Kids, what do you like to do?
Do you like to build things? Or take stuff apart? What about making something fly? Or imagining an amazing car and then building it?
Do you want to invent something? Build a hovercraft? Make an air cannon. Design you own t-shirts? Create your own cartoon or make a movie?
Do you love science and art? Are you curious?
Do you like to have fun?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions then Berkshire MakerKids may be something you would really like. It's about working with you hands, making stuff that you want to make.
It doesn't matter if it's building a remote controlled car, making a movie, writing computer code, doing an original art project, designing a video game, you can do it–even if you've never tried before. It's okay if what you want to do is something you've never done! That's the fun of it! Our mentors will work with you to learn what you need to know and guide you toward completion of a project you want to do.
Okay, when does it happen?
The program this fall is only for MakerKids who were in the program during the last school year. We plan to open up the program to new kids in January 2015.
And where is this MakerSpace?
You may have noticed the one-story building across the parking lot from the school building. It’s next to the ball field. The school has donated one of the equipment garages in Transportation Garage Building for the Berkshire MakerKids Program. The garage has been outfitted into our MakerSpace. All the tools and supplies you will need are there.
Who can sign up?
If you’re an SBRSD elementary school student and you're interested in making, you should get in touch with Paul or Tim by email and come to the MakerSpace to see what’s going on. At that point we’ll take your information, talk to you about the program and put you on the list for January.
Thanks for your interest, and check back to learn more!
Paul O'Brien [email protected]
Tim Newman [email protected]
MakerKid Program Managers
Peter explains to the MakerKids how a romote control
transmitter works.
For Parents and Teachers
Why making is important
The idea of making is as old as mankind. Humans has always made things–fashioned tools, worked with their hands to build, to engineer. Imagining things to solve problems and then making them real is at the core of our being. It is arguably our greatest asset.
While making has always been with us and still is, in recent years, with so many competing interests, the home workshop–which for decades was the place we first learned from our parents what tools were and how to use them–has begun to disappear from the American landscape. As the same time, our schools have increasingly discontinued shop classes–the other place we once learned to work with our hands. Society as a whole has begun drifting away from the hand crafts, from doing it yourself, that was part of the American life since our earliest days.
At the same time, opposing–and very positive–trends are emerging. There is palpable excitement about innovation today. And much of innovation is tied up in making, in prototyping, in skill working with ones hands. Yes, some of the tools have changed, gotten more sophisticated, but the ability to imagine something original and turn it into a tangible thing–a tool, a product, whatever–remains an essential skill in many fields. It's what engineers do every day. And now, MakerKids too.
We see it in the scientific community, in nano-science for example, and the astonishing and continuing advances that have been made in computer-based technologies. We see it in the small scale (amateur) inventions that are attracting millions of dollars on Kick-Starter and Indiegogo. 3-D printing is revolutionizing the manufacturing process. Open source technologies like Arduino circuit boards are being embraced by industry. And there is excitement about the precision manufacturing returning to our shores. All this is connected directly to making. And, making is a powerful pathway to STEM.
Some high tech tools tools and their applications. A 3-D printer, Rapsberry P circuit boardi, Arduino sensor and bridge, and several remotely controlled vehicles.
The Berkshire MakerKids program will open the door to this world for our kids in a collaborative, creative environment that is designed to empower by encouraging self expression, exploration and creativity. Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms expresses it best: “Instead of trying to interest kids in science as received knowledge, it’s possible to equip them to do science, giving them both the knowledge and the tools to discover it. Instead of building better bombs, emerging technology can help build better communities.”
The program will be scheduled as an after school and summer activity for our students and will be staffed principally by community volunteers and funded by donations and grants solicited by the program's managers from relevant corporations, community businesses, and our neighbors. Our SBRSD teachers are welcome to get as involved as their packed schedules allow, but the program does not depend on their participation.
The program will be scheduled as an after school and summer activity for our students and will be staffed principally by community volunteers and funded by donations and grants solicited by the program's managers from relevant corporations, community businesses, and our neighbors. Our SBRSD teachers are welcome to get as involved as their packed schedules allow, but the program does not depend on their participation.
Entrance to the MakerKids Makerspace. Located in to SBRSD Transportation Garage Building on the Undermountain Campus.
Links
Here are links to some excellent websites about making, makerspaces, and planning programs specifically for kids. Some are in the PDF format that can be downloaded to your computer and saved for later reading.
A BLUEPRINT: MAKER PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH
http://dmp.nysci.org/system/files/filedepot/1/NYSCI_MAKER_BLUEPRINT.pdf
MAKERSPACEPLAYBOOK, SCHOOL EDITION, SPRING 2013
http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MakerspacePlaybook-Feb2013.pdf
HIGH SCHOOLS MAKERSPACE TOOLS AND MATERIALS, APRIL 2012
http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hsmakerspacetoolsmaterials-201204.pdf
MAKER EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE
http://www.makered.org/about/
MAKE MAGAZINE, QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AND BIBLE OF THE MAKERS MOVEMENT
http://makezine.com/
MAKER CULTURE, WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture
A BLUEPRINT: MAKER PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH
http://dmp.nysci.org/system/files/filedepot/1/NYSCI_MAKER_BLUEPRINT.pdf
MAKERSPACEPLAYBOOK, SCHOOL EDITION, SPRING 2013
http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MakerspacePlaybook-Feb2013.pdf
HIGH SCHOOLS MAKERSPACE TOOLS AND MATERIALS, APRIL 2012
http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hsmakerspacetoolsmaterials-201204.pdf
MAKER EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE
http://www.makered.org/about/
MAKE MAGAZINE, QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AND BIBLE OF THE MAKERS MOVEMENT
http://makezine.com/
MAKER CULTURE, WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture
Doll into space: 7th-grade girl launches 'Hello Kitty' into space. See link to video below.
Inspiring videos about Making
Here are some stories about making and why it's fun, creative, inspiring and important–especially as a way to stimulate interest in STEM. We hope you find the time to watch at least some of these.
Here are some stories about making and why it's fun, creative, inspiring and important–especially as a way to stimulate interest in STEM. We hope you find the time to watch at least some of these.