Category: Utilizing Your Makerspace

Projects, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Still waiting on your COVID vaccine? Combine hygge and makerspace to make staying home more tolerable

Julie Darling

It’s February. Here in Michigan that means it’s bitterly cold, and most days are gray. Snow, ice, and temperatures in the single digits make socializing out-of-doors a challenge. For those who are unvaccinated, socializing indoors is tempting, but it’s certainly a risk. So, how do you make staying home more tolerable?

Embrace Hygge

Instead of railing against the cold weather, why not embrace it by adopting Hygge. Think fuzzy socks, warm beverages, comfort food, candles, and anything else that helps you feel warm, cozy and content. Hygge is lovely. It can change your perception of Winter from something that has to be endured, to something truly enjoyable. Embracing Hygge is a good start, but I encourage you to take it even one step further.

Combine Hygge and Makerspace to Make it Even Better

When I’m at home, one thing that takes my mind off things (like the fact that my freshly washed, still damp hair – froze – when I stepped outside for half a second), is immersing myself in a project. If you aren’t already in the middle of a project, consider starting one now…and pick a project that embodies Hygge. Maybe for you that means knitting a pair of fuzzy socks, cooking a pot of soup from scratch, or building a rack for your wood pile from repurposed lumber. For me, it means making hand-poured candles scented with essential oils. If you’d like to give this a try, I’ve included step-by-step instructions below.

How to Make Hand-Poured – Essential Oil Scented – Container Candles

What You’ll Need

  • Heat resistant containers (mason jars, jelly jars, coffee mugs or tea cups)
  • Wicks
  • Glue dots for bottom of the wicks
  • Wax (I used soy natural candle wax flakes)
  • Something to hold the wick straight (bow tie clip, tongue depressors or craft sticks)
  • Stainless steel pouring pot
  • A second, bigger pot, to create a double-boiler
  • Water
  • Towels
  • Essential oils 
  • Long stirring spoon
  • Oven mitts
  • Food scale
  • A Tablespoon measure
  • A stove or hot plate
  • Baking soda (in case of fire)
  • Fire extinguisher

Note: You can buy most of these materials, fairly inexpensively, as part of a candle making kit. Wax flakes and essential oils may need to be purchased separately.

Instructions

Weigh your stainless steel pouring container on your food scale. Make a note of how much it weighs when empty. Add a pound of wax flakes. If you don’t have a food scale, you can just eyeball this by filling your wax pouring container until you have about 2-3 inches of space at the top.

Measure out a pound of wax flakes

Next, set up your heat resistant containers. Make sure you have several containers prepped. I found that a pound of wax filled about 4 jelly jars. Start by attaching a glue dot to the bottom of the wick.

Attach a glue dot to the bottom of your candle wick

Use the other side of the glue dot to attach the wick to the inside, center, of your candle container. Secure the top of the wick to your bow tie clip, tongue depressors or craft stick, to make sure it stays straight when you pour in the wax, later. Place your prepped containers on top of a towel to catch any wax drips.

Make sure that the wick is centered

Create a double boiler by placing the wax pouring container into a larger-sized pot, with a few inches of water inside the larger-sized pot. It should be enough water that it won’t all boil off while you’re melting the wax, but not so much that water will pour over the side of your wax pouring container and into your melting wax. 

Place your double-boiler on top of the stove top or hot plate, and turn the temperature up to medium-high.

Use a double-boiler to melt your wax

Keep an eye on your melting wax at all times. Make sure you have the baking soda and fire extinguisher within reach. You can’t use water to put out a wax fire. Baking soda or a fire extinguisher will work. Stirring the wax with a long spoon will help it melt more quickly. Once your wax is completely melted, remove your wax pouring container from the double boiler and place on a towel.

If you’re using wax with a higher melting point than 130 degrees Fahrenheit, you’ll want to wait until the wax cools to 130 degrees Fahrenheit before adding in your essential oils, or they can burn off, leaving you with a lightly-scented, or unscented candle. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can also just add the essential oils once the side of your wax pouring container is still warm to the touch (but not so hot that it burns your hand) and the wax is still liquid.

Measure out 1 Tablespoon of essential oil (this can be just one scent or several blended). Pour your essential oil into the melted wax, a little at a time, continuing to stir the wax as you’re adding the oil. This is the part of candle making that my kids liked best, they really enjoyed coming up with recipes for the candle scents. One of the completed candles ended up smelling a little bit like bug spray, so we named that one “Summer Nights”. If you want better control over the scent, you might want to stick with just one essential oil.

Pour your wax into your prepared containers, leaving about 1/2 -1 inch of space at the top.

Pour the melted wax into your prepared containers

Once your wax has cooled enough that it’s solid, remove your popsicle stick (or whatever you used to secure your wick). Using scissors, trim your wick to 1/2-1 inch above the top of the wax.

These candles make great gifts too!

Good luck! Stay safe. If you have a maker project that’s also Hygge, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Makerspace Management, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Black Lives Matter and Inclusion in Makerspace

Julie Darling
BLM Dog Bandana created by Detroit based artist Je’Tone Cherene, available through Instagram @fly.k9

Makers. Do something. 

It’s no secret that makerspaces, at least in the United States, are dominated by white people, usually men. Even in the professional makerspace that I frequent, whose owners focus on inclusion and diversity, there are rarely any people of color using the equipment. 

Maker events such as Maker Faire are more of the same. Mostly white men sharing the cool things they’ve made, occasionally a white woman, and less frequently a person of color. 

So, how do we change that?

Representation Matters – So Start There

While writing my book Teach Kids to Use Makerspace to Save Our World (publication pending) , I interviewed Taryn Gal, the Executive Director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, about inclusion. We were specifically discussing inclusion of girls and LGBTQ youth, but the idea that representation matters absolutely applies to people of color, too. 

The gist is, you need to make sure that anything you put on view has diverse representation. This includes male, female, nonbinary, people of color, LGBTQ and differently abled. Anything that has people on it should communicate inclusion; posters, pamphlets, websites. 

When people see posters and other images that look like them, it feels inviting. When there are only people who look a certain way, those are the only people who will be comfortable in your space. If you don’t have any images of black people on your makerspace walls, displays and website you need to fix that right now.

Create Inclusive Policies and Facilities

Make sure that your makerspace policies have language about inclusion. You might consider adopting the Nation of Makers Core Principles statement.

Make certain that you have bathrooms available for men, women and nonbinary members and that all of these bathrooms have inclusive signage.

Design your makerspace so that those who are differently abled, including wheelchair bound, are able to use your space and equipment.

Invest in Your Local Black Community

Sponsor a black artist/maker with a maker-in-residency, or just free access to your equipment. Even better, sponsor several, if your space can support that.

Consider a partnership with a local, predominantly black, school. This could mean sponsoring a FIRST robotics team, offering free classes to students, lending out equipment for student use or offering free teacher training.

When you purchase tools and materials, try to do so through black-owned businesses. Yelp recently added a way to search for black-owned businesses (businesses will have to opt in to participate), and there are several other websites and apps that can help you locate black-owned businesses near you. 

Keep the Momentum Going

Don’t stop here. Keep educating yourself about ways to be aware, inclusive and supportive. 

If you have other suggestions, post them in the comments below. 

3D Printing, COVID-19, Sewing, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Making PPE Masks and Ear Savers

Julie Darling
Mask hand sewn by Paula Lawrence

Recently, the recommendation came down from the CDC for everyone to wear cloth masks when going out in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Masks are currently hard to come by in stores, which, incidentally, you should stay out of if you can. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to make one. 

Making Your Mask

CNN recently published detailed instructions on making masks. This includes a pattern to sew, and a no sew option. The Washington Post added to the discussion with information about what kind of materials to use and why.

Making Masks for Healthcare Professionals

Many hospitals are now accepting donations of homemade masks. If you have materials to make more masks than you need in your household, you might consider making and donating them.

Ear Savers

I’ve been talking with a local medical professional who is asking for people to provide ear savers, too. Ear savers can be made from different materials. The goal is to keep ears from getting irritated when wearing a mask all day. There are two main types: sewn and 3D printed. The doctor I spoke to requested the sewn, headband style. You can watch a tutorial on how to make it from scratch here. However, if you have cloth headbands that you’d like to donate, you can wash them, then skip to the last step of simply adding buttons. The  3D printed surgical mask strap style can be found as a downloadable pattern on Thingaverse.

Using Masks Properly

When you are wearing your mask out in the world, you need to know that you are doing it correctly. You should make certain that your mask covers both your mouth and your nose. Just like you aren’t supposed to touch your face, you should avoid touching your mask. This CNBC article provides more details about what you should, and shouldn’t do, and includes information about how to properly clean your mask.

That’s it for now. Stay safe out there! If you have any suggestions about masks, ear savers or anything else, I welcome your input in the comments below.

3D Printing, COVID-19, Sewing, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Local Michigan Makers are Helping Supply Hospitals with PPE and You Can Too!

Julie Darling
Help Your Local Hospital by Sewing Masks!

The U.S. just surged to the top of the charts with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world. Although these numbers are grim, especially considering that US hospitals are already experiencing a critical shortage in personal protective equipment, there are makers working, in our community, to help bridge the gap.

How to Help

If you are considering pitching in, by 3D printing, sewing or otherwise, start by reading the information on the GetUsPPE site. Next, check with local hospitals regarding what they are currently accepting. Here is the rundown on what’s being accepted in the metro Detroit hospitals. As of today, the only hospital accepting hand-sewn masks in metro Detroit is Beaumont. Don’t let that dissuade you. There are hospitals all over the world accepting hand-sewn masks. With the situation in the U.S. getting worse by the day, most likely more local hospitals will start accepting these, too.

Making Hand Sewn Masks

Deconess has written information and a video tutorial about how to hand-sew masks. Joanne Fabrics has tutorials, and they are also giving away supplies. Sewing masks can be done by beginners, and Joanne is offering to support makers in creating them. They are also distributing them to local hospitals “This is a grassroots effort, and we will connect with hospitals near our stores to provide the items to local hospitals, so they can be used at their discretion” (https://www.joann.com/make-to-give-response/).

Making Face/Eye Shields

If you have a 3D printer, you can also help by making face or eye shields. Teachers in the Ann Arbor Public Schools have started work on these. How-to information, including design files, can be found on the CoVid 19 “Operation Face Shield” site. 

More Help is Coming Soon

Several well-known fashion brands including Ralph Lauren are gearing up to produce masks and isolation gowns, but will they be able to produce enough, and can they retro-fit their factories quickly enough? Hopefully so. In the meantime, you can help to bridge the gap.

COVID-19, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Makers and Factories Helping with PPE and Ventilator Shortages During COVID-19 Crisis

Julie Darling
Some Makers Are 3D Printing Ventilator Parts

With scary statistics of climbing COVID-19 cases dominating the news, it’s important to balance this with hope. The COVID-19 global pandemic has left so much uncertainty in its wake, it’s hard to know what to do to help. Makerspaces are equipped with tools and machines that can be used to make life-saving gear, but will hospitals welcome it? If so, how can you be certain that you’re making personal protective equipment (PPE), or ventilator parts, correctly? 

Start by Checking Hospital Websites

Check your local hospital’s website to see what’s needed. Even if they aren’t accepting donations produced outside of a factory – yet – that doesn’t mean they won’t need to do so in the future. Here in Michigan, we are currently under a shelter-in-place executive order. However, leaving home in order to donate protective gear to health organizations, is allowed. 

As of today, the University of Michigan hospitals are not accepting hand-sewn masks or 3D printed parts for ventilators, but if you have hand sanitizer, wipes, or factory-made masks to donate, they are in dire need. The medical professionals that I’ve spoken to have also indicated that what will be accepted, and what is needed, is changing on an hourly basis. It’s a good idea to keep checking back. It also doesn’t hurt to start making hand-sewn masks and other equipment, just in case.

What to Make and How to Make it

Lately, there has been an influx of information about homemade COVID-19 supplies and remedies. Many of these sites contain false, and even dangerous information. Unfortunately, you can’t make hand sanitizer from Tito’s vodka. Additionally, extrapolated home remedies such as ingesting non-pharmaceutical chloroquine phosphate, can prove deadly. Before you start making, it’s really important to determine that you have accurate information, but how do you know where to look?

Two organizations at the forefront of makerspaces are Nation of Makers and Make Community.  Both have pages devoted to COVID-19. Nation of Makers has a listing of initiatives with how-to details, that other makerspaces are taking in response to COVID-19. The Make Community has a Plan C from Makerspace page with resources such as open source ventilator plans, and protective face shield designs.  

More Help Coming Soon

Although makerspace grassroots efforts are important, there is also more large-scale help coming soon. Although you can’t make hand sanitizer from Tito’s vodka at home, Tito’s and other distilleries have started to produce hand sanitizer, on site.  General Motors and Tesla are working to repurpose factories to produce needed ventilators.  Ford is helping with respirators, ventilators and face shields.  3M has also increased their production of N95 masks. 

What You Can Do

Making PPE and ventilator parts at home, is a great use of maker skills. Despite the help coming from industry, this maker-made equipment may still be needed. The best thing we can all do, is practice social distancing. Talented makers should also keep an eye on the local hospital websites to see what’s being currently accepted, and what’s needed most, by our heroic health care workers. 

Makerspace Management, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Making Meaningful Makerspaces

Julie Darling
You can find projects like this infinity scarf, designed by fashion designer Netti Tiso, in my book You’ve Got a Makerspace – Now What? Teaching Kids to use Makerspace to Better Our World.
Publication date tentatively set for 2020.

As some of you know, I”ve been keeping a (poorly held) secret for the past year – I’ve been writing a book about makerspaces. It has been, hands down, one of the single most challenging experiences that I’ve ever had. It’s required a lot of sacrifice, most of all with my time. I’ve also gotten very comfortable with an unparalleled level of rejection of my thoughts…ideas…writing. 

However, I’ve also learned SO much. I’m a substantially better writer than I was when I started this process. I’ve also spent hours thinking about the purpose of makerspaces.

When I first started my book, it was titled Build and Manage a Makerspace for Kids. The aim of writing it was to keep those of you buildings makerspaces from having to make your way through in the dark. More specifically, to provide management techniques, thoughts about which tools work well with particular age groups, and best practices for teaching kids to use these tools. I wanted you to benefit from the thousands of hours I’ve spent figuring everything out.

By February, I was halfway through writing it, when my publisher contacted me and informed me that the marketplace was flooded with how to start makerspace books. I had to start over. I was devastated. They suggested that I write my book assuming that the reader has a makerspace already. It took me a little while to warm up to that idea. That wasn’t my original vision. I wasn’t sure that’s the book that I wanted to write. I wondered what I could contribute that would still be beneficial. 

This is when I started thinking about what we do well in our makerspace, and my immediate answer was passion projects. Which led to the next logical question – why do the passion projects get such great results? There is plenty of research out there that tells us that in order to get kids excited, engaged and passionate about school work there are two major motivating factors; choice, and some sort of real-world connection. The way that the passion projects are designed does both, which is why the kids stay engaged, and get incredible results. 

I only give them two rules; they can’t do anything that involves money, or weapons. I also ask them to figure out who is going to benefit from their projects – themselves (which is completely valid), their school, their community (neighborhood, sports team, place of worship or however they define that), or the whole world. This scaffolds them to think concretely about that real-world connection. From here, the kids take off. Some projects they’ve done include making and donating blankets to animal shelters, inventing a vending machine with food and supplies to help the homeless or people in areas that have been devastated by natural disasters, coding games, presenting plans to make everything in school more inclusive to a wheelchair bound friend, building working snowboards and designing and making clothing for their pets. You can check out photos and videos of some of these passion projects on my Twitter feed @julielibrarian or Instagram @growingmakerspace. 

Kids want to do good in the world. Giving them a way to do this, through the use of a makerspace, is the best way to utilize a makerspace for kids. I strongly urge you, if you have access to the incredible tools that makerspace provides, help kids learn to use those tools to better our world. If you want some suggestions on specific ways to do this, although I don’t yet have a firm publication date, my book You’ve Got a Makerspace – Now What? Teaching Kids to Use Makerspace to Better Our World will hopefully be out in the world at some point in 2020. I’ll keep you posted on that through this blog. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or ideas to share on the topic, feel free to comment on this post. You are also welcome to shoot me an email at growingmakerspace@gmail.com .

Until next time!

Music, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Music Making is the Perfect Makerspace Activity for Kids (with Resources)!

Julie Darling

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love music, and if I did, I wouldn’t trust them. Music is such an integral part of the human experience. It is a universal language that has existed in all cultures, throughout history. It’s something we experiment with – clapping, drumming with our hands and feet – before we are even old enough to talk. Music can calm us, bring us to tears and make our hearts race, and there are so many different ways music can be integrated into makerspace. Here are some ideas.

Drumming is an inexpensive, straight-forward place to start. There are a plethora of online sites that will show you how to create an entire drum kit from trash. You can use easily find objects for drum sticks too, including; pencils, chop sticks and sticks just found on the ground. If you are looking for inspiration for how to use everyday objects as percussion instruments, do a quick online search for the group Stomp. I was particularly impressed with their composition done entirely with brooms.

If your goal is to create music with unusual instruments, there are plenty of intriguing examples. The Vegetable Orchestra performs music on instruments that…as you may have guessed from the name…are made entirely out of vegetables. You can do this yourself! Just watch Linsey Pollack’s Tedx talk where he shows you how to make a clarinet out of a carrot, in less than 5 minutes, and then plays it beautifully. This video, and other resources, are included on the kid-focused badging site DIY.org, in an entire section devoted to instrument making.

Synthesizers are really cool but might seem intimidating at first, especially if you are working with younger kids in your makerspace. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Kids as young as 3 years old can learn about how synths works by playing with Blipblox, a synthesizer designed specifically for kids ages 3 and up (although out-of-stock right now, they will be available to purchase this May, 2019). Blipblox even has MIDI input for an external keyboard or sequencer controller, so although it looks like a toy, if you add a keyboard and a computer with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) such as GarageBand (on an Apple device) or Cakewalk (if you are using Windows), Blipblox can actually can be part of a fully functional, professional studio.

If you are working with older makers, you might look into the littleBits Synth kit. LittleBits are great for creating complex objects, quickly and easily, since the pre-made bits fit together using magnets. Their synth kit even has a well researched, concise history of synthesizers included in the booklet.

With older kids, if you have a small group, are feeling adventurous, and you really want to go down the rabbit hole, you can have them solder together an oscilloscope (that you can use to manipulate the pitch of a sound). The one that I made (which actually works!) is pictured below. But be warned – it took me two, focused hours, to put together.

If you want your makers to try music composition, Finale Notepad is a free (Windows) download that’s worth checking out. If you don’t use Windows, Sibelius is good too, but it isn’t free.

You might also consider giving your kids an opportunity to live code music using multi-platform, Ruby-based, Sonic Pi. Sonic Pi is easy to learn and fun to use. I spent an afternoon laughing with some kids over the different synth sounds and effects that you can produce with one.

Whatever you decide to explore, make sure to include music in your makerspace offerings. There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching kids dance to music, that they made all by themselves.

  • Oscilloscope – From the Front
  • Oscilloscope – From the Back

Exploring Makerspaces, Makerspace Management, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Exploring Makerspaces for Kids: Brain Monkeys – A Makerspace That Comes to You

Julie Darling

For this second segment of my series on exploring makerspaces, I interviewed Katie Tilton, owner of Brain Monkeys. Brain Monkeys is a makerspace that has been around for several years and has a unique model – it’s mobile and it’s just for kids. As owner Katie Tilton puts it, Brain Monkeys is “A makerspace that comes to you”.  I met Tilton a decade ago when I brought her in to do a program for teens, at a local public library. I’ve always been struck by her energy and enthusiasm. She is truly a pioneer in kid makerspace programming.

Her company, Brain Monkeys, facilitates and offers programs as part of after school enrichment, summer camps and home schooling groups. These activities include Arduino programming, electronics, LEGO Mindstorms, ballistics, Maker Design and Create and much more.  

Brain Monkeys is an established company that does some very solid makerspace programming for kids and this, having a traveling makerspace, is another way that you could consider doing makerspace. This certainly adds a convenience factor for your members and could allow you to create a business model like Tilton’s. If you are contemplating creating a makerspace for your public library, or school, this could also enable you to provide programming for all of the library branches in your community, or buildings in your school district, in one fell swoop.

A specific way in which you can take your makerspace on the road is with traveling carts. A group of middle school librarians in Knoxville, TN were able to do this successfully with thematic carts (STEM, production, art, 3D printing), that rotated between their buildings.  Another model that has worked for some is to put makerspace equipment onto a bus and drive it to different locations.

Regardless of how it’s done, having a mobile makerspace opens up a lot of possibilities.

  • Density Beaker
  • Blink LED
  • Electronic Motors

Brain Monkeys Images reproduced with permission.

Utilizing Your Makerspace

Snow Day Buster

Julie Darling

Every makerspace is different. They all have similar elements – they are spaces for making things – digital objects, physical items or if someone is being really innovative perhaps a combination of these. Since makerspace can cover a lot, it can also end up being a catch-all for any activities or programs that don’t neatly fall elsewhere. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I think that most people running makerspaces want them to be utilized. As often and creatively as possible. Our makerspace has been used to create a digital sundial for our garden, for making cupboards to support a book tie-in project, for student passion projects and to teach colleagues, both locally and from other districts, about makerspace. We were also recently invited to participate in the Washtenaw County, Paint a Plow program. We, of course, accepted.

Before I get into the details, I should confess something. I usually outlaw paint in my makerspace. We have so many other options, I just feel that the mess added from including paint in our offerings overshadows the enjoyment. At least for me. I’m sure that the kids would tell you differently. Since we operate on a barter system for consumable materials, sometimes paint gets snuck in as a trade which means that I will occasionally look over and go – gah! Where did that paint come from?! I let the student working with it finish their project, then I sneak it into my back office. Also, I never let anyone work with anything that isn’t water-based. Until now.

Water-based paint won’t work well on a snow plow. After a little research, we (myself and my partner teachers Sharon Norris and Eileen McCallum) purchased a few different colors of Rust-Oleum paint. This worked very well. It also drove me slightly crazy. We took precautions – we all wore gloves (vinyl in order to avoid any allergy issues), we bought Rust-Oleum mineral spirits for the clean up, we ordered A LOT of paint brushes and we put a note in the school newsletter to remember to bring in clothing that the students wouldn’t mind getting ruined. There were students from several different classes participating, so this seemed like the best way to get this information out.

The gloves worked well, we had plenty of brushes for everyone, the colors were beautiful…and no one brought in clothing that they didn’t mind getting ruined. I was able to get two oversized shirts from a P.E. teacher (thank you again Fred!) and that helped a bit…until kids were kneeling on the ground to paint the bottom edges, right in the paint that they had dripped there. Paint got in hair, on skin, shoes, pants…I’m not even sure where else. We were able to fix a few things with the mineral spirits or scrubbing with soap and water. Some were beyond fixing.

Here are my lessons learned. Paint a plow is a really fun program. It’s worth doing. Gloves are key. Rust-oleum worked well. Getting a lot of cheap paint brushes that can be disposed of, if need be (if you can’t get them clean), is a good call. Next time I think maybe we should skip painting the entire background. Sending home notes in planners, about clothing, would likely result in more kids bringing in clothes that they aren’t worried about. Having only a few kids work on the plow at a time and only using 1-2 colors in a session also makes things go more smoothly. If you happen to live in Washtenaw County, keep an eye out for our plow and if you see it, tell me about it in the comments. The kids would be delighted with Snow Day Buster spottings!

Snow Plow

Me – pointing to the grassy spot for the snow plow to be painted.   Photo Credit: Tammy Reich

IMG_20181004_123725.jpg

   Snow Day Buster! Credit for the name and design go to Sharon Norris.
Makerspace Management, Utilizing Your Makerspace

Makerspace vs. Stations vs. Genius Hour

Julie Darling

Sometimes people don’t differentiate between a full-blown makerspace, makerspace stations and Genius Hour. They use all three interchangeably. Personally, I think it’s good to differentiate between these, as they really do mean different things. When we talk about a makerspace, we are referring to the actual, physical space with all of the stuff in it. Stations and Genius Hour can both be used as constructs within that space.

Utilizing stations can be a great management tool in that instead of kids blowing up your whole makerspace, they only have access to the materials at each station (that you’ve set up in advance). The stations could be thematic, with different making opportunities at each station. You would need to have rules about how many students can use each station at the same time, and how you go about deciding which students can use each one. In the interest of safety, there might be only two people at one station, soldering for example, and ten at something like bracelet making.

You could assign students to a starting station and rotate them through the other stations. This works well if students spend roughly the same amount of time at each station. If there is one, or even a few stations that take longer, students could stay through two or even three rotations. You could also have sign-up sheets for more popular stations or you could have students choose two or three stations total, and then you would assign them to one of these choices, or maybe you manage stations a completely different way that works best for you. That’s great too.

Genius hour was adapted from something that Google has done with their employees, Google would allow a percentage of workday time to be devoted to a project of personal interest. Several well-known Google projects originated from this.[1] Having a Genius Hour for students means that you are doing something similar, allowing them to devote a certain percentage of their school day to a project that they are interested in (as opposed to an assignment or project that you have given them). This is a wonderful thing to do! I have found that when students are given this choice, to pursue something that they are interested in, or maybe even passionate about, they work much harder and take the project much further than they ever would within the constraints of a project defined for them. The advantage of combining Genius Hour with makerspace, is that with access to so many tools and resources kids can explore their ideas further and push the limits of their creativity.

You can have a makerspace without organizing it into stations or using Genius Hour style programming. You can run a Genius Hour without access to a makerspace. When you have maker stations instead of a full makerspace, I usually call that a mini makerspace. However, if you have the space and funding, having all of the tools and materials that best suit your community, available in a thoughtfully developed makerspace, can give kids incredible opportunities. From there, you can have the flexibility and resources to take your programming whichever way best fits your community.

[1] What is Genius Hour? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://geniushour.com/what-is-genius-hour/

ButtonMakerStationwithEffect.png

Button Maker Station