Raise a
Builder

A parent's guide to raising a kid who loves to make things.

Your kid doesn't need another screen.

They need to make something. The divide that really matters isn't screens vs. no screens — it's a kid who watches versus a kid who makes. This book is about quietly tilting the balance toward making, one small moment at a time.

The big idea

Help them find their thing — not yours.

This isn't a book about forcing your kid into a hobby. It's about setting out a buffet — cooking, building, drawing, tinkering, code — and helping them discover what they genuinely love.

And it's completely okay if they don't like cooking. A "no" is just one more wrong door closed on the way to the right one. You can't assign a passion — but you can open the door.

What's inside

Nine short chapters, each one small move a parent makes — from "my kid just watches" to "my kid makes things all the time."

01

Makers vs. watchers

02

You don't have to be handy

03

A buffet, not a menu

04

Catching the spark

05

Invite, don't assign

06

Room to make a mess

07

When they want to quit

08

Feeding the fire

09

Their thing, not yours

A "Try this week" in every chapter Scout's recaps The Buffet: 100 things to make Your maker notebook

Meet Scout

Scout is your guide on every page — a curious little maker who's into absolutely everything. Because curiosity is the only tool this whole book really runs on.

Written by a kid and his dad

Hans Stam is the dad half of this book — and the one who came up with the whole idea. He's not a maker by trade; his only qualification is the same one this book asks of you: he opened doors and said "sure, let's try."

Peter Stam is the kid half. He found his way into making through cooking — which started with a kit and never stopped — and 3D printing, which he's now, cheerfully, better at than his dad. He's living proof of nearly everything in these pages.

They wrote it together, a father and his son, which felt like exactly the right way to write a book about exactly this.

"Don't force the kids to build.
Help them discover."
— Hans

Raise a maker.

One small move at a time.

Get the book — €10
Instant PDF download on Gumroad · 79 pages.