STEM Madness At Saratoga High

SMASH Maker Fair

Bring a pumpkin. We’ll SMASH it!

November 1st, 2–5pm

  • Saratoga High School courtyard20300 Herriman Ave, Saratoga
  • Completely Free
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Pumpkins
Bring your Halloween pumpkin if you have one
Who it’s for
All ages welcome, bring your entire family!
Hosted by
MSET Robotics Club

The SMASHers

This year, we have three unique, powerful smashers using a multitude of methods to SMASH your pumpkins!

The purple machine drives two spikes sideways through the pumpkin
The green machine drops a forty-pound sledgehammer
The blue machine uses a vertical pneumatic piston

Pumpkin smashing!

Bring your Jack O’ Lanterns for us to SMASH and compost with self-built smashers!

Dozens of finished jack-o’-lanterns lined up on concrete steps, each numbered in marker, faces ranging from grinning to furious.
A boy reaches for the smasher’s control button while dozens of children sit and stand along the caution tape watching.
A young girl crouches with her hand on a large red button mounted to a green box, grinning, while a student volunteer steadies the cable beside her and a pumpkin waits inside the machine’s clear chamber.
A packed courtyard in warm late-afternoon light: families in sun hats crowd activity tables and green picnic benches beneath the big SARATOGA HIGH SCHOOL letters.

Maker booths and clubs!

Other than pumpkins, we also have over 40 booths from makers, school clubs, and robotics teams. Additionally, we also have science tables and carnival games for all ages!

A maker in a straw sun hat crouches on the pavement adjusting two humanoid sculptures built on repurposed walker frames, all copper tubing, exposed circuit boards and looping wire.
A long-haired teen in a vivid tie-dye shirt rests a hand atop a vintage Macintosh SE running a classic Mac desktop, grinning down at it in warm side light.
A beaming student vendor stands behind her tidy black booth table displaying rows of tiny handmade crochet animals and boba charms in the low golden light.
A student in a red Saratoga Physics shirt runs a hands-on demo — oil, water and effervescent tablets in jars — while a young boy leans in over the table and his mother watches under bright blue afternoon sky.
A small boy in a pink shirt drives a robot with a controller while a woman crouches to film three FTC robots on the mat, a whole arc of families watching in clean late-day light with the Saratoga High sign behind.
A student explains a 3D-printed prosthetic hand to a visitor turning one over in their hands.

SMASH 2025 Recap

Panorama across the whole Saratoga High courtyard at peak attendance, carving tables and jack-o’-lanterns in the foreground and hundreds of visitors filling the plaza.
A boy reaches for the smasher’s control button while dozens of children sit and stand along the caution tape watching.
Families streaming through the courtyard past the taped-off smash zone, with a food truck and rows of booths behind them.
A student operator leans over the purple pumpkin smasher with a pumpkin loaded under the press and a long line waiting behind the tape.
A crowd gathered on the front steps beneath the big Saratoga High School wall lettering, watching the taped-off smash zone.
Ultra-wide panorama of the smash zone with the green machine at one end and the blue at the other, a dense arc of families between them.
A student explains a 3D-printed prosthetic hand to a visitor turning one over in their hands.
A packed craft and science table with young children folding paper creations while a student volunteer leans in to help.
Two boys sprint through a cloud of soap bubbles under orange-and-black streamer decorations.
A tight scrum of small children crowds a club table where teen volunteers lean in to help.
Two Saratoga Library staffers chat with a visitor flipping through material at their community booth.
An FTC demo field laid out on foam tiles in the courtyard with three competition robots and scattered game balls.
About twenty students of team 6165 MSET Cuttlefish gathered with their competition robot and awards under the FIRST Tech Challenge sign at the World Championship.
A chalkboard sign reading “Welcome to SMASH — STEM Madness at Saratoga High, hosted by 6165 MSET Cuttlefish” beside an orange-and-black streamer curtain.
Two students lean over the purple pumpkin-smashing machine at dusk, looking through its pulp-spattered acrylic guard at a pumpkin on the crush plate.
A student operator gestures a boy in a green shirt up to the smasher's control table, pumpkins and prize bags laid out in front, as a wide arc of families and phone cameras watches from the steps.
Dozens of finished jack-o’-lanterns lined up on concrete steps, each numbered in marker, faces ranging from grinning to furious.
Two little boys clutching purple and green game balls kneel on the foam mat watching an FTC robot while high-schoolers and a parent crouch around it, explaining, in warm late-afternoon light under a redwood.
Two boys in ball caps plunge gloved hands into white bins of oobleck at an orange-draped picnic table while student volunteers coach them, the hills going gold behind the courtyard.
Ultra-wide panorama of the packed Saratoga High courtyard at golden hour, the green pumpkin-smashing machine and the school sign anchoring the right side.
A man demonstrates finger articulation with his own hand while an MSET 6165 student looks on, four robotic prosthetic arms laid out across the orange table between them.
A big crowd of families packs the amphitheater steps behind yellow caution tape, watching the purple pneumatic pumpkin-smashing machine with its yellow air tanks primed on the concrete stage.
Three young kids in a row lean over the craft table in warm late light, tongue-out concentration as they cut and tape foam strips onto their paper articulated hands.
A line of teenagers with red gear bags queues at the bright yellow Kona Ice shaved-ice truck in warm late-afternoon light under the courtyard trees.
A long-haired teen in a vivid tie-dye Huy Fong shirt rests a hand atop a vintage Macintosh SE running a classic Mac desktop, grinning down at it in warm side light.
A crowded blue tarp of pumpkin carving — parents and kids kneeling over gutted pumpkins, seeds and pulp everywhere, Home Depot bags staged for compost.
A small boy in a pink shirt drives a robot with a controller while a woman crouches to film three FTC robots on the mat, a whole arc of families watching in clean late-day light with the Saratoga High sign behind.
A club booth table lined with dozens of handmade crochet plushies — octopuses, turtles, frogs, a boba tea and a bunny in a display case — glowing in low golden sunlight.
A high wide shot over the whole SMASH fair — a big crowd packed around the pumpkin-smashing machine on the courtyard steps, booths and canopies stretching back across campus under a clear blue sky.
A little girl in a pompom beanie and rainbow-striped sweater lunges to slam the big red arcade button on its green box while a student volunteer crouches beside her and the carved jack-o-lantern waits inside the blue smasher.
A student in a red Saratoga Physics shirt runs a hands-on chemistry demo — oil, water and effervescent tablets in jars — while a young boy leans in over the table and his mother watches, all under bright blue afternoon sky.
Two dozen carved and decorated jack-o'-lanterns lined up in rows across concrete steps in late-afternoon light, from classic toothy faces to a warty gourd and a sticker-covered mini pumpkin.
A firefighter kneels to hand a breathing-apparatus air bottle to a line of kids at the open side of the Saratoga fire engine, another firefighter standing with a small child beside the cab.
Two student makers grin shoulder to shoulder in warm evening light, holding up a tiny crochet cow they made at their booth.
Sweeping sunset view down the whole courtyard: a long spine of activity tables and hundreds of people stretching toward the buildings, a lone redwood spiking into an enormous open sky, oobleck kids at the near edge.
A packed ring of kids sits on the pavement behind caution tape watching a student and an adult volunteer load a pumpkin into the blue acrylic-windowed smashing machine, autumn trees glowing behind the crowd.
A dense knot of kids and parents crowds around a running 3D printer at a maker booth, a student volunteer in a team shirt explaining the print while a vintage Macintosh sits at the table's edge.
A girl bites into a cloud of blue cotton candy while two smiling women look on in backlit late-afternoon sun, another kid in the foreground holding up her own cone.
Two MSET students crouch on the blacktop tuning a pink FTC robot while a multigenerational crowd — kids, parents, a grandmother with a walker — watches from behind, the Saratoga High School sign glowing in the background.
Two smiling library staffers greet a visitor at an information table spread with pens, flyers and green stress balls, sun flaring over the courtyard behind them.
A student throws her arms up in celebration at the smasher controls while kids clutching pumpkins queue along the tape and a volunteer in a hi-vis vest keeps the line moving.
Kids crowd an orange-clothed activity table stocked with candy and slime supplies, one boy in an inflatable green squid hat holding out his goo-covered hands.
Five smiling high school club members pose beside their orange-draped bake sale table set with pumpkins, LEO club signage and trays of treats on the lawn.
Wide golden-hour view across the packed school courtyard, sun flaring through the oak canopy over a crowd of families at booths with the hills behind the Saratoga High School building.
Wide, clean view of families carving pumpkins on a blue tarp, three groups working scalpels into jack-o-lantern faces with stencil sheets beside them.
Kids kneel on the pavement driving competition robots with game controllers while a purple game ball sits mid-play and a semicircle of parents watches.
A student volunteer in a white MSET shirt sits on the pavement laughing with a toddler while a mom kneels alongside and soap bubbles drift through the whole frame.
Sweeping panorama across the Saratoga High courtyard showing both smashing machines, the roped-off crowd, and rows of booths and visitors stretching back toward the buildings under a clear sky.
A beaming student vendor stands behind her tidy black booth table displaying rows of tiny handmade crochet animals and boba charms in the low golden light.
Visitors and students gather around FTC team 20373 RMS Chimera's orange-draped booth, robots lined up on the table under palm trees and blue sky.
Two teen volunteers walk away from the pumpkin-pie table laughing, backlit by the low sun over the hills with the busy courtyard stretching behind them.
The full Saratoga courtyard packed with hundreds of visitors under a deep blue sky, booths and tables ringing the crowd with the school building at center.
A small blond boy, guided by his dad and a student volunteer, reaches for the firing button of the purple pneumatic pumpkin-smashing machine with a whole pumpkin waiting inside the clear box.
A ring of kids leans over a picnic table plunging gloved hands into a tub of oobleck while teen volunteers manage the mess, autumn maples and the campus roofline behind them.
A grinning MSET 6165 student in team shirt strides with a microphone beside the blue pumpkin-smasher rig and its green hydraulic press, air compressor and laptop on the spider-web-cloth table in front of him.
A teen volunteer holds a carved smiley-face jack-o-lantern out toward the blue guillotine smasher, backlit autumn foliage glowing gold behind her.
A packed courtyard in warm late-afternoon light: families in sun hats crowd activity tables and green picnic benches beneath the big SARATOGA HIGH SCHOOL letters.
A student from MSET 6165 stands with the event emcee on the school steps under the SARATOGA HIGH SCHOOL sign, a crowd of seated children in the foreground.
Two grinning high schoolers throw finger-guns for the camera in front of the Saratoga High School entrance at golden hour.
Golden-hour wide shot of the courtyard with sun bursting through the trees, long shadows across the blacktop and a dense line of families browsing booths toward the school building and hills.
A small girl in a blue shirt crouches with her hand on the red button, grinning, while the student volunteer beside her laughs out loud and a whole pumpkin sits framed under the piston in the blue smasher's acrylic chamber.
The Saratoga High courtyard after dark, the lit school marquee glowing at the far end of an empty asphalt plaza with a lone folding table in the foreground and a handful of people packing up on the steps.

FAQ

Do I have to bring a pumpkin?

Nope! Bring one if you have one, but regardless you’ll still be able to watch other pumpkins get smashed. We’ll be smashing pumpkins throughout the entire event.

Is it really free?

Yes! There’s no ticket and no registration, so just walk in anytime. The pumpkin smashing is completely free. Some booths have fundraisers and there will be food trucks, so bring some cash.

How long should we stay?

Most families stay for about two hours. Feel free to drop in any time from 2–5pm. We provide a paper-stamp scavenger hunt for kids to visit every booth.

Where do we park?

The Saratoga High School parking lot will be open. It’s right next to the high school’s courtyard which is where SMASH is located.

Is it safe for little kids?

Yes. Every machine has a shield and a taped line in front of it, and a trained student loads the smasher (with another student on a safety switch). Kids press the smash button from outside the line.

What happens to the pumpkins afterward?

We store them in the compost bins on site and they get transported appropriately as organic waste.

Can my club or company have a booth?

Yes! We start inviting makers in early September and confirm the list by late October. Email msetcuttlefish6165@gmail.com and tell us what you’d like to demo, and we’ll get back to you!

SMASH 2025, in numbers

750+people came, about double 2024
1000+pounds of pumpkin composted
100+pumpkins weighed and smashed
40+booths
3smashers

Figures as reported by The Saratoga Falcon, November 14, 2025.