Kids today are just as likely to be interested in electronics as they are in soccer. So what’s a parent to do with a kid who’d rather solder than run laps? How can parents really keep geeky kids entertained, without spending yet another afternoon in front of the glowing rectangle of a TV or computer monitor?
Kids today are just as likely to be interested in electronics as they are in soccer. So what’s a parent to do with a kid who’d rather solder than run laps? How can parents really keep geeky kids entertained, without spending yet another afternoon in front of the glowing rectangle of a TV or computer monitor?
Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred is a new and dangerously fun DIY book with step-by-step, illustrated instructions for making 24 quirky playthings. Projects are designed to cost $10 or less and include kid-friendly crafts like a Lock ‘N Latch Treasure Chest and PVC Teepee, homemade musical instruments, and moving toys like a marshmallow-shooting muzzleloader and a steam-powered milk carton boat.
David Erik Nelson the book’s author said
Every project is written with the absolute beginner in mind. This can be the first time Mom or Dad has ever threaded a needle or warmed up a soldering iron, and they can expect to get a decent result . . . These projects run the gamut: If you’re a crafter who has never touched a saw, I’ve got projects for you. If you’re a musician who’s never soldered, you’ll learn how to build cool stompbox effects, a dirt-cheap amplifier, an electric digeridoo, and more.
Every project is written with the absolute beginner in mind. This can be the first time Mom or Dad has ever threaded a needle or warmed up a soldering iron, and they can expect to get a decent result . . . These projects run the gamut: If you’re a crafter who has never touched a saw, I’ve got projects for you. If you’re a musician who’s never soldered, you’ll learn how to build cool stompbox effects, a dirt-cheap amplifier, an electric digeridoo, and more. 
With the aid of Nelson’s clear instructions, readers learn how to make:
- A simple electric guitar from $10 in parts
- An oversized joy buzzer that (safely) administers a 100-volt jolt
- Cool, mess-free, screen-printed t-shirts
- Kites from FedEx envelopes
- Booming Thunderdrums from salvaged x-ray film
- Classic board games like Go, Tafl, and Shut-the-Box
- As they build, kids (and parents!) learn useful skills in sewing, carpentry,
- electronics, and soldering that will equip them to go on to create their own seriously
- geeky stuff.
David Erik Nelson is a freelance writer and former high school teacher. His fiction has been nominated for a Nebula award and has appeared in Asimov’s, The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and the forthcoming Steampunk Reloaded anthology. He developed the projects in this book at an alternative school, with plenty of feedback from his students. He is a contributor to the “Ask the Giant Squid” advice column at Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k), a weekly online literary journal.
Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred
by David Erik Nelson Download Project 3: “The Sock Squid” (PDF)
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