Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share (22 page)

And because of the science behind kites (which we understand better in modern times), many geeks over the years have turned their obsessive gazes to them. From stunt and fighting kites, to the kinds you can strap yourself into and actually fly in, there’s a lot of geeky fun to be had playing with kites.

One thing you’ll notice about most kite flying, though—it’s done during the daytime. This makes sense, since the fun of kites is usually in the watching, especially when it comes to the pretty dragon or box kites. And when you’re flying kites with your kids, a big part of the fun is seeing how high they can get (the kites, not the kids). Obviously
seeing
is the key word there.

But we are GeekDads! We won’t let something silly, like a lack of daylight, stop us from sharing the joy of kite flying with our kids. Indeed, it seems like exactly the kind of challenge for us to overcome and turn into a cool activity, which is what this next project is all about.

This is probably the easiest project in the book, but it is also one with the potentially biggest wow factor, especially with younger kids. Which means it is maximum fun!

 

STEP 1:
Get a kite. You may already have one of these (many geeks and even some non-geeks do). The kite may be as simple as the classic crossbar with a rhombus of fabric stretched across it, or as complex as a fancy box kite. For our geeky purposes, we picked a
Star Wars
kite!

 

STEP 2:
Get some lights to attach to your kite. You have a lot of options at this stage. The biggest consideration in making your pick is weight versus brightness. Any lights using bigger than AAA batteries are likely to weigh your kite down too much and prevent take-off (although, if you have a large kite and reasonably strong winds, you might be able to get away with a readily available string of battery-powered Christmas lights). In our research, these were some good choices:

STEP 3:
Attach your lights to your kite. Depending on the lights you choose, you’ll need to pick an appropriate means of attachment. For example, the Wind Lights could easily be attached to crossbeams on your kite, using the small zip ties made for cord management. The magnetic LEDs could be affixed to the fabric by applying a ferrous backing to the other side (though there is a potential for slippage or getting flapped off. Two-sided tape might be better). And the Arduino lights could hang off the crossbars with wires, or even be sewn onto a fabric kite.

 

STEP 4:
Go fly! The challenge here is to find the right mix of conditions and location. You’ll need a late evening or nighttime with enough of a breeze to fly your kite, and a place to fly that’s open enough so you won’t have to worry about not being able to see power lines or trees in the dark. If you’ve got all that, then you’re good to go—so long as you’re also ready to be visited by Project Blue Book once the UFO sightings start pouring in.

O
ne day, I was looking through a catalog that had come in the mail. It featured everything from a ladder to help an arthritic dog climb onto your bed, to a $6,000 coyote skin throw rug. All pretty expensive, pretty useless stuff. And then I found something that wasn’t so useless: an Outdoor Home Theater System.

I thought about it. Lazy summer evenings, sitting back and sipping a cool beverage while the kids ran around catching fireflies and watching a Hollywood blockbuster on a very big screen. These are the moments when vivid, lifetime memories are made. But then I saw the price tag: $3,499 for a projector/DVD combo, two speakers, and a 12-by-6-foot screen. The dream of outdoor movie-watching began to make a hasty retreat.

But before throwing in the towel, I thought I’d explore the idea a little further. What about buying the components on my own? Surely there would be some savings. Sure enough, the catalog listed each component’s maker. So I did a quick Google search and found a buy-it-yourself price of $218 for the speakers, $900 for the combo DVD player/projector, and $1,149 for the collapsible screen. It was still more than two grand. For that price, I could practically take the family to Sundance and watch a week of movies.

It was time to get creative.

For this project, you’ve got to get creative with finding the audio and visual items. Many people will already have a portable DVD player, either as a stand-alone unit or as part of a personal or work laptop. A lot of people already have access to LCD projectors as well, usually used for business presentations. For speakers, you’ll want something that has its own power source, to amplify the movie sound enough to overcome the ambient noise of an outdoor social gathering.

With the audio and visual requirements resolved, the next step is finding a simple solution for the most expensive element of the equation: the screen. The easiest and cheapest would be a large-enough expanse of lightly painted wall without much texture. That will solve the issue for about 10 percent of homeowners, but for everyone with other colors on our exterior walls, or with siding that would defy a smoothly projected image, something else is needed.

What we need is a screen that is not only temporary but lightweight enough to be portable and storable. The idea we came up with was a screen constructed of blackout cloth stretched over a 1.5-inch PVC frame. Blackout cloth was a great solution, offering nearly perfect color and texture for viewing movies.

You’ll want to plan ahead and work with your kid on the frame design, including drawing it out before you go to the hardware store for parts. To start, decide what size screen you want, and then design the frame to accommodate it. For example, if the screen is going to be 5 by 9 feet (what this project is based on, and a good size for most projectors), then the frame will have to be enough bigger that it can contain the screen cloth stretched taut over the frame, using the zip ties around the outside.

The frame will be a rectangle of 1.5-inch PVC and will require at least three vertical and one horizontal cross-braces. Here’s a suggested layout without dimensions (because it’s scalable!):

The blackout cloth should be doubled over and sewn along the edges for reinforcement. Set grommets around the perimeter every foot or so to connect the fabric to the frame. Lay the cloth over the frame and attach it with zip ties. These allow for fine adjustments to get the fabric as centered as possible.

To support the frame, sink 3-foot sections of 2-inch PVC in concrete in three 5-gallon buckets. After the concrete dries, slide the screen frame’s three 1.5-inch PVC legs deep into the 2-inch pipes for support. A couple of eye bolts at the top sides of the frame allow the screen to be secured with rope and stakes like a tent, which prevents it from moving forward and backward in the event of a breeze. And with that, the screen is done!