Mini Hebocon Workshop on 7/6!

Hi everyone!

This is Ito, running around getting ready for the “Hebocon” event on 8/2.

タビロボ社 on Instagram: "「あつまれ、技術力が低い人たち。うまく動かないロボット。足りない知識。でもなぜかたのしい。🤖😀」 当日にヘボいロボットを作り技術のヘボさを競い合う「ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねPalette」を開催します🔥 ものづくり初心者の方もご参加できますので、気になる方は以下の紹介動画をご覧ください！ https://youtu.be/YCx_scvzxNY?si=igyqsto4CYeG_hJZ [開催日] 25/08/02（土） 12:00 ~ 16:00 [開催場所] 福岡県田川市猪国2559 いいかねパレット Room1 [募集人数] 8人 [対象年齢] 小学4年生以上 [参加費] 材料費2000円（ヘボコンを事前に自作の場合は無料） [参加方法] 以下の予約フォームからご連絡ください！ (8/2 ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねPalette) https://forms.gle/iPpRnWv1mGBQQxpm8 (7月 ミニワークショップ) https://forms.gle/rgra2kkJeyqo9RXK7 [主催] NPO法人みんなのPalette [お問い合わせ] instagram: ＠make_tagawa mail: kokiito026@gmail.com #みんなのpalette #いいかねpalette #田川 #fukuoka #tagawa #ヘボコン #田川 #福岡 #いいかね #いいかねpalette #ヘボコンワークショップatいいかねPalette"51 likes, 0 comments - tabi_robo on June 24, 2025: "「あつまれ、技術力が低い人たち。うまく動かないロボット。足りない知識。でもなぜかたのしい。🤖😀」 当日にヘボいロボットを作り技術のヘボさを競い合う「ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねPalette」を開催します🔥 ものづくり初心者の方もご参加できますので、気になる方は以下の紹介動画をご覧ください！ https://youtu.be/YCx_scvzxNY?si=igyqsto4CYeG_hJZ [開催日] 25/08/02（土） 12:00 ~ 16:00 [開催場所] 福岡県田川市猪国2559 いいかねパレット Room1 [募集人数] 8人 [対象年齢] 小学4年生以上 [参加費] 材料費2000円（ヘボコンを事前に自作の場合は無料） [参加方法] 以下の予約フォームからご連絡ください！ (8/2 ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねPalette) https://forms.gle/iPpRnWv1mGBQQxpm8 (7月 ミニワークショップ) https://forms.gle/rgra2kkJeyqo9RXK7 [主催] NPO法人みんなのPalette [お問い合わせ] instagram: ＠make_tagawa mail: kokiito026@gmail.com #みんなのpalette #いいかねpalette #田川 #fukuoka #tagawa #ヘボコン #田川 #福岡 #いいかね #いいかねpalette #ヘボコンワークショップatいいかねPalette". Instagram

Starting in July, I’ve been holding mini workshops as a lead-up to “Hebocon Workshop at Iikane Palette” on 8/2 — both to promote the event and to give both organizers and participants a taste of what to expect.

Mini Hebocon Workshop on 7/6

So, right off the bat: the mini Hebocon workshop on 7/6 happened.

髙木侑斗 on Instagram: "… #ヘボコン ワークショップ@いいかねPalette開催。お問い合わせは@make_tagawa まで！"63 likes, 0 comments - yutotakaki on July 6, 2025: "… #ヘボコン ワークショップ@いいかねPalette開催。お問い合わせは@make_tagawa まで！". Instagram

We borrowed the “Ii Supo” room on the 2nd floor of Iikane Palette from Tagawa City and held it with 5 participants. I’d designed the workshop assuming 4th grade and up, but this time three kids younger than 4th grade showed up too.

Honestly, I’d set that age range because I figured you couldn’t really enjoy the workshop without having learned about motors and electricity in school — but that turned out not to be the case at all, and I was glad they had fun anyway.

What we did

• 13:00–13:30: Self-introductions, icebreaker, workshop explanation, lecture on how motors work
• 13:30–14:00: Building a demo robot
• 14:00–14:45: Refining the demo robot
• 14:45–15:00: Reflecting on the robots we built

To get everyone started on their demo robot, we had them build a mini robot using a battery pack, a motor, and paper tape. As a first step, we ran the robots on a dedicated course to see how far up they could climb, then the flow was to keep improving them so they could complete the whole course.

Art matters too, as an element of the robot

That said, “adjusting your robot so it can complete the course” turned out to be a tough hook for the younger elementary schoolers. Wondering if there was some other way to get them hooked, I handed out googly-eye stickers I’d brought along just in case. As I told them that “making your robot’s design cute” was just as valid a way to enjoy the workshop as completing the course, and had them stick googly eyes on their robots, the kids gradually got more and more into it.

Some kids got really into it and covered their robots in the glittery stickers I’d brought, while others plastered on so many googly eyes they basically created a Myaku-Myaku. By the end, everyone shared what they’d wanted to make and how far they’d gotten, and went home having had fun.

There happened to be another event going on at Iikane Palette that day, and kids were walking around proudly showing off their robots to everyone.

It made me really glad I’d held the workshop.

Since this was a preliminary workshop ahead of Hebocon itself, I think it was good that I hadn’t set a fixed “finished product” you were supposed to build toward. I think this workshop managed to fold in elements of expression — like making your robot cute, or crafting how it moves. Expression is also one of the elements included in STEAM education, and a cycle where kids express something as part of learning, share it with others, and want to improve it further is what drives learning forward — so I want to keep holding events with an eye on that aspect of expression.

Reflections

Once the kids got interested in this workshop, they didn’t really need support anymore — but to give each of them the right amount of support for whatever they wanted to make, we did end up needing roughly one adult for every two kids.

This time we had 3 adults running things, plus a bit of support from some of the parents, so we just barely managed to welcome and run the workshop for 5 kids.

I want to keep paying attention to the ratio of participants to organizers going forward.

We’d also prepared a variety of tools and materials little by little for participants, but the lesson learned was that we really need at least one of each core tool and material, plus spares. We ran short on the scissors, tape, motors, and battery packs we mainly used, so we should have prepared extra in advance.

Sign-ups still open!

The July mini workshops are still recruiting, every Sunday at 13:00. If you’d like to join, please reserve a spot through the application form below.

【7月開催】ミニヘボコンワークショップ「ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねパレット」の8/2 開催に合わせてプレワークショップとして「ミニヘボコンワークショップ」を開催します🙌 モーターと電池のみでミニロボットを作ってミニヘボコンを行います🔥 ヘボコンとは： https://youtu.be/YCx_scvzxNY?si=igyqsto4CYeG_hJZ 開催日： 7/6, 7/13, 7/20, 7/27 13:00 ~ 15:00 開催場所： 福岡県田川市猪国2559 いいかねパレット イイスポ 対象年齢： 小学4年生以上 参加費： 無料 それぞれの開催日は最大4人までとします できる限りいろんな人に受けてほしいので基本は参加は一回のみにします 参加決定の方はメールでご案内するのでお待ちください。フォームを送信された次の日までに必ずご返信します。 また、次の日以降に返信がない方に関しては予約数が埋まって参加できない状況にあることをご理解ください。Google Docs

We’re also still recruiting for the main event, “Hebocon Workshop at Iikane Palette” on 8/2. We’ll have a “Most Hebo (Crappiest) Robot Award,” so please do apply!

【8月開催】ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねパレット「ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねパレット」を8/2に開催します🤖 ヘボコンとは： 動画 https://youtu.be/YCx_scvzxNY?si=igyqsto4CYeG_hJZ Webサイト https://hebocon.org/ja/whats ルール: https://hebocon.org/ja/rules 開催日： 25/08/02（土） 12:00 ~ 16:00 開催場所： 福岡県田川市猪国2559 いいかねパレット Room1 対象年齢： 小学4年生以上 参加費：材料費2000円（ヘボコンを事前に自作の場合は無料） スケジュール - 12:00~ 開催説明 - 12:30~ ロボットワークショップ - 14:30~ トーナメント - 15:00~ ヘボコン受賞投票と授賞式 参加決定の方はメールでご案内するのでお待ちください。フォームを送信された次の日までに必ずご返信します。 また、次の日以降に返信がない方に関しては予約数が埋まって参加できない状況にあることをご理解ください。Google Docs