In my post for Demco Ideas, I detail five different makerspace project ideas for ALA's Teen Tech Week. This year's theme is Be the Source of Change.
These fun and flexible areas can help students develop creative and analytical thinking skills.
Educators are bringing more hands-on experiences to their students. Create one of these enriching learning areas by building a makerspace.
We talked to some of the leading architects in the country about five key principles in K–12 school design.
I receive a few questions a week asking what I use in my makerspace and how to begin one. This blog post will provide you with tips on creating a makerspace no matter what your budget is. According to Makerspaces.Com, “A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate facility for ... Read more
Today let’s talk about how and why I started a low-tech makerspace at our high school library! When I started at this library 5 years ago it was completely different than it is now. Circulati…
Educators are bringing more hands-on experiences to their students. Create one of these enriching learning areas by building a makerspace.
Interested in learning how to start, schedule, and manage an elementary Makerspace?! Check out these supply suggestions, organization tips, and more.
There's a lot more to it than cardboard and duct tape.
Makerspaces don’t have to be big or even high tech. You can create a STEM environment in a closet, at a workbench or on a cart. The important thing is to allow students to be creative and work on a variety of projects.
Makerspaces don't have to be expensive. Here's four examples of budget friendly projects and supplies for your makerspace.
STEM Bins for Elementary Students “I’m finished! What do I do now?” How many times during our teaching day do we hear these words from our students? Oftentimes, it is much too often, and students are provided a handful of the same options to keep them busy until our next transition. Sometimes students are instructed...
Welcome to Our Virtual Makerspace where you can create, imagine, read, learn, discover and more. And one of the best parts...It's open all day long! Have fun, friends. Our students love all of the special things Makerspaces bring to them within libraries, classrooms and school communities. With the summer here, I wanted to create a virtual Makerspace where they could experience art, building, coding, designing, engineering, music, reading and more. I put the virtual Makerspace together in a choice board format where kids and families can make choices what they want to do by clicking on the image within 24 different boxes. It can be shared as the embedded slide above or through the link to Our Virtual Makerspace here All of the sites and resources are open and free for everyone to use, including the three Capstone eBooks under Read. In fact, these are three of books from the Adventures in Makerspace series I wrote with Blake Hoena and Capstone. I included the username and password on the choice board. I also created a new Collection by Destiny filled with all of the resources from the choice board. You will find Our Virtual Makerspace Collection by Destiny here. As I find more wonderful Makerspace sites and resources, I will add another page to Our Virtual Makerspace choice board and Collection by Destiny. Please let me know if you have some that I should include...I would love to know about them. I am excited to share this with my students and families at Van Meter and can't wait to see what they create, learn and share. I hope you have fun sharing it with your students too. And if you want to make a copy to make changes, just click here friends.
Interested in setting up a makerspace?! Congratulations on taking the first step by doing some research. If a makerspace is properly set up and introduced, it can be a great tool for igniting student imagination and curiosity as well as building classroom community. The following are fou
Many of my posts have focused on our school Makerspace and the Makerspace Club. While I've already shared some of my favorite activities and some of my Makerspace stations, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips for how you can start your own school or classroom Makerspace. Tip #1 You don't need to buy it all When you start researching Makerspaces, you will see that there are a lot of cool tools out there. 3-D printers, Arduino, Hummingbird, Sphero, circuits, and more. I would caution you to not buy every last tech tool and gadget that you've seen in other Makerspaces right from the start. It can be really exciting to see 3-D printers, robotics, and more, but there is a benefit to starting small. Just like you wouldn't just blindly buy the newest and shiniest computers on the market for your whole school, you shouldn't just jump into buying every gadget and gizmo that's out there without doing your research. What do you want to achieve with that tool? How will it help your students learn, create, or discover? Can it be better accomplished with another material? There are plenty of Makerspace recommendations out there, take your time to explore what the purpose of the materials really are before spending money. If you're looking for starter items, check out this post or if you're looking to see how we've used some of our favorite items, look here. Tip #2 Think creatively to fund your space Use extra bookshelves for storage and display- here's our Breakerspace after a fun day of breaking Once you have done your research and have chosen the materials/tools that you are most interested in, the tricky part can be figuring out how to actually fund your Makerspace. Remember that many items, Legos, K'Nex, household items like duct tape, yarn, batteries, old technology for your take apart station, etc., can be donated. Reach out to your school community through a school newsletter or website to see what your community will donate. Also, look to garage sales or Salvation Army for great storage units or building items like Legos. There is no better time to recycle or re-purpose items than when you are building a Makerspace. I use extra bookshelves to store and display our Makerspace and Breakerspace items and old magazine holders to display Maker books for students. Our school/district PTSA and Student Council have been great funding sources as well. Don't forget to look beyond your school and see what district or state grants may be available. You can also look into crowdfunding through sources like DonorsChoose.org, digitalwish.com, or gofundme.com. Both Donors Choose and Digital Wish have been great sources for providing tech materials for my students. There are also many technology or STEM-related grants out there that can really make a difference. Major businesses like Best Buy offer technology grants or check out Funds for Teachers to explore grants by category. Tip #3 Collaboration is key A Makerspace is about collaboration in so many ways. It is certainly about student collaboration. Students work together to design, build, and create. It is so fun to see how students naturally come together to explore in the Makerspace and develop theories to test. As a Maker educator, it is also very helpful to collaborate with other Maker teachers. Using resources like blogs or Twitter (try #Makerspace or #MakerEd), you can learn so much about what others are doing, what has worked, what challenges they have encountered, and opportunities to ask questions. Don't be afraid to share or learn from others. It will make a tremendous difference in the experiences that you provide for your students and will help to challenge your thinking and move you forward. Tip #4 If you build it, they will come...with a bit of modeling It may seem like as long as you buy the materials, kids will flock to the Makerspace. With time and modeling, that will happen, but you need to make sure that kids know what a Makerspace is and guide them through what they can do. I created a promo video and shared it on our morning news show to first share what we had in our Makerspace and when it would be accessible. Between that and starting a Makerspace Club, word began to spread about the neat things kids could do in the Makerspace and soon kids were exploring before school and at lunch daily. Tip #5 You don't have to be an expert As teachers, we sometimes make the mistake of thinking that we have to know everything. When really, kids learn best by doing, exploring, and even making mistakes. That is what a Makerspace is all about. I introduce my students to our Makerspace, share examples, and offer challenges, but I don't claim to be an expert on everything. You will often see me sitting with the kids during our Makerspace Club experimenting with them. My favorite phrase during Makerspace Club seems to be, "Let's try it!" Tip #6 Utilize Challenges It's hard to rate my favorite days with our Makerspace Club, but if I had to, it would be the days that we have challenges. Challenges can be as small or as big as you want them to and tend to develop and change based on the students' ideas throughout the challenge. Sometimes our challenges take a day, other times they'll take a week. We've done paper airplane catapult challenges, Sphero race challenges, and more. We don't focus on winning or losing, but rather the process, design, and planning. I emphasize that challenges are about the thinking process rather than a competition. The kids love the build up designing and creating for whatever the challenge may be. I have designed Makerspace Challenge Cards so that we always have challenges to choose from and multiple challenges can be going on at once. This is great because we have limited materials and lots of interested students. Check them out if you're looking for guided challenges for your Makerspace! Tip #7 A Makerspace is a journey This is the most important tip to remember when creating your Makerspace. Our Makerspace evolved throughout the past year, and it absolutely will continue to evolve this year. When I first looked at what other educators had done with their school Makerspaces, I felt inspired, but overwhelmed. I found myself starting with lots of questions that could only be answered by actually creating a Makerspace and adjusting it as needed. What I really learned after one year with our school Makerspace is that Makerspaces really do need to adapt and grow based on your students' interests. Once you see how your students choose to use the Makerspace, you can make choices and activities that build on their interests. ********************************************************************************* If you're looking to start or enhance your Makerspace, I created a Makerspace Kit Bundle. It includes signs, challenge cards, a Makerspace journal, and more items that we use in our Makerspace. I also have these Makerspace items individually here.
Describe key elements of a makerspace. Justify how a makerspace can transform student learning.
A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools. These spaces are open to kids, adults, and entrepreneurs and have a variety of maker equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, cnc machines, soldering irons and even sewing machines. A makerspace however doesn’t need to include all of these machines or even any of them to be considered a makerspace. If you have cardboard, legos and art supplies you’re in business. It’s more of the maker mindset of creating something out of nothing and exploring your own interests that’s at the core of a makerspace. These spaces are also helping to prepare those who need the critical 21st century skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). They provide hands on learning, help with critical thinking skills and even boost self-confidence. Some of the skills that are learned in a makerspace pertain to electronics, 3d printing, 3D modeling, coding, robotics and even woodworking, Makerspaces are also fostering entrepreneurship and are being utilized as incubators and accelerators for business startups. There have already been some amazing success stories that have come out of makerspaces to date.
Interested in setting up a makerspace?! Congratulations on taking the first step by doing some research. If a makerspace is properly set up and introduced, it can be a great tool for igniting student imagination and curiosity as well as building classroom community. The following are fou
Many of my posts have focused on our school Makerspace and the Makerspace Club. While I've already shared some of my favorite activitie...
You CAN start a makerspace even if you’re broke In my recent post on AASL Knowledge Quest, I decided to revisit and revamp a popular article that I wrote for the ISTE Librarians Network Scanner about starting a makerspace on a budget. Since writing that article in November 2014, I’ve talked to many more educators and ... Read more
28 engaging hands-on STEM activities that use recylced and craft materials for a home, library, or classroom makerspace
By Lindsey Own - A makerspace teacher shares the top 10 unexpectedly critical components she found in high demand in her school's new makerspace.
Ready to create a school makerspace? Use this manual to decide what items you need, what you don’t, and how to get your space up and running.
Makerspace Name Ideas You have the space, you have the gear, now for the name! There are a lot of great name ideas out there, so I have compiled a list of some you may like, as well as a makerspace name generator of sorts! Unique Makerspace Names These names may combine words, utilize a play on words, or just sound fun: Collaboratory Imaginarium Mindcave Da Vinci's Workshop Simple Makerspace Names Or why not try something simple? Eureka! The Brainstorm STEM Lab Makerplace Fablab I also created this simple chart for coming up with a makerspace name. Just pick one word from each column and you're done! It couldn't be easier. Makerspace Names That Suit YOUR Makerspace Still not sure? Here are some tips for coming up with a unique name: Think about what your makerspace's focus is. Is it on building? Arts? Robotics? Environmentally friendly design? Try using a word that supports your makerspace's mission and feel. Get input from your students. How do they feel in the makerspace? What are their favorite tools and projects? Describe your space. Is it on an upper floor? A basement? In a nook? In a library? What's the history of the space? Try incorporating an aspect of the physical space into your name and it's sure to fit. What do you call your makerspace or STEM lab? Comment below or head to the STEM educator support group on Facebook to share your name with us! Looking for more ideas while setting up your makerspace? You may find the following articles useful: Setting up Your Makerspace Setting up an Elementary STEM Lab by Sarah Lalonde So You Want to Start A Makerspace? by Teach Outside the Box Pin these ideas for later:
Today let’s talk about how and why I started a low-tech makerspace at our high school library! When I started at this library 5 years ago it was completely different than it is now. Circulati…
Academic Ways to Use the MaKey-MaKey in the Elementary Classroom: Fun ways to advance coding in the classroom!
The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk . Creating a new unit plan, designing a differentiated lesson, or creating a virtual field trip for students--all of these tasks require time and effort on the part of the teacher. Looking for the right resources, exploring digital content, an
Ready to create a school makerspace? Use this manual to decide what items you need, what you don’t, and how to get your space up and running.
You don't need a lot of tech to have a design challenges in your makerspace. Check out my Demco post to learn three easy challenges to implement.
"High-Fivey" the Cardboard Micro:bit Robot: Stuck at home but still have a need to high-five someone? We made a friendly little robot with some cardboard and a micro:bit along with the Crazy Circuits Bit Board and all she wants from you is a high-five to keep her love for you alive. If you li…
I'm frequently asked what tools should be purchased for classroom makerspaces. I decided to create a list of my Top Five FAVORITE tools to use in elementary makerspaces.
Interested in setting up a makerspace?! Congratulations on taking the first step by doing some research. If a makerspace is properly set up and introduced, it can be a great tool for igniting student imagination and curiosity as well as building classroom community. The following are fou
I have been using centers in the library for several years now and absolutely love them. They work really well at giving students choices of activities to do after the lesson and checking out new books. Now that I have 50-minute library classes as part of the Special’s rotation, this has proven to... Read more
MiEN's Brochures & Catalogs for our STAR, makerspace, soft seating, table, higher education, learning furniture, and our favorite products.
The blend of people, process, and place that makes a school makerspace successful.
From elementary school to middle school to high school, we've rounded up 41 STEM projects and activities for kids of all ages!
We are having tremendous success with our Teen MakerSpace at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (OH) and are very excited to see the teens in our community using the space and learning new things. We have learned that certain items are more popular than others, with the button makers and 3D […]
New to Makerspaces? Create Collaborate Innovate Posts on Making What is a Makerspace? What is a Maker Librarian? How can I run a library AND a makerspace? What kind of activities can we do? Check o…
As information becomes more and more digital, public libraries are striving to redefine their roles. A small number are working to create "hackerspaces," where do-it-yourselfers share sophisticated tools as well as expertise.
101+ Makerspace Resources For Starting and Running a Maker Education or STEM Program. Learn about Makerspaces,Projects, Ideas, Materials, Tools and more
I receive a few questions a week asking what I use in my makerspace and how to begin one. This blog post will provide you with tips on creating a makerspace no matter what your budget is. According to Makerspaces.Com, “A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate facility for ... Read more
By Lindsey Own - Tools, organization, student projects of the makerspaces at Marymount in NYC, Ann Richards STARS in Austin, and Edmonds CC in Seattle.
Our world is changing and our kids need to become makers instead of consumers. Find out what the best Makerspace tools and tech are to bring home!
Identify tools & materials that can be used within a makerspace. Most of what is in my makerspace has been donated and collected by my students and their families, except for makerspace technology!
