The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is one of my all-time favorite books. Tali of Growing Up Creative shares an acitivty to do with kids after reading the book. It's a great way for kids to take the lessons from the book and translate them into a project to which they can easily relate.

It's here! The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest launches today! Put on your thinking caps and dream up some awesome gadgets! To celebrate the release of the newest Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears, and the Kids of All Ages edition of MAKE (both at bookstores today), we're thrilled to be running this contest.

All of you adventure-seekers and gadget lovers out there are invited to join in. If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure "Crocodile Tears"? Design your dream Alex Rider gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, toothpaste, a pen). The winning gadget will be built right here at the MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic of what your gadget is made from and how it works. (Your schematic can be a diagram, a drawing or an explanation by you). Remember that the winning gadget will be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that could fly us to the moon)!

So what do you do? Dream up a gadget, of course! And what could you win? We're so glad you asked:

Grand Prize (one winner):

• A signed collection of hardcover Alex Rider novels
• iPod nano with a personalized message from author Anthony Horowitz
  
• A backpack full of goodies and gadgets from the Maker Shed
• The opportunity to have the winner's dream gadget produced in MAKE Labs and featured on Make: Online
  

Runner-Up Prize (two winners):

• A signed hardcover copy of Crocodile Tears
• An Alex Rider t-shirt

With prizes this good, how could you not want to enter?! The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest is open to kids ages 8 to 18, so get your kid, nephew, niece, grandkids, and yourself involved!

Need some inspiration? Check out these gadgets and book excerpts from previous Alex Rider novels to get those brain juices flowing:

• Alex Rider's Radio Mouth Brace
• Alex Rider's Smokescreen Bike Pump
• Alex Rider's Geiger Counter Game Console
• Alex Rider's High Tensile Yo-Yo
  

The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest launches TODAY! We're giving away two copies of the newest Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears, by Anthony Horowitz! The book comes out today as well, so win one here before others have a chance to scoop them up in stores. Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 22nd. Good luck!

More:

• Alex Rider's Radio Mouth Brace
• Alex Rider's Smokescreen Bike Pump
• Alex Rider's Geiger Counter Game Console
• Alex Rider's High Tensile Yo-Yo
  

MAKE, Volume 20 is on newsstands today! Check out this preview video to get a tour of our best edition yet (we know, we say that every time)!

Want to know how to build a hydrogen rocket? How about a laser light show in a lunchbox? Or a simple remote-controlled videocam car? Or maybe you want to go old-school and build a wooden mini sailboat or toy car launcher? All this and tons more, plus revealing photos of Adam Savage's maker childhood, can all be found in MAKE, Volume 20, "For Kids of All Ages." Get your individual copy in the Maker Shed, or subscribe now to get access to our awesome Digital Edition.

Subscribe to the MAKE Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

My amazing friend Sasha is only 11 years old, but she already has quite the body of artwork and graphic designs under her belt. I just love this sketchbook cover collage that she made of a robot, using paper that she cut out of Vogue magazine. With some glue, scissors, and some recycled media, Sasha was inspired and worked on this notebook mod for several hours yesterday. Under the username Toxic_Panda_Crayon, she has posted tons of her creations on deviantart. I am so impressed that at her tender young age she has such a portfolio of photoshop drawings too! After we checked out her journal last night, she taught me how to download and install brushes even! She is totally a Super Crafty Kid, and I promise to keep you updated on her projects in the future!

Carson Ellis shares her pattern for knitting this adorable snaky kehole scarf.

I'm a big fan of rendering food in felt, so I'm loving this harvest meal set from Dana at Made. The tutorial was a winner in the So You Think Your Crafty contest, and she shows how to make turkey drumsticks, bread with butter or jam, broccoli, grapes and pumpkin pie (complete with removable whipped cream topping). A set like this could be a great way to keep the kiddos occupied while the big Thanksgiving meal is being prepared!

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I love the warm, rustic feel of these burlap placemats with freezer paper stencils on them from Courtney of Two Straight Lines for Book Hour Craft Projects. She points out that the process is simple enough to include your kids in helping, and warns that once you get a taste for freezer paper stenciling, you may be tempted to stencil everything in sight. [via @shimandsons]

More:
Ask CRAFT: Sourcing Freezer Paper and Other Supplies

The Sewing Dork shares how to make a small castle using an oatmeal container, felt, embroidery floss and a bit of scrap cardboard. I could see making a whole village of these kinds of buildings for the kids to create their own city!

As a special preview for MAKE's upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, part of the Alex Rider series! Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 8th. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck! For a sneak peak at Eagle Strike, check out a sample chapter at MAKE.

This project came in as en entry for MAKE's microcontroller-themed Halloween contest, and is sadly ineligible for lack of use of a microcontroller, but they're the most impressive Where the Wild Things Are costumes I've ever seen. Kadijah Moss Guidry writes in:

Well we loved the characters so much and my twin daughters really wanted to be them. I went to work on it with cardboard, old fur coats, fur remnants , an old leopard costume from years ago, animal house slippers and my imagination. I have no experience or education in design or sewing but it came out great. It took about 1 week to do the first costume headpiece and about 3-4 days for the second headpiece. My daughters were very pleased and so was I. Everywhere we went we were stopped and crowds of people wanted to take pictures. No one could believe that these were made at home. Some people were so amazed they started to get emotional. It was kind of weird but I was flattered. My daughters were so proud of their costumes.

Howtoons is having a Halloween costume contest! The winning homemade costume will be immortalized in a Howtoon explaining how to make it for future generations. So dig up those photos of your fantastic costume and send them in by November 4th! (And, since it's always cool to dress in costume, check out their special Homemade Hero and Jet Pack costume Toons.)

This ultra super cute sock monkey kit is on sale now at the Maker Shed. Blue, or peach? How could anyone decide?

Corinne at Threadbanger shows us how to make a beaded tiara with simple supplies. This would make a great craft project for a kid's birthday party, and I'm very tempted to break out the beads and make my own. Like Corrine says, everyone deserves to let out their inner princess.

Here's a fun and simple project to try this weekend! Kristin from bookhoucraftprojects shares how to make magic water bottles with just a handful of supplies you likely already have on hand. It's these simple projects that tend to keep my kids occupied for hours. How about yours?

Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and Marie from Make and Takes created this cute Grover hand puppet in honor of her favorite character from the show. I think a little Super Grover cape to add when he's feeling heroic would be fun, too!

Even though we're just a few days away from Halloween, there is still time to whip up this fantastic owl costume. Ellen from The Long Thread shows you how over on Alpha Mom, and includes templates for the mask and feathers. I love it!

Instructables user craineum made these really incredible Yoshi and Mario costumes for his toddlers. You may remember him from last year's Mega Man costume. Those are lucky kids! I remember one year being Tweety Bird, and my mom made a similarly large mascot-style piece of headgear. Who needs peripheral vision when you've got candy?

More:

Mega Man costume looks powerful!

Brenda from Alpha Mom shares how to make this salt dough skull bead and paper mache marigold Day of the Dead Necklace for kids. The best part: the kids can help!

As a parent, I struggle daily to get my kids to help out around the house. I've tried a lot of methods, and have seen a lot of fancy chore charts. My favorite thing about this one from Lisa of ModEco Kids is the simple statement at the top of the chart: This is how I contribute to my family. It's such a great way to turn the typical parental "nagging" into the true show of how we can all work together. Nice!

Check out Stavro's tutorial for using things in your kid's wardrobe to make this really sweet gnome costume.

With Halloween a mere 2 weeks away, folks intending to make homemade costumes for the bambinos should get started if they haven't already. This week's flashback comes from the pages of Make: Halloween Special Edition, a collaboration between the editors of CRAFT and MAKE, our sister publication. This volume features all things Halloween, from costumes to makeup to party foods and haunted house projects. Though it was originally released in August of 2007, you can still pick up a copy at the Maker Shed. In this excerpt, Doree Tschudy walks you through the basics of creating character costumes for your little one.

Home-Ghouled Kids
Quick, cool character costumes for kids.
By Doree Tschudy

I want to be [insert name of character here] for Halloween!" This simple demand will send you either into a creative frenzy or into hiding until November 1st. Don't panic, it's easier than it seems.

We're talking quick and dirty here, costumes to last a day or two. (Making an elaborate character for FanimeCon? Sorry, it won't be covered here.) Remember your audience: kids love a homemade costume, and if they have a hand in making it, mistakes magically disappear.

Let's say your son wants to be Boba Fett this year. Sure, you could spend $40 on a licensed costume, but where's the fun in that? You might find a sewing pattern, but what if you can't sew? I'm here to help. Fire up the hot glue gun, put on a pot of coffee, and let's go!