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While we at GeekMom love finding stuff throughout the web to recommend to readers, we also are creators ourselves.
Our talented GeekMoms write books, create video games, make cool X-Files posters, Tesla shirts, and produce their own albums.
Here's a selection of what they can offer for your holiday season.
Books:
Non-Fiction:
Geek Mom: Projects, Tips and Adventures for 21st Century Families
The four editors of the GeekMom wrote the book of fun geeky projects and activities for parents that range from cool superhero costumes and creations, creating sparks in a microwave to exploring the sense of smell with loose tea, to geekiness in the kitchen. Projects run the gamut from spur of the moment to the more complicated but awesome, like making a lava lamp
Android Tablets Made Simple is a guide for anyone new to the world of Android Honeycomb tablets. No, that's not the current version of Android, but there are still some great deals on older and still functional tablets. If you pick up a bargain Xoom or Asus Transformer, this is the perfect companion guide.
Toothpicks. Rubber bands. Marbles. Drinking straws. Marshmallows. Cardboard tubes. Paper. Popsicle sticks. Rigatoni. Search your cupboards for supplies and get ready to have some fun with creative problem solving!
Team Challenges: Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication and Creativity is filled with hands-on fun for families, teachers, and youth group leaders. One part Night at the Improv, two parts Junkyard Wars (y'all remember that, yes?), this book is a virtual springboard for creativity.
From colonial fashions and trades to biographies on key historical figures such as Captain John Smith and Thomas Jefferson, Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself is an interactive guide that blends engaging activities with facts and trivia about early America. Through hands-on projects using common household materials, kids will explore the daily lives of early colonists and try their hand at activities such as rug braiding, candle making, and weather forecasting.
Delve into Tools of the Ancient Greeks and discover how ancient theories continue to influence modern-day thinking. Covering topics such as astronomy, geography and democracy, children will learn about this great civilization and how the people of ancient Greece lived. They’ll meet famous Greeks such as Homer, Sophocles and Alexander the Great. And they’ll take a peek into the daily lives of the ancient Greeks, learning about farming, customs, and worship.
GeekMom's Gina Clifford wrote:
What a refreshing take on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Using a radical departure from a school textbook, Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future is filled with fun facts, fun illustrations, and ingenious hands-on projects that can be completed in an hour or so. We had so much fun building these projects. We laughed when things went wrong, cheered when we succeeded, and improvised when we didn’t have the exact parts the projects recommended. In the end, we learned more about robotics than we could have imagined from this cool book.
Free Range Learning is a useful handbook for early childhood through the teen years. The first half covers how children naturally learn and how to sustain the love of learning.
The second half is packed with invigorating activities and resources in every subject area including reading, math, critical thinking, the arts, science, volunteerism, and much more. It's geared to homeschoolers but is relevant for all parents and educators.
Books: Fiction
Philip Drake is immortal by virtue of a psychic power that heals all but the worst injuries. He’s needed every bit of it as a black ops agent, a life so violent that the line between pain and pleasure is tangled up in his head. When he walks away from the CIA, the last thing he expects is to discover someone stole his DNA to create a race of super-healers. And that the expectant mother is a woman from his past who’d consider it her pleasure to spit on his grave.
One moment, Delilah Sefton is listening to a seriously hot, seriously deranged man giving her some half-baked explanation as to why she’s pregnant with no memory of how she got that way. The next, armed men swarm into her bar, and she and Mr. Sexy-Crazy are on the run. Safety at the Phoenix Institute is only temporary, but it’s long enough to put the pieces together. A madman plans to steal her son in a plot to take over the world. And to stop him, she must learn to trust the baby’s father—a man she blames for her greatest loss.
Born under a comet, Sky of the Lenape Wolf Clan tries to live up to the destiny prophesied for her, but
so far she can’t understand what the gods want. When Ceti, an engineer from the Roman colony of
Mannahatta, literally falls at her feet, Sky sees this as a sign and claims him. Ceti is charged with protecting Mannahatta from an invasion. The Emperor has sent his Imperial Fleet to bring the breakaway colony back under his control, and Ceti sees a new test glider as the key to victory—until it crashes and forever changes his fate.
Natania Barron:
Pilgrim of the Sky: Just when Maddie Angler thinks she's over the death of her longtime boyfriend, Alvin, she discovers that he's not only alive, but he may just be part god. And a killer. Now it's up to her to unite Eight Worlds she didn't even know existed in the first place, before chaos reigns.
Praise for Pilgrim of the Sky:
"... a lush, dreamy fable - both vintage gothic, and modern mystery ... lovingly laced with magic and darkness from start to finish." – Cherie Priest, author.
The Prairie Thief (McElderry Books, 2012), a middle-grade novel about a pioneer girl who must team up with a magical Scottish brownie to rescue her father, who has been accused of a crime. School Library Journal called it "a charming, inventive tale that reads like a delightful mash-up of Little House on the Prairie and Tony DiTerlizzi’s The Spiderwick Chronicles’."
Fox and Crow Are Not Friends (Random House Step Into Reading series, a Level 3 early reader about a fox and a crow who become bitter enemies over a piece of cheese.
Inch and Roly Make a Wish (Simon and Schuster, 2012), a Level 1 Ready-to-Read about the adventures of an inchworm, a roly poly, and their bug friends. Book two in the series will be out in January!
And there is also the fabulous family webcomic, Into Thicklebit, written with Wiley's husband, comic creator Scott Peterson, and illustrated by Chris Gugliotti.
Five Little Zombies And Fred is a not-for-children children's book about the perils of a zombie apocalypse, filled with zombies, a Mountie, and our hero, Fred. It spoofs the Ten Little Monkeys Jumping On A Bed nursery rhyme. Filled with geeky visual gags and Easter eggs, it is written and illustrated to speak to the child in every one. It tells the story of our hero Fred who finds himself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Will he survive with the help of his friend the Mountie? Warning: Parental discretion for mild zombie violence.
You can also purchase Five Little Zombies And Fred merchandise on Zazzle, and purchase the Five Little Zombies And Fred music album.
Etsy: Creating Posters
In her Etsy shop, Sophie creates mini posters featuring quotations; mostly so far she has worked on X-Files designs but you can contact her to have a specific quotation designed for you.
She also has a small range of other designs including Sherlock and Close Encounters.
Gaming:
Amy Kraft:
LeapFrog Explorer Super Animal Genius
Animal lovers get to explore habitats all over the globe to collect 40 different reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals by playing nine different minigames chocked full of animal trivia. This game is for ages 5-9, works on LeapPad and Leapster Explorer, and was designed, written, and produced by Amy.
LeapFrog Explorer I Spy Super Challenger
This is one of GeekMom Amy's favorite games that she's produced. It features 50 all new I Spy riddles, and a fast-paced logic matching game, and three new I Spy minigames new to this title. Technically it's for ages 5-9, but testing revealed even adults have a great time playing this game. It works on LeapPad and Leapster Explorer game systems.
Music:
Rebecca Angel:
These two folk rock albums by Rebecca Angel have songs about falling in love with an anime character, a stern rebuke to Twilight's Bella, and the plenty of life and love thrown in the mix.Backpocket Tunes is a studio album, and Live: For Darien was recorded at a benefit concert. Enjoy!
Clothing:
Nikola Tesla Shirt and Hoodies:
