Thanks to all for the wonderfully positive response to the Watching Eyes Hidden Cat panel and blog post. I was surprised by the number of responses and Gwyneth was touched and a little perplexed by it all. The project was mainly done as something for the two of us to do together, and it just happened to work especially well. Gwyneth is not that interested in becoming an artist. She wants to work with animals, perhaps become a zoologist. Her special interest - big cats, of course.
I've gotten some inquiries from those who would like to do similar projects with their kids or with kids in general. I do have a few pieces of advice based on my experience. First of all, obviously, I would stay away from the pattern books, totally. Let the kids do the design, whether they end up liking it or not, whether they stick with it through the end or not. Just plunge in and let them make the creative decisions. Also, don't be afraid to let them handle the glass and use the tools, including the power tools. There will be mishaps and cuts are to be expected, but that's part of the learning. Safety first, but not at the expense of paranoia.
Upon reflection, I realized I was partly inspired by this short video from the TED people that I saw a few months before I did the project with Gwyneth. The man in the video is Gever Tulley and he founded a place called The Tinkering School. I like the part about 'decoration'.
He's also written a book called 50 DANGEROUS THINGS (you should let your kids do). Here is another TED talk where he talks about 5 of them (well, actually 6½).
Posted by Tom at February 4, 2010 04:12 PM