Start Making!: How to Start a Maker Program in Your Classroom or After School Program

Are you familiar with the “Maker Movement?” It’s a growing movement around the world where people of all ages participate in hands-on, tech-inspired, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects based on an individual’s interests and ideas. I am a big supporter of the Maker culture because it’s a great way to introduce design and making project concepts to kids at an early age and incorporate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) into creative activities. Kids have the opportunity to be inventive and use their imagination to create projects while also learning the fundamentals of the engineering process that include design, build, test and redesign.

Maker Movement activities for kids

The Maker Movement is not exclusive to the classroom. If you are an educator, troop leader, after-school program teacher, librarian, or a parent and are curious about the movement but are not sure how to begin, I have a recommendation on how to get started. Read the book, Start Making!, written by the staff at The Clubhouse Network (part of the Museum of Science, Boston) and the MIT Media Lab, and you will get a terrific primer on how to start a program.

I was delighted when Gail Breslow, Clubhouse Network Director at Boston’s Museum of Science, contacted me about this new book and sent along a copy to review. This is comprehensive and easy to read book, and I like how it is broken into digestible chapters. The projects described in the book are meant to be fun and creative and teach children the fundamentals of electronics and computing. Here are a few examples:

• Make paper cards and creations that light up
• Build a vibrating art bot that draws
• Work with sewable circuits to create bookmarks or bracelets that light up

Here’s what you will learn:

• Background on the Maker Movement and benefits to children
• Framework for structuring and designing your own Maker program
• Methods and tools for rapid, affordable Maker project development
• Seven, really cool projects- each fully documented with prep, set-up and instructive guidelines
• Facilitator resources including demo videos and online stores where you can purchase electronic materials

Interested in reading the book?

You can access Start Making! for FREE on The Clubhouse Network. I commend the team at Clubhouse for providing this as a free, open online resource.

“I’m delighted with this opportunity to share the Clubhouse’s experience with other young learners and makers around the world,” said Gail Breslow, Clubhouse Network Director at Boston’s Museum of Science. “Because it’s such an important part of the Clubhouse mission to create a more inclusive “making” culture and to reach under-served communities, we are committed to having a PDF version of the book online for free. I hope Start Making! will inspire young people everywhere to take the ideas in this book and make them their own.”

The book is also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and in local bookstores. I hope this book helps put you on the path to organizing Maker activities for your classroom or program.

Image Source: Starting Making!