Geek Dad Nominated for Books for a Better Life Award!

Geek Dad has been nominated for a Books for a Better Life award by the National MS Society in the category of Childcare/Parenting! To say the least, this is quite exciting. Ken has this to say about the nomination:

I’m totally gobsmacked by this nomination. I know the saying ‘it’s an honor just to be nominated’ is a stale old canard, but that’s just how I feel. I am grateful to the selection committee for considering my little tome worthy, and to the National MS Society for their tireless work in battling the disease. I’m so happy to be able to support them in this way.

We’ll keep you posted on the nomination. The awards will be held March 7, 2011 in New York.

About Books for a Better Life:

Since its inception in 1996, Books for a Better Life have recognized more than 500 self-improvement authors and has now raised more than $1.7 million for the New York City – Southern New York Chapter’s comprehensive support services and educational programs for people living with MS, their friends and families. The Awards recognize self-improvement authors whose messages are aligned with the chapter’s mission of inspiring people to live their best lives.

Good luck to all the nominees, and of course, to you, Ken!

GeekDad Book Giveaway via (un)paint

Laura over at (un)paint is giving away two copies of Geek Dad to her readers. Laura also enjoyed the book and had this to say about it:

It’s full of so many awesome projects for geek dads to do for and with their geek children. (And non-geeks too!) Most of the projects are pretty inexpensive and a lot of the supplies needed are things you may already have at home. It’s also nice that there are handy icons throughout the book letting you know the price range, difficulty, etc of each project.

Thanks, Laura! And here’s the details on the contest; for full info visit her blog:

Two winners will be selected to each receive one copy of Geek Dad by Ken Denmead. Giveaway ends Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. Make one comment for each entry. The winners will be selected at random and have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected, etc. Please make sure your email address is in your comment or blogger profile. Open to US and Canadian addresses only.

I Suck At… Reviews GeekDad

From Mike Yee at I Suck At:

Last night, I finished reading Geek Dad by Ken Denmead. Now I suck at Geek Dad. For anyone curious, the book is about projects and activities that a “geeky” father can do with his children. Karen had stumbled upon the book one day and thought it would be a fitting book for me to read. (I am assuming that means she thinks I am a geek.)

We hope you have fun with the projects, Mike. And hopefully you won’t suck at any of them!

Electric Origami at MAKE

Here’s a little piece that features Ken’s electric origami project via MAKE:

It’s a starter origami project where you build a simple paper box with a built-in LED circuit, drawn with a conductive ink pen.

This would be a fun MAKEcation project to do with your kids. If you do any electronic origami, inspired by this, please tell us about it/link to photos in the comments below or in the project notes of Make: Projects.

Ooh, shiny origami!

Review: Great Ideas When You Run Out

Table For Five cites Geek Dad as instrumental for filling in the blanks when you’ve just run out of interesting things to do with your kids. No fear! Geek Dad is here! (And we’re happy to help!) From the review:

Summer can sometimes drag on forever when you’re a kid, but when you’ve got a resource like Geek Dad with over 30 actvities to do you feel safe that not only will the time go by faster, but your kids will learn to enjoy science and look at learning as fun.

Review: Bring on a Series

Adventures in All Things Food thinks Geek Dad ought to be a series. Well, we can’t argue with that. From the review:

I already have a list of people this book would be perfect for. My DH is on the top of the list! I can’t wait to see my two guys work their way through this book. I love hands on projects that capitalize on creativity and quality time for families…I would love to see another book with Geek Dad in the kitchen or Geek Dad Goes Outdoors. Oh, the possibilities!

Review: Reading by Example

At Living Changerously, Andrea picked up the book after her husband “couldn’t put it down”. While many of Geek Dad‘s projects are a little above the curve for their 6-year-old, the plan is looking forward to the future:

Some of the other projects we are planning on doing (and only haven’t yet because of all the travelling we have been doing this summer) are: Make your own cartoons, Model Building with cake (really – anything with cake and I am in!) and the Exploding Drink practical joke.

Review: I Dare You Not To Make Something

Much of what’s at the heart of Geek Dad is a love for making things, and more importantly, making things with other people. Particularly family. Over at Just Like the Number, that sentiment was certainly picked up:

Most of the projects are geared for kids elementary school-age and up, but I still think it would make a cool gift for a new dad. You know, give him some time to try out the projects on his own.  Perfect them, if you will. Because that’s what geeky dads do, and we love them for it.

I dare you to share it with your favorite dad and see if he doesn’t find something that makes him say, “Hey kids, you wanna help me with blank?” And it will be something awesome and fun, as opposed to vacuuming out his truck.

Review: Geek Dad Projects are Hands-On and Reasonably Priced

Allergy Kid Mom really liked the hands-on quality of the projects in Geek Dad, and has a detailed review over at her site. What many reviewers discover about these projects is that these projects aren’t just cool in and of themselves, but they’re generally quite affordable and really get the whole family in on it. From the review:

This is a really great book and I encourage everyone to go out and get one for themselves. I think you would really enjoy working with your kids on these different projects and your kids will love them just the same. I highly recommend it. And if I can pull a line from the book, ‘Go get your kid (s) and get started!’