Peconic Community School’s sixth annual Maker fair unfolded on Saturday
Scores of curious kids and parents turned out on a rainy Saturday over the weekend for the Peconic Community School’s sixth annual Maker Fair in Cutchogue.
The fair featured “makers in our community of all kinds — artists, music makers, artisans,” said school co-founder Liz Casey. “We’ve got poetry, we’ve got crochet, a cardboard maker station, a float-your-boat station, robots — so many things to do.”
Also on tap on Saturday was a “mad scientist” presentation, a puppet show, a family band and writer Kate Seward of Wild Plum Poetry, who creates instant poems in real time.
“She will ask you a couple questions and then write a poem.”
The fair’s focus was creativity and innovation.
“There’s not a lot of commerce at this event,” Casey explained. “It’s about celebrating innovation, creativity, making and building, doing things with your hands, connecting the hands, the heart and the mind.”
The “Maker” movement — which celebrates hands-on, do-it-yourself ingenuity and creativity across a spectrum of fields ranging from crafts and the arts to engineering and technology — grew out of the San Francisco Bay area in the early 2000s. The pioneering “Maker Faire,” organized by Make magazine founder Dale Dougherty, took place in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, in 2006. The inaugural fair spotlighted a “festival of innovation” that featured robots, home-made drones, early versions of 3D printers, DIY art and so-called wearable tech.
The movement emphasizes creativity and the joy of learning by doing and over time has impacted STEM programs (which focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics) nationwide.
