A parent's guide to raising a kid who loves to make things.
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.
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.
Nine short chapters, each one small move a parent makes — from "my kid just watches" to "my kid makes things all the time."
A taste of page one — the opening, plus the two things every chapter ends with.
Picture your kid right now. There's a good chance they're holding a screen — watching someone else build, bake, or play. And a quiet voice in the back of your mind says: this can't be all there is. You're right. It isn't.
For one week, just notice — when does your kid make something vs. consume something? Don't change anything yet. Just see the ratio.
That's page one. There are 78 more.
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.
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.
Not at all. This book is for non-handy parents — your job is to open doors and stay curious, not to be an expert.
It's about a mindset, so it works across childhood — most useful for roughly ages 5–13, and the ideas stretch up and down from there.
Right now it's an instant PDF (79 pages) you can read on any device. A print paperback is in the works.
Yes — fully translated, plus an extra section written just for Chinese parents about exams, "standard answers," and creativity.
An eleven-year-old, Peter, and his dad, Hans — together. It's living proof of the whole idea.
One small move at a time.
Get the book — €10