Robot lovers, coders and kitchen scientists: head for Dublin Maker

There are far too many exciting, kid-friendly activities to mention at Merrion Square event

You don’t have to be an engineer or scientist to come along to Dublin Maker next Saturday, July 21st, at Merrion Square. This community-run event, which is free, has hundreds of “makers”, including hobbyist roboticists, coders, weavers, artists, educators and a collective known as Kitchen Table Top Science, who will show the kids come cool science experiments they can do at home.

There are far too many exciting, kid-friendly activities to mention (see the website for full details) but one I think all children will love is the Quiver demo: this augmented reality colouring app brings pictures to 3D life; print one of their templates from the web, colour it in and when you hover your smartphone over the image it transforms into a 360 holographic experience. There will also be several robots present, including BB-8 and the First Order’s BB-9E (cute but evil).

Engineer Jeffrey Roe, who is one of Dublin Maker's organisers, says: "[Everyone] should come along because we have an eclectic mix of all sorts of makers across the Stem spectrum with projects ranging from high-tech radioactivity detecting robots to behavioural experiments with live jellyfish."