How to Lift the "m" off of an M&M

Yes, you can lift the "m" off of M&Ms. I recalled this old trick while in the candy aisle on a post-Easter shopping spree at Target.

M&Ms are made by coating small round bits of chocolate with a candy shell so that, yes, it melts in your mouth, not in your hands (mostly). The "m" is printed after the candy coating has hardened and (I think) been glazed.

To remove the signature letter, take a small cup or bowl and fill it with an inch or two of water and drop in a few candies. In my experience you won't be able to harvest the letter from each one, so plan accordingly.

As you can see above, it first appears that the letter is dissolving, but don't lose hope. Because within a few minutes you will see the pigments from the candy shell sink to the bottom and a bit of detritus float to the top. Search the floating matter for an "m" and get ready to celebrate if you find one.

See it?

This photo is a bit better. It was challenging to get my point-and-shoot camera to focus on the small, faint letter. You're not going to be able to make fake M&Ms with it, but it's a fun party trick or bar bet.

This is what was left behind in the cup. I suppose they are edible, having only been submerged in water for a few minutes, but we didn't eat them.

What would happen if you submerged the candies in vodka or rubbing alcohol? Hmmm. I don't know, but if you try it, be sure to share your results!

And for you curious types:

 

Like The Maker Mom on Facebook. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Follow us on Pinterest and YouTube. Join The Maker Mom Community on Google+.

Chicago North Side Mini Maker Faire Saturday, May 18

Great news! Not only is this Saturday Scratch Day, but it's also Chicago's Northside Mini Maker Faire.


Scratch Day runs from from 9-2 at West Ridge Elementary School and the MMF goes from 10-4 at Schurz High School--they're about 20 minutes apart by car, so there's a window of opportunity to experience both.

The MMF looks like a lot of fun, featuring everything from bread to hair braiding and lock-picking. Click the link above to see a list of makers who will be exhibiting.

I'm not sure we'll make it, but we're gonna try. See you there?



Like The Maker Mom on Facebook. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Follow us on Pinterest and YouTube. Join The Maker Mom Community on Google+.

Hopscotch: New iPad App gets Kids and Tweens Coding

This morning I snuck my husband's iPad (I have an Android tablet) from his man cave and downloaded a new app, Hopscotch, that aims to teach kids coding. Designed to teach computer programming skill to kids 8-12, I can easily see this becoming the app of choice for precocious preschoolers and kindergartens, too. (Sorry, tweens, did I just make it uncool for you?)

Hopscotch uses a drag and drop interface which immediately draws a comparison to our fave learn-to-code-with-colorful-blocks program, Scratch. So how do they compare?

Well, Hopscotch is nowhere near as rich as the Scratch interface. Scratch can be used for simple or very complex projects. Right now, Hopscotch seems to me to be more like a high-tech Etch-a-Sketch. In a good way, though. It's really not a matter of either/or. Get both; they're free!

Despite Scratch's higher level of functionality, Hopscotch wins for being ultra-portable. It also takes advantage of the functionality of portable devices. For example, your child (or you--it's really fun) can make characters move or respond to the tablet being touched, tilted, turned or shaken.

image via www.gethopscotch.com

Hopscotch will expose kids to the logic and building blocks of programming and your kids won't even know they are learning as they play around with different variables and characters. Speaking of which, their are 10 built-in characters. They are a cute, cartoonish lot that I think will appeal to boys and girls, but I'd love to see an additional one or two that are a bit more "girly" or supercute, like the cupcake. The ability to create a character from a photo already stored on the device would be nice addition, too. Hopscotch does allow users to create text characters meaning that within 10 minutes there will inevitably a character named "poop" making its way around the screen. (Yes, my kids are teens. {eyeroll} #MomofBoys)

Hopscotch lacks background options, but I think the plain white screen, like a blank canvas, works well to highlight the characters and their actions. Although my first impression was that the app was a bit limited, I have no doubt that it's still good for hours of play during which your child will have a blast learning about the impact of variables and other building blocks of programming.


Like The Maker Mom on Facebook. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Follow us on Pinterest and YouTube. Join The Maker Mom Community on Google+.

Scratch Day Chicago-- May 18 (I'm speaking!)

I've written about Scratch as a great way to get kids as young as 6 years old coding. This Saturday, May 18, Chicago-area kids will have a chance to get to learn Scratch and show off their best projects if they're already coding.

Attendees will also get the scoop on the new Scratch, Scratch 2.0! During a Skype session with the team from MIT. It's going to be the cat's pajamas.

In addition, the Younger Maker Teen (YMT), the Older Maker Teen (OMT) and I will be on hand sharing our knowledge and skills, too! YMT will be showing off his projects integrating the Makey Makey with Scratch and OMT will be doing...something. I'm going to talk about #STEMchat and resources for parents to support their children's passions for coding and STEM projects.

Join us and other Chicago Scratchers at our area's 5th annual Scratch day. The fun will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at West Ridge Elementary School.

The day will include demos, workshops (possibly even by yours truly) and many opportunities to play around and share ideas.

The event will run from 9-2 at West Ridge Elementary School, 6700 N. Whipple in the 3rd Floor - Library/Computer Lab.

There is no charge for this event. See you there?

Here's a Makey Makey project YMT made one very boring day when I refused to soothe his whining with computer time. Well, sort of. He knew he could get the screen time if he added a maker component and he was right!

Like The Maker Mom on Facebook. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Follow us on Pinterest and YouTube. Join The Maker Mom Community on Google+.