Coolest Mom Ever Creates Hobbit Doll House

Many of us read The Hobbit when we were young. Maddie Chambers is no different. She first read the J.R.R. Tolkien classic when she was 10 and then The Lord of the Rings about a year later. Since then, she has read the LOTR trilogy over 20 times. So yes, she is a true fan.
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Not only that, but she’s obviously young at heart. When her twin sons were 1 year-old, she took a college course about “the importance of play”, where at the end of the term, each student was required to submit a toy. She decided to make a little hill with a front door and call it Bag End, using her Warhammer scenery components. But it just wasn’t enough and she kept making it bigger and more detailed.

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Eventually, it turned into a complete Bag End doll house that is wonderfully detailed. Even more impressive, everything is made by hand. I wish I could live there, but I’m just too big.

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Check out more pictures and complete details on the build over at Madshobbithole’s Blog.

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[via Geeks Are Sexy]


Roominate: The Doll House That Makes Girls Want to Innovate

If you’ve taken a look at toys meant for girls lately, then you’ll notice that most of them are dolls or Princess-y type stuff. That’s not very conducive or encouraging, especially if you’re a parent who’s encouraging your kids to major in STEM subject fields, which are Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math-related courses. The toys aren’t the only things to blame, but they’re one of them. After all, a child’s growing up years play a huge part in who and what they grow up to be, right?

Working on this theory, a group from Palo Alto, California have come up with the Roominate project that’s currently up on Kickstarter. It’s a “stackable, attachable, and customizable miniature room” that the kids are supposed to build and put together themselves.

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The Roominate kit contains wooden building pieces and circuit components, and the sky is basically the limit since any number of assembled Roominates can be put together. Available electronic components allow for wiring up LED lighting, buzzers and fans (motors) in each of the rooms.

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A minimum pledge of $49 will get you one Roominate kit and a Roominate Reel – a mini-movie to encourage creativity and engagement. The larger your pledge, the more Roominate components you’ll get. Check out their Kickstarter page to find out more or make your contribution.