Young creativity and curiosity on display at Maker Faire

Han Ximin

THE creativity and curiosity of Shenzhen children were on display Saturday at the Maker Faire in Shenzhen Innovation Park. Darting from booth to booth, children saw robots, 3-D printers and app demonstrations.

One 10-year-old boy, Dai Ruizhe, even had a booth of his own where he showed off his drone.

“He had interest in it and learned everything by himself,” said Dai’s mother, Wei Jin. Wei said that she feared her son won’t have time to continue building things on his own when he enters middle school.

Dai has already taught himself some physics and chemistry, but Wei worries what will happen to him when he starts sixth grade in September and faces a heavier course load.

“Makers education relies on learning through experiences, instead of recitation of knowledge from books,” said Wei. “Creativity is the core value of makers. It is obviously a shortcoming in Chinese education.”

Dai even shared his experiences with college students at the fair.

Liu, a father from Futian, brought his 7-year-old son to the fair Saturday. They stood at a booth putting together a mechanical car.

“Experience is the best way to acquire knowledge,” said Liu. “The fair is good at stimulating a child’s curiosity.”

A fair volunteer said the crowd was much larger Saturday.

“The number of visitors was more than double the number Friday, the opening day. Many families came because students are on holiday,” said the volunteer surnamed Zhang.

At the main entrance to the fair, a 2.8-meter-tall robot greeted visitors.

About 20-meters away, a robot contest featuring exhibits from across the Taiwan Straits drew a heavy crowd.

Other adult makers showed off inventions that appeal to children.

Erik Thorstensson, a maker from Sweden, shared his invention called Strawbees. Strawbees is a sort of erector set based on straws.

“Strawbees is an amazing creative tool and toy for makers. It can be combined in many awesome ways to form many awesome things such as a frog, a bridge, an umbrella or a prototype robot with connectors and straws,” said Thorstensson.

“You can also invent a bird, a huge mechanical snake or a replica of the pyramids of Giza with basic physics and mathematics,” said Thorstensson, who attended the fair with his Taiwanese partners.

Shenzhen Innovation Park, which is located inside the Shenzhen Software Industrial Park in Nanshan District, now houses more than 40 institutions that engage in small-company incubation, venture capital and intermediary services.

The park will fully open at the end of the year and is planned as an innovation base in Shenzhen.