Des Moines Mini Maker Faire Call for Makers Application Open

The Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is now accepting exhibitor applications!

This years theme is “Making The Future”.

Whether you’re a first-time tinkerer or an experienced inventor, Maker Faire welcomes a variety of creative projects, including:

• Crafts
• Fine Arts
• Robotics
• Technology
• Gaming
• Fashion design
• Woodworking
• 3D printing
• LEGO construction
• And more!

Exhibitor applications are due Monday, March 31 for the 2025 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire which is being held Saturday, April 26.

Des Moines Mini Maker Faire: 10 Years of Imagination

Des Moines Mini Maker Faire: Celebrating 10 Years of Creativity and Innovation

The Science Center of Iowa is thrilled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Des Moines Mini Maker Faire! This milestone honors not only the event itself but also the vibrant Maker Movement in Iowa. The global Maker Faire phenomenon began in San Francisco in 2006 and has since expanded to include flagship events in New York City and beyond. In smaller communities like Des Moines, Mini Maker Faires offer the perfect platform to showcase local creativity and ingenuity.

The Science Center of Iowa hosted the inaugural Des Moines Mini Maker Faire in 2014, and over the past decade, it has become a cornerstone of the region’s maker culture. This year, we’re excited to blend favorite traditions with fresh experiences—including a brand-new date!

Save the Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Join us at the Science Center of Iowa for a day of hands-on exploration and innovation. This new springtime date allows us to connect with new partners, including schools. As a leader in maker education across Iowa, SCI has worked with hundreds of schools through our “Making STEM Connections” program. This year, we’re excited to invite these schools to participate as vendors, showcasing their creativity and ingenuity at the Mini Maker Faire.

This Year’s Theme: “Make the Future”
We encourage makers, businesses, organizations, and schools to envision what the future might hold. What needs, opportunities, and innovations will shape the next 5–10 years and beyond? Let’s explore these possibilities together.

Stay tuned to this website for updates on the event, featured makers, at-home activities, and more. We can’t wait to see you at the 10th Des Moines Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, April 26, 2025!

Meet a Maker: Lee Adams

As we are approaching the 2023 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire, we wanted to learn more about Lee Adams and her passion for making as well as her interest in Dungeons and Dragons. We are excited for her to provide our participants with opportunities to explore the world of D&D and even participate in a mini campaign known as a One Shot.

Us: How would you define/ describe “making”?

Lee: I would say that “making” is the intentional act of creating something tangible. I think that making happens after inspiration and ideation, when someone has an idea that they can’t get out of their heads and has a plan to bring it to life. It’s the most active and hands-on part of the creative process.

Us: What were / are your areas of study?

Lee: I attended The University of Iowa and studied Studio Art, Psychology, and Writing because I was interested in so many things and couldn’t make up my mind. I’m glad that I learned and continue to learn about a variety of things– it helps you see the connections between everything. Those connections are what get me really excited!

Us: What got you interested in these fields?

Lee: I have always been a creative and a daydreamer, making up worlds and stories in my head when I didn’t have anything else to do (and sometimes when I did have other things to do– oops!) As a kid growing up with undiagnosed ADHD, I was forced to improvise when I missed something or wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. Strangely, I think that this actually increased my creative confidence and helped me utilize ingenuity as a secret weapon of sorts. I really relied on it academically, so it was only natural to go into something like art or writing. I think that my interest in psychology stemmed from my love of writing; I was constantly making characters and figuring out their motives, and I enjoy learning about how people’s brains work.

Us: What is your connection to The Science Center of Iowa?

Lee: I am a full-time employee and my position title is “Innovation Coordinator” which is exactly as fun as it sounds! I help with both the creation and the facilitation of our outreach events, working mainly with kids and teens to help them see how creativity can be useful in everything.

Us: What are some of your favorite maker activities?

Lee: I love it all. I love photography and painting and poetry and prose and gardening and journaling and cooking and– I think you get the point. My favorite activities are ones that weave together multiple disciplines. I think one of the best examples of this has to be Dungeons and Dragons (or D&D for short.) It may seem like just a silly little game, but it can overlap with almost any hobby or area of interest because, essentially, you are creating your own reality and there are no limitations to how far it can go.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the game, I would describe it as co-creating a story with your friends who can either be a character (player) or the narrator (dungeon master or DM.) The DM’s job is to create a plot– typically fantasy or sci-fi related– that will be engaging and fun for their players. It’s also their job to know the lore and mechanics of the game, which involves a

lot of storytelling and math calculations. They make a setting and a plot that will entice their players to interact with it, and set up fun role-play and combat encounters with non-player characters (NPCs) and monsters to fight or befriend. Players talk as their characters a

nd inhabit the world that the DM has crafted, driving the story forward by rolling dice to see how successful their character is in their actions, sort of like an RPG video game, but in real life. The actions of the players can completely change the outcome of the story, which is why it’s so fun.

You can contribute to this game with nearly any hobby: drawing characters with your artistic skills, creating cosplays using fashion design, making stat blocks for a new monster using math, or even turning your campaign into the next best-selling novel by documenting it in writing. It’s a bottomless pit of fun and creativity and I would recommend it to anyone!

Us: Why do you think “making” is important?

Lee: As I implied above, I have a hard time with linear thinking. I used to see this as a bad thing because it caused me to struggle in areas like math and chemistry which were deemed “more important” than creative pursuits by society when I was growing up. As I got older and acquired more experience, however, I realized that nothing is mutually exclusive and that you can draw connections between anything. Creativity is not only present in every discipline– it’s necessary. When you allow your thoughts to meander about through the scenic route of your brain, you see lots of cool new things and discover solutions that you wouldn’t have found if you had floored it and sped down the highway to the quickest answer. Innovative thinking takes time and effort and intentionality. “Making” is not only a way to tangibly express this style of thought as an exercise for your brain’s creativity muscles, but it’s also a way to help those around you. Whether your creation is something as simple as a D&D oneshot that helps your friends unwind and have fun, or as life-changing as a cure for a terminal disease, everything you make is impactful to someone– even if it’s only yourself.

Des Moines Mini Maker Faire Call for Makers Application Open

The Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is now accepting exhibitor applications!

This years theme is “Let’s Get Making”.

Whether you’re a first-time tinkerer or an experienced inventor, Maker Faire welcomes a variety of creative projects, including:

• Crafts
• Fine Arts
• Robotics
• Technology
• Gaming
• Fashion design
• Woodworking
• 3D printing
• LEGO construction
• And more!

Exhibitor applications are due Friday, September 1 for the 2023 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire which is being held Monday, September 4.

Light Up Your Halloween!

This Monday, September 5^th, the Science Center of Iowa will be hosting the Des Moines Mini Maker Faire. Celeste Moreno, one of our Makers, will be welcoming creatives of all ages to a Mask Making Workshop, where they’ll have the chance to create a mask they can wear all day at the Maker Faire. There will be no additional cost for this workshop.

If you’d like to take your mask making skill to the next level, you can join our Advanced Mask Making Workshop. This activity, also hosted by Moreno, incorporates the use of LED lights and paper circuits.

“We’ll ‘level up’ and add some LED lights to our costume masks to create interesting visual effects,” said Moreno.

The Maker Faire is a great place for participants to design and manufacture their own inventive Halloween masks.

“Another possible outcome…is that they will make something that they can save and use for their Halloween costumes or develop the confidence to try making their own costume elements at home,” said Moreno about the possible take-aways from this event.

The advanced workshop charges an additional fee of $5 per person, a bargain compared to what you might pay for a Halloween costume this fall!

This activity is open to all ages. If you can easily use tools like scissors and tape, or have someone who can support you in the use of these tools, then you are a perfect fit for this activity. Children should be accompanied by an adult that can help facilitate their experience.

Mask Making Workshop:

Cost: $0

Open: 9:00 – 10:30 am

1:00 – 2:30 pm

Advanced Mask Making Workshop

Cost: $5

Open:

11:00 am – 12:00 pm   Register here

3:00 – 4:00 pm Register here

Des Moines Mini Maker Faire Applications Open

The Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is now accepting exhibitor applications!

Whether you’re a first-time tinkerer or an experienced inventor, Maker Faire welcomes a variety of creative projects, including:

• Crafts
• Fine Arts
• Robotics
• Technology
• Gaming
• Fashion design
• Woodworking
• 3D printing
• LEGO construction
• And more!

Exhibitor applications are due Wednesday, August 31 for the 2022 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire which is being held Monday, September 5.

Coming soon: Maker Faire applications!

The 2017 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is coming up Monday, September 4, and applications will be available starting Monday, May 15!

Stay tuned for the application link and more details on this family-friendly festival of innovation and creativity at the Science Center of Iowa.