Fund This! A Mini Museum, Science Kits for Kids, and the Museum of Science Fiction

Check out our latest picks for Fund This! including a Mini Museum, kits to help kids understand scientific concepts, and a campaign to get the Museum of Science Fiction underway!

Mini Museum

It may be my professional museum background, it may be my love of categorization and collection, but I fell in love with this project the minute I saw it. Hans Fex sees this product as a result of his whole life’s work and interests, and you can see his passion in his fundraising video. How awesome would it be to have your very own collection that includes everything from meteorites to dinosaur dung? The real magic, though, is in the collection’s ability to inspire curiosity, to dig deeper into the artifacts and learn more.

A Hundred Tiny Hands

I thought these kits from graduate students at Khine Engineering lab at UC Irvine were adorable. Now, before we go any further, I want to acknowledge that, YES, for those of us who are hacker/maker/science inclined, you could definitely put these together for cheaper. But these kits are packaged wonderfully, and would be an amazing addition to classrooms, home schools, and anyone else who may want a kit that is easy to follow, fun, affordable, and comes with support. It also looks like they built in ways for kids to make their own designs from the concepts, which I appreciate.

Museum of Science Fiction

Oh boy, if there were ever a museum that would make me want to return to D.C. and dive back in, this is it. I love everything I have seen so far: solid collection and display plan, hands-on opportunities, accessibility to a range of fans. I think this museum will be spectacular. This funding campaign is raising money to build a pop-up location, a preview of sorts. It is sort of a “proof is in the pudding” situation, where the museum can showcase the vision and build more support (and funding) through a physical presence. I think this is very smart of the founders. It is a stretch for many to donate to a cause that has no tangible evidence of success. If the Museum of Science Fiction can build a small example of what’s to come based on the vision I have seen already, they will have no problems inspiring the public to action. Geeks like me are already on board; let’s help get others to join us!