned out as expected: make a antigravity jar- pretty basic magic trick requiring tape, thread, metal clip jar with lid, magnet and a pair of scissors; some woodworking tasks like making a simple "Mid-century Chair- Dad needs to do the jigsawing; make a giant bubble making wand- took a bit of work and right conditions to get it going. These projects require, obviously, supervision, but the key, I think, is to allow the youngsters to do as much of the work as possible, which can be hard for a do-it-all dad to stand; however, it may take longer but that's more and better time spent with them. Overall, a well laid out DIY book to entice quality fun time for parents and children together- more is needed.

OK. I just feel like an idiot after reading this book. Most of the projects were either boring to me or too complicated. I guess I was looking for something more in the line of: go to the garage and forage for parts and come up with a water purifier.

As we enter the summer vacation season, Maker Dad could be a great way to help the kids stave off some "I'm bored" days. As others have pointed out, almost all of the projects here are likely to be enjoyed by both boys and girls, and I had to do some explaining to my young male "reviewers" that they could well enjoy the book even if it says "daughters" on the cover. (Nice to see that, though there is some pink on the cover, it is definitely not a full-out princess pink color scheme. Hope that carries through in the final, full color editions.) Looking at the topics made it clear that this author respects kids of both genders and of many ages and skill levels, and his instructions are pretty clear in general, with careful explanations and equipment lists throughout. The biggest problem that I found with the book is that it is almost too eclectic. A few of the projects are extremely elementary, but then there are some full-out, Popular Mechanics type stuff that a lot of families I know just won't be able to do. Many of the supplies lists and equipment are just not part of many modern households, either because of budget limitations or lack of skill, and I can envision some kids getting their hopes up that they will be able to do everything in the book, only to be disappointed when the projects just can't be started...or completed. So, I recommend this book for those parents looking for things they can do together with their kids (and that means letting the kids do as much of the work as they are able to do safely). Just be aware that, unless you are really, really handy and well equipped, you will probably need to tackle only part of the work. Of course, maybe this will so whet your appetite, you'll end up going out and getting more tools so you CAN try out the most complex of these works of fun.

I got this because my husband loves making things on his workbench and I thought it would give some ideas of things to make with our children. The good: Some of the projects on here are really neat and there’s a large variety of them. There’s things to cook, woodworking, paper crafts, electronics (transistors) jewelry and lost more. The lunch box guitar project looks complicated but also pretty awesome, the drawbot is interesting, and of course, you can’t go wrong with giant bubbles. The book I got was in black and white because it is an advanced reader’s copy, however the final one you receive will be in color which makes a huge difference because this book has lots of photos of the entire process and the finished product. It’s great for visually oriented people. Each project has a rating of either E for easy and quick, M for moderately challenging and C for challenging skill builder so you can choose which is best suited to your level of experience. I also give the author props for including electronic things, like how to make a Retro Arcade Video Game. Yes, it requires a specialized program, Scratch, to make it, but the program is free! What a great way to introduce kids to computer programming! The bad: I know this is a pet peeve of mine, but why are these projects marketed towards just fathers and their daughters? There’s plenty here for boys to enjoy and moms too! Do we have to pigeonhole our children and ourselves? Can’t we just make it “Fun projects to make with kids!” (Okay, I’m off my soapbox now…) And yes, some of the projects do require a lot of time and some uncommon supplies, but to me, this is not a detractor. You’re spending quality time with your kids making something that he/she will be proud of and like. Overall, I think this would be a great book for EVERYONE, not just maker dads and their daughters.

Twenty four projects plus a discussion of what tools are needed for the projects and an essay on the merits of mistakes. The essay is an author's foreword, and worth reading not just for someone who wants to make fun projects with their daughters. It reminded me a bit of some parts of "Steal Like An Artist". It was a great little sentiment for anyone creating anything. The tool list was comprehensive for the projects in the book, but a little odd compared to generalist tool box recommendations I have seen. Good for the purpose, I just wouldn't use it as the basis for a full tool set. The projects are wonderful fun stuff and run a full range of difficulty. From the antigravity jar, which requires no tools, and the giant bubble wand which can be done only with scissors, to the "friendinstrument" which takes hand tools and soldering, and the Arduino, a microcontroller popular with artists. The kite video is an interesting case, as it takes tools and electronics skills, but has much ongoing fun potential. But art projects, simple furniture, and computer projects are also represented. Instructions are clear and well illustrated, and span a wide range of interests and ages. If you are a tinkerer, you will like this. If you are not a tinkerer but wish to start, this is a great introduction, and not just for daughters and dads. E.M. Van Court

This book includes 24 different projects equally divided between (E) Easy and Quick, (M) Moderately Challenging, and (C) Challenging. There is really a lot of nice and diverse activities in this book so chances are you will find several that you and your child(ren) will like. The directions are very clear and complete so once you decided on a project you should be able to complete it if have all of the required materials. Some of the projects only require a few common or inexpensive items that you probably have around your house anyway. For example the giant bubble wand requires an old cotton T-shirt, string, 2 sticks, 1 large metal washer, bubble solution, plastic bucket or large bowl, scissors and optional drill. However there are several projects that require quite a few items that you will need to go out and purchase. For example, if you are interested in making the lunch box guitar you will need the following materials: 27 to 36-inch length of 1 x 2 wood, metal lunch box, masking tape, box of toothpicks, 3 screws, acrylic paints, high-gloss polyurethane spray paint, 3 tuning pegs, a set of electric guitar strings, wooden barbeque skewer, pencil stub. Then you will need the following tools: band saw or hand saw, square, ruler, pencil, rotary cutting tool, drills and bits, 3/4-inch diameter spade bit, file, sandpaper of various grits, gel-style superglue, nail clippers, Surform shaver, woodworking clamps, pushpin, plastic bag, scotch tape, and a small Phillips-head screwdriver. Overall, there are some nice projects here--and the directions are good. Just be aware that this is not a book on how to make neat stuff with items you have lying around your house!

Overall there are 24 projects in this book. The inside page breaks things down for the lazy and ambitious alike, providing an E, M, or C to each task (Easy, Moderate, Challenging). Some are very simple, easily amazing young minds (e.g. antigravity jar), while a few others like the Retro Arcade Video Game actually require a person to learn how to do some programming. Given my computer science degree, and the fact that it took me quite some time to teach others the simple concept of “if…else” statements, this is probably something a bit esoteric to be used by most. Having said that, however, the book provides a good enough blend to make it interesting and well worth the money. Some are giant projects as far as I’m concerned. I have worked with wood, but deciding to just make a Mid-Century Rocking Chair is quite an endeavor. Other tasks, like ones that require transistors, resistors, and capacitors (oh my!), are more than most are probably going to mess with. I plan on making astronaut ice cream many times in the future with my children, and I hope to introduce them to the Mu Torere as well. Highly recommended!

Let's be honest; this is an old genre. Many books like this have been written, many more will be, and most are worthy investments. As it happens, this one was written by Make Magazine editor Mark Frauenfelder with his daughters; although any parent and child will like most of these projects, this one was created with the help of girls, and reflects a little different perspective from the usual. It covers a lot of ground, from old chestnuts like the lunchbox guitar to modern innovations like Scratch and Arduino programming. There's some traditional crafting (including some pretty heavy-duty carpentry in the form of a rocking chair and a skateboard), but there's also a lot of electronics work, including a musical biofeedback gadget called a Friendstrument and aerial photography with a kite, and a fair amount of content devoted to gaming, including a game one of the Frauenfelder girls came up with called Mixie Stix and a retro-style arcade game as a Scratch tutorial. With a little direction and research, the book even serves up hooks for science projects. If you've always liked these books, you'll like this one too, even if you're a mother or son. Frauenfelder and his girls are good at what they do and I hope this won't be the last book of its type that they put together.

Have you got a curious little one eager to do "experiments" and "build stuff"? This may be the perfect book for you. Well designed and described projects will provide hours and hours of meaningful, productive, fun (and sneakily educational!) time together. Though the cover touts "Father-Daughter DIY Projects", adults and children of either gender will appreciate many of the fun activities included within. Kids age 5 - 12 would seem to be this book's sweet spot, but there's some projects of more advanced difficulty that will appeal to those past the higher edges. The projects are not so basic that you'll be able to complete everything with stuff lying around your home (unless you live in a General Store). With varying difficultly, some tasks require no tools at all and at least one requires soldering. With a little planning and the "ingredients list" included, you'll be primed and ready for some great fun.

This book was written for me. At least it appears perfectly targeted to fathers like me: technical professionals with two daughters, who could use some time away from their dolls, ballet, and other girly activities. They need to build (and destroy) things. What better guide than a book that encourages readers to learn from their mistakes? I have come to appreciate my "design changes" (mistakes) in a variety of projects and think the author is correct in his assertion that these mistakes are where real learning occurs. The projects span a wide range of activities. They range from simple throw it together in a few minute projects such as the anti-gravity paperclip to the more involved arcade game programming and astronaut ice cream projects. We are still working through the projects, and the variety is impressive and inspiring. I like that they are rated easy, moderate, and challenging and include parts and tool lists. Like it says, "incredibly cool"!

We have enjoyed this book quite a bit. The one thing my daughter did enjoy the most was the programming chapter. It has started her on a a programming learning curve as she learns more. There were also directions for space ice cream, soap making, anti-gravity jars, jewelry making. With 22 activities in total, there are obviously more activities. Most of them require very basic supplies and you will not find yourself looking all over for the supplies. A few of them require a trip to a store to find something you might not have on hand- a metal lunch box, for example, is required for the guitar. Many of these activities are incredibly easy to make and it is something a teenage girl (or boy) might be able to make on their own. Some of the activities will most likely require help in the form of an adult for safety (making soap) and sometimes the help needed is just an extra pair of hands to hold and stabilize. The directions were clear and easy to follow. Overall, there were some activities that caught the fancy of my daughter and she got excited about them. Some of the activities were not interesting to my daughter nor my husband (Making an ice cream sandwich necklace for instance). . But many of these activities were lots of fun. I would most likely buy other books by the same author. Enjoy.

Sons aren't the only ones who like to spend time making things with their dads. The author has created an interactive book that daddy/daughter teams can use to make projects together. The projects range from easy and quick to challenging. While the title implies it's for dads, moms with some decent diy skills will enjoy this book as well. The pictures in the book are bright, colorful, and very informative. I was impressed with the amount of instructional photographs and graphics. The projects all sounded fun, but I would warn any parents away who don't already have some diy skills. Most of these looked a bit above my level. But my husband could easily handle them all and I know that both my son and daughter will enjoy working on them. I received this book free of charge from Goodreads in exchange for my honest review.

This sounds like such a great book, WHY did they have to layer sexism in with the title??? Signed, a maker mom.

Mark Frauenfelder has true gadget geek cred. As the founding editor of MAKE magazine, former editor of Wired, and creator of BoingBoing, he's got everybody beat in the category of "guy most likely to write a book about cool DIY projects to try at home." But as a father of two girls he also brings the added element of "guy who understands how great it can be when dads share these cool projects with their daughters. It's not that any of the projects in this book are limited to dads only, or to daughters only, it's just that it's great to see that dynamic actively encouraged. As the parent of a little girl myself, I sometimes feel like I'm manoeuvring through a mine field of unhelpful--and usually harmful--gender messages along the lines of "construction toys are for boys" and "arts and crafts are for girls" (I saw almost that exact sign at a toy store just this week...ugh). A lot of times the message is subtle: pictures in magazines, books, catalogues and flyers that show boys and men using tools, blocks and trucks, but girls using paints, beads and dolls. This gender divide is reinforced literally everywhere. So I very much appreciated seeing so many photos of girls using band saws throughout this book (most of the pictures are of Frauenfelder's own daughters). I'll admit, some of the projects in this book are a little intimidating at first glance. In the introduction the author says that most of them can be accomplished with "tools you probably already have at home" then he lists a full page of equipment that includes things like jigsaws, soldering irons and blowtorches (wait, was there a blowtorch? I might be remembering that wrong). So it seemed scary. But in reality, a great many of the projects don't involve anything scary at all--just some cutting, gluing, painting, sculpting or hammering--and look like they could produce fantastic results. Even the lounge chair that he and his girls made looks pretty straight forward. The projects are not arranged in order of easiest to most complicated, so don't let a difficult looking project discourage you from reading further. "I wasn't always an eager maker of things," Frauenfelder assures us. Even he had to be coaxed into trying new things. But if he can make it all look easy--or at least doable--then maybe it's not so hard after all. And with several projects that involve delicious looking edible treats (YAY!), I'd say it's worth a try. This review was first posted on my blog, Cozy Little Book Journal, and is based on a digital review copy I received through NetGalley.

Every year around Father's Day I start trying to come up with something great for my husband. With our son and daughter ten years apart in age they have very different ideas about what to get dad. Son says video games. Daughter says stuffed animals. You get the idea. So a few years back I decided that every year I was going to get him a book that related to something handy or crafty or DIY related that would give him some stuff to do with them. We've had some good ones, one of our favorites was a Star Wars themed craft book. When I first saw MAKER DAD I was a bit turned away by the idea of a father-daughter project book. While father-daughter stuff appeals to my own abandonment issues with my dad and wanting my husband and daughter to have the bond I don't have with my dad... I also don't like gender-typing. I was even more concerned these were going to all be projects geared toward 'girly' sensibilities. Our daughter happens to be of the breed of girl who wants to wear a Darth Vader t-shirt with a tutu and pink cowgirl boots so she knows how to tread well on both sides of the gender-typing lines. Would MAKER DAD be able to speak to my daughter's personality, while still being cool enough for my man? The good news is the projects in this book are perfect in that regard. They're actually pretty much gender neutral, the author just happens to have girls, so he did them with his daughters. If you wanted to make a Paperbowl Speaker or Astro Ice Cream I can't think of a single boy who would object. The area where I felt this book wasn't the right one for us, is that a lot of the projects were pretty... well, techy or required skills/tools my husband doesn't have. Not a deal breaker by any means but some of these were just not reasonable for us. If you're looking for some cool projects that really don't have to be just-for-father/daughter teams that can stretch your skills and be a great bonding experience I would definitely recommend it. If you're thinking about it as a gift like I was be sure and look inside it and see if the tools and skill some of these require would suit your kid/dad team before investing.

I love that this book is filled with fun projects for fathers and daughters to do together. And I also love that the projects aren't necessarily gender-based. There are lunchbox guitars and video games and hand tools and longboards and antigravity jars. Cool! The projects are explained quite well and I love the variety of projects that are on offer. That being said, my one big complaint is why this book had to be targeted at fathers and daughters. Why not just dads and kids? I am not a fan of gender-based marketing in anything. Especially books like this.

I've been reading Mark Frauenfelder's articles online for quite some time and was pleased to find this book. It's chock full of ideas for easy-to-do projects for a variety of ages. While my daughter scoffed at some of the younger-aged projects, she was immediately fascinated by several projects, especially the silk-screening and giant bubbles. One nice thing about the book is that there are projects for a wide variety of skills and time required to complete. I'm looking forward to spending many fun hours with my daughter working with her and teaching her how to do things like solder. Great book, Mark!!

This book has an interesting range of ideas for the fairly advanced "maker"/crafter -- most assume a fair amount of tools already owned and experience already gained. Only one seems a "girl" project -- an ice cream sandwich necklace, and it could easily be made but not onto jewelry. There are a fair number of electronic projects. I suspect most people who know how to make these things, or who could understand the directions, don't really need this book. Lots of good inspiration, but not for the beginner.

While the "father-daughter" part of the subtitle of this book certainly attracted me to it - as the father of a 12-year-old girl, I'm always looking for things that might pull her off her iPhone for a little bit - but the projects definitely aren't gender-specific and will be just as fun to do with your son. The projects are nicely described, with detailed supply lists an well-illustrated step-by-step instructions. We haven't had any issues following along with the projects we've tried so far, which is a rarity for books like this. That'd be enough to give the book high marks by itself, but the range and coolness of the projects makes it even better. I'd highly recommend this title to anyone with children who want to find some fun things to do this summer.

Prospective buyers should know that you need a pretty good selection of tools to do some of the projects in Maker Dad. If you don't have a workshop/workspace with a jigsaw, a vise, a soldering iron, and a power drill and screwdriver, you're not going to be able to do some of the projects in this book. There are some that also require some basic computer literacy. This wouldn't be a book that I'd get for my dad, a lifelong handyman, carpenter, mechanic, and craftsman) to do projects with his grandchildren. But I liked it and my nieces are having fun doing the projects with me.

I think it's cute that its themed for stuff dad can do with their daughters. End of the day this book is something anyone can do with their child. Having two girls though I very much appreciate the idea. My daughters two favorite projects so far are the friend finders (?) and the lunchbox guitar!

I found no activity out of bounds for just about anyone, especially with the encouragement to fail, learn and try again.

The introduction includes an observation about how inventors are successful not because of a single stroke of brilliance, but because of a lot of trails, finding what works, dreaming up improvements, trying them and refining them. The projects range from simple to more complex and are exceptionally well explained.

I sent it to my son who just had twin girls. He will make good use of it, but not me. Therefore, I cannot really rate it

This is a great book full of high tech, low tech, complex and simple father and daughter projects. I'm really looking forward to making a lunch box guitar with my daughter, I think that's the coolest project.

Great projects, and detailed instructions. This books is especially good for people who are not as experienced with electronics building things as some make guides.

Son loves the lunch pal guitar, so much his scout troop is making them now. I had fun doing the projects with my boys.

I haven't made anything yet as my daughter is only 2 but the book is well made, great photos and instructions.

This was a very technology filled with happiness