WILLIAMSBURG — Turn bananas into a piano, illuminate your clothing with wearable lights or learn how to build video games at a new robotics shop on Grand Street.
Geek Forest will celebrate its opening Saturday with activities for kids and a bunch of robotics demos to fiddle around, including the Makey Makey which lets you turn household items into a playable keyboard.
Earlier this year, the shop opened a pop-up location nearby. It's now settling into a roomier, more permanent space at 329 Grand St., said its owner Carmen Sutton.
"I love having a bunch of kids around, all these little personalities," said Sutton, who has started up spring after-school programs at the shop on Mondays.
The inspiration to open Geek Forest came from her own 8-year-old who fell in love with coding at an afterschool program.
"He's just so into coding. He actually does it at night," said Sutton.
She'd taken him to maker fairs where the whole family was entranced by wearable robots, basic synthesizers and other robotics that helped de-mystify the way technology works, Sutton said.
But they wanted to find a place where they could geek out full time.
"I just think it's so fun," she said.
Geek Forest will offer free workshops once a month, mostly catered to children. Once they get the ball rolling they'll start tailoring certain workshops and classes to adults, Sutton said, and she hopes to begin hosting seminars and talks about robotics from people working in the field.
The shop also offers after-school coding, game design, comic book drawing classes and is gearing up for a summer camp.
Geek Forest's grand opening is April 2, from 12 to 4 p.m. at 329 Grand St.
