Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share

by Ken Denmead

  2. If you are mixing your own icing, do it now—make two batches of white icing and set them aside to act as cement during the construction phase.

  3. While the cakes are baking, mix up five batches of generic puffed rice cereal treat mix (not naming any trademarked brand names here, nosireebob!), also molding each one into a baking pan so that when they set, they can easily be cut into blocks. Recipe for Generic Puffed Rice Cereal Treats

  SETUP TIME: 10-15 minutes

  TOTAL PRODUCTION TIME: 30 minutes (per the recipe, but you can stagger production to speed things up)

  INGREDIENTS:

  3 tablespoons butter 1 bag of 40 regular marshmallows, or 4 cups miniature marshmallows 6 cups generic puffed rice cereal

  DIRECTIONS (STOVETOP): Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted, then remove from heat.

  Add the generic puffed rice cereal and mix until well combined.

  Spoon into a greased rectangular baking pan, then put aside to cool and set.

  DIRECTIONS (MICROWAVE): Heat butter and marshmallows in a bowl on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring at regular intervals to keep smooth.

  Add the generic puffed rice cereal and mix until well combined.

  Spoon into a greased rectangular baking pan, then put aside to cool and set.

  Now that you have a whole bunch of treats lying about, we should build something fast so it doesn’t all get eaten!

  4. Start construction with the main church building. Since you’ll want to stack the cakes, you will need to trim the tops off flat. It’s easiest to use an electric carving knife, but a large bread knife works well, too.

  5. Stack three cakes, putting a layer of frosting in between each one as a form of glue. With all the cakes stacked, you have a good basic building shape.

  6. For the arched top of the church, set the last cake on top, with a layer of icing between it and the third layer. With your knife, trim it into a triangular prism with the high point at the center, tapering off to nothing at the long sides.

  7. Next comes your first go-about with fondant. It’s an interesting material, like a sugar-based clay that will harden stiff after a day or two. When you start, though, you can roll it out like pie dough—and that’s just about how to treat it. For this purpose, you want to roll out a batch (make sure you buy it by the bucket; you can find it at your local craft or baking supply store), getting it down to about ⅛-inch thick and big enough to lay over the church building.

  8. You and your kids will need to move it together and lay it on, very carefully. Once it’s on, you can poke and prod it with your fingers and/or small tools (a clay modeling tool works, or even a dull butter knife is good) to get it to fit over the shape. Then smooth it out with your hands until you’re happy with the fit and coverage, and trim it at the base. When you’re done, it should look very much like white-washed adobe or stucco.

  9. The rest is detail work. You can make the sides of the garden and steeple out of rice treats by cutting the approximate shapes out of the pans and then hand-molding and covering in fondant.

  10. You can make bushes and trees around the building with rice treats as well, and color them green or brown by painting (or airbrushing) them with food coloring.

  An Even Cooler Idea!

  Make terra cotta roof tiles out of little squares of fondant and paint them with food coloring.

  Populate your mission with historically accurate action figures if you can find them at your hobby store.

  This is a very specific example, and if you live outside of California, it may not be quite as compelling a project. However, these materials and methods can be applied to almost any model-building project you can think of, either for school or fun (especially if you want to make an Ace of Cakes-style surprise for someone). It’s up to you and your kids to use your imagination.

  Pirate Cartography

  There are very few things cooler to younger kids than pirates (well, maybe ninjas, but that’s an age-old conflict we do not wish to delve into here). Even before Johnny Depp’s high-profile contribution to the mythology, kids have loved playing pirate since Long John Silver leapt off Stevenson’s pages. And as parents, we love helping our kids use their imaginations. We buy our kids eye patches and plastic swords to play pirate dress-up, or we throw them a pirate-themed party. But maybe the coolest way to immerse kids in imaginative pirate play is to set up a treasure hunt. And what does any good treasure hunt need first? Why, a map, of course! And mapmaking most certainly qualifies as a geeky endeavor, whether it be for a pirate party or an adventure campaign.

  First, you need to create your canvas. If possible, find a paper bag with nothing printed on it. If that’s impossible, just use the inside of the bag, which should be blank. To get the largest starting piece out of one back, use scissors or a mat knife to cut away the rectangular bottom of the bag. Then cut up the single seam on the side of the bag. You should be left with a 17-by-38-inch sheet of coarse brown paper.

  Ideas for Your Map

  Set up a real treasure hunt. Make the map an accurate, though fantastical, representation of your home. Hide things around the house and yard, then give clues to find them, based on outlandish names and drawings you make of the features used on the map.

  A good map is an excellent place to start for storytelling. Make a fantasy map, and then use the imaginary setting each night to collaborate with your kids on an adventure as part of their bedtime story.

  Handmade maps are excellent props for role-playing games!

  STEP 1: Sketch your map out lightly, to start, using a gentle pencil stroke. Feel free to try things, erase and try them again, since the bag paper will take erasure well, and every bit of wear and tear will only add to the worn and aged effect of the finished map.

  STEP 2: Use markers, crayons, pastels, or even charcoal and water-colors to go over the pencil sketching and give the map some color and interest. Try to decide on standards, such as black for land borders, blue for bodies of water, and so forth. If it’s meant to be a pirate map for adventure, less detail and more imagery is good. If you’re prepping this for an RPG adventure, you might want to pull out a fountain pen and go to town with the elvish script. Make sure you label key features as appropriate and—most importantly—put an arrow/compass image to indicate North. You might also include a legend and scale, depending on what your use is going to be.

  STEP 3: Now that the basic map is finished, it’s time to add the style—which means distressing it. In many ways, this is like breaking in a baseball glove. You want to crumple up the map, unfold it, and crumple it again in a new way. You could crumple it up and place it under your sofa cushion before an evening’s movie watching. You could drip oil on it, or tea, or beer, or red wine, then dry it with a hair dryer. You should use a candle flame to singe the edges all around, to get rid of the “I was cut out with a pair of scissors” look, and while you’re at it, burn a hole or two through it in random places, and then hold it above the candle to get some good soot marks. Candle wax can also add some good staining.

  And that’s it! You now have a really cool-looking antiqued map for fun and adventure!

  An Even Cooler Idea!

  For older kids or RPGs, use the old “real map hidden in a fake map” trick. Make your real map. Then make a second, fake map. But cut out two identical sheets for it. Draw everything on one of the sheets, and then antique both of them up to the point of singeing the edges. Just before doing that, fold up the real map and place it, like a pickle in a sandwich, between the two fake map sheets, then glue the fake sheets together at the edges with white glue. When the glue is dry, singe the edges of the double-thick map. Now let your adventurers loose with the special map, and see how long it takes for them to figure out the secret!

  Parenting with Role-Playing Games

  One of the geekiest things you can tell a person is that you play pen-and-paper Role-Playing Games (RPGs). But playing RPGs—especially Dungeons and
Dragons (D&D)—was a formative experience for so many of us geeks who came of age through the 1970s and 1980s. While in those days, uptight preachers warned of the devil’s influence wrought by RPGs, I don’t think you can overstate the value these games have for fostering creative play in kids. I have fond memories of playing RPGs with my friends while we happily snarfed pizza and Jolt and rolled d20s to save our anti-paladins from the breath attack of a white dragon.

  Back then, the rules were pretty arcane (quick, what’s your THAC0?), and in a way they appealed to all the classic geeky traits, especially depth of knowledge and an obsessive nature. But the game was also intensely social, and many of the bonds made over afternoon expeditions to the Barrier Peaks have lasted a lifetime.

  These days, D&D is in its fourth incarnation of rules, and by all accounts, it’s easy and fun to play—all the materials are available at your local gaming store (search it out if you don’t know where it is; it may even be masquerading as a hobby store; or go online to Wizards of the Coast, www.wizards.com). There is also a whole world out there of similar games based in fantasy worlds, or cyberpunk near-futures, or the Star Wars universe, or a present-day Earth with superheroes. The best thing, and the thing that separates them from video games, is that they use the imagination. And they bring people together to play, face-to-face.

  Sounds like a perfect thing for GeekDads to do with their kids, doesn’t it?

  Indeed, depending on your kids’ ability to follow rules and their penchant for telling stories, any time in their late single digits, age-wise, is a perfect time to get them into RPGs. First, you get to work with them to build a character—some kind of hero, most likely—that will be their alter ego in the game. And then, you get to lead them through a story—an adventure—either from a book or of your own making. If you’re acting as the game master (GM), you even have the ability to modulate the game play so it’s just as challenging as it needs to be to keep them interested without ruining their fun. And games like these help teach teamwork, puzzle solving, and even mapmaking.

  Beyond just the game play, there are the figures to be painted, the dice to be collected, and even hundreds of licensed novels to be read about the worlds the games are set in. RPGs can be a lifelong hobby that grows with your kids.

  But here’s an idea: Since RPGs are a way for using mathematics and imagination to turn the life of a created character into a game, why not try applying RPG concepts to managing day-to-day life? Indeed, many RPG players will, at some point in their lives, play characters in an adventure who are based quite specifically on themselves. It’s the classic “what would I do if I were magically transported to Middle Earth/Star Wars/DC Comics universe?” scenario. Countless players have worked up character sheets for themselves, always slightly overinflating their key statistics (of course I have a high intelligence! I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t!), and then playing themselves as calm and cool in the most incredible of imagined circumstances. After all, wouldn’t every high school junior have the steely nerve to face down a green dragon with nothing but a +1 dagger?

  Sure, that’s a fun, one-off adventure. But that’s still playing a game with friends, or you, as the proud parent, running the adventure for your kids. What if we take it the next step: really turning your kids’ lives into an RPG?

  Okay, not all life. You’re not going to tell your kids to start carrying broadswords to school to deal with the class bully. But the mathematical system of an RPG is meant to create a framework for managing personal growth and achievement for an imaginary character. It creates a balanced reward system for success, and encourages learning and personal planning. What better tools to use in helping your kids handle homework, chores, extracurricular activities, and allowance, all while teaching them to plan ahead and work toward goals? Not many that I can think of, which is why I give you:

  Kids like structure, like having a framework so that they understand what they need to do to receive certain benefits. They also like to have goals to work toward to prove they are growing up and earning new responsibilities. Sounds an awful lot like what you do with a D&D character, huh? So, instead of simple chore charts on the fridge and a weekly allowance, why not turn your kids’ duties and benefits into a role-playing game?

  THE IDEA

  You’re the parent, and you are the Game Master/ Dungeon Master (GM/DM). Your child maintains a character sheet with stats, skills, experience, and so forth. Your child earns experience points (eps) for completing regular tasks (e.g., keeping his room clean, walking the pets, washing the dishes) and can get bonus eps for one-shot tasks (an especially good or improved report card, cleaning out the garage, a birthday treat).

  At certain point totals, your child can “level up”—gain a promotion representing his achievements and personal growth. At each leveling up, your child earns skill points and attribute points to spend. Skill points allow the kid to learn new skills (how to safely use the lawn mower to mow the lawn, supervised and unsupervised; how to do the laundry) which can then earn him more experience points. Skill points can also give him benefits—like the ability to earn more allowance, watch TV an hour a week, or add an extracurricular activity at school for example—at a measured pace so that your child balances recreational time against taking care of responsibilities. Additional attribute points help raise the bonuses, and are indicative of the kid’s personal growth—he is getting more active (adding to physical health, aka constitution), gaining physical agility (improved dexterity), or learning life lessons (developing wisdom).

  Complexity can grow as the levels go up (and the child gets older). At the tweens, for example, your child could earn the skill/ ability to have his own cell phone, plus the cost of the plan to pay for it. Your child can also use the character sheet to track money (like how much gold an RPG character has) and budget, so then he can spend it on new items to help him earn more eps or money (the child saves up to buy a lawn mower or power washer to run his own neighborhood business). It’s really a matter of how far you and your kids are willing to take the metaphor of the game system. They may, at some point, rebel against the idea of using a game system to manage their lives. Or they may revel in the structure. As with all things relating to the parent/child relationship, your mileage will vary, and you know your kids best.

  THE RULES

  This system is patterned rather significantly on D&D and a few other RPGs I’ve played over the years. The key factors for your child’s “character” are Attributes, Race, and Class. Using the blank character sheet included in Appendix B (which is also available as a downloadable file at www.geekdadbook.com), help your “player” create his character, thinking a lot about what his own strengths and interests are, and crafting the character in such a way that will optimize the results from doing things he would already be expected to do—yes, help him min/max the character if you like, or keep him balanced if you want to encourage him to do a broader range of activities. Since you’ll ultimately control the challenge rolls your children will make and the experience point value of the challenges they face, you can still adjust the “game” based on how they craft their characters at this stage. If they maximize certain attributes in the hope of making successes easier down the line, you can always set a higher challenge rating to balance. Just don’t tell them you’re doing it—you’d be likely to hear “but that’s not fair!”

  Character Attributes

  ABBREVIATION—NAME

  STR—Strength (affects Combat challenges)

  INT—Intelligence (affects Magical challenges)

  WIS—Wisdom (affects Willpower challenges)

  DEX—Dexterity (affects Agility challenges)

  CON—Constitution (affects Endurance challenges)

  CHA—Charisma (affects Performance challenges)

  Challenge Modifiers for All Attributes

  SCORE—MODIFIER

  6 ......... -4

  7 ......... -3

  8-9 ....... -2

  10-11 .... -1

 
; 12-13 ... +0

  14-15 .... +1

  16 ........ +2

  17 ........ +3

  18 ........ +4

  Players start with 12s straight across, and 5 Attribute points to distribute. For every gained attribute point, they can also move an existing point from one Attribute to another. For example, if a starting player wanted to max out his STR, he could use all 5 of his starting points to raise the 12 to a 17, and then move an additional point from INT (making it 11) to STR to end up with an 18. Said player could still move around an additional 4 points, say from INT to DEX, ending up with the following Attributes: STR: 18 (+4 to all Combat challenges)

  INT: 7 (-3 to all Magic challenges)

  WIS: 12

  DEX: 16 (+2 to all Agility challenges)

  CON: 12

  CHA: 12

  Character Race