Maker Spaces

Maker-Minded: Raising DIY Kids

When your electronic gadgets break, does your tween fix them? Do you have a child who builds elaborate housing for pets and dolls out of scraps of craft materials and cardboard boxes? Maybe you’re raising entrepreneurial teens with ideas that could make them the next Facebook or Snapchat inventor, app creator or Shark Tank winner.

Words by Janeen Lewis

If any of this sounds familiar, you may have a maker on your hands. But what exactly does that mean?

WHAT IS THE MAKER MOVEMENT?

The Maker Movement is a quickly growing culture that embraces the idea that learning is done best through doing. It includes do-ityourself individuals and groups that create things, and its members are producers more than consumers, says Irm Diorio, executive director of a maker space. While some makers work in maker spaces, others tinker in their homes and garages. Some maker interests include robotics, electronics, metalworking, woodworking and traditional arts and crafts. With affordable access to 3-D printers and computers, technology is often a part of the Maker Movement, but it doesn’t have to be, says Diorio. “Everyone is a maker,” she says. “It’s about finding what really inspires you — gardening, baking, sewing, anything that you would build with your hands. It’s fun and can be functional, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s all about letting your creativity take you for a ride.”

WHY DO MAKERS USE MAKER SPACES?

Some makers discover their tribe at maker spaces, where adults and children find the community and supplies they need, including equipment and tools that are hard to store at home. Maker spaces often house equipment like 3-D printers, laser cutters, wood lathes, saws, welding equipment and sewing machines. Maker spaces offer community, encouragement and expertise for those working on projects. Maker spaces are also becoming popular in schools because parents, teachers and administrators want to include this creative outlet in the learning process.

HOW CAN PARENTS SUPPORT A MAKER-MINDED LIFE?

How you help your child flourish at being a DIY kid depends on his or her age. Here are some suggestions that will help guide kids as they grow.

Preschool:

• Encourage natural curiosities, inclinations or interests. • Start coding with and without technology (there are lots of ideas at code.org). • Give kids the tools of their trade even if they’re in junior size. •

Think miniature tool box with tools, junior sewing machine or real gardening tools small enough to fi t their hands. Don’t be afraid to introduce sophisticated vocabulary — don’t dumb it down.

Elementary:

• Set up a maker space and fi ll it with the best tools you can afford. • Volunteer to start a maker space at your child’s school. • Create an invention station where your kids can do STEM challenges. Check out a cool design spinner at PBS Kids Design

Squad Global Build. • Participate in a science fair. • Encourage participation in a maker faire. • Have a STEAM closet or basket at home that allows kids to pull out supplies and invent, build or create. • Provide a coding robot that can be programmed with a tablet. • Join a LEGO robotics club.

Middle and High School:

• Encourage an apprenticeship in a trade or with a family member or friend who is an expert (such as a computer science expert, car or airplane mechanic, fashion designer or seamstress). • Sign up to attend a certifi ed STEM high school. • Join a robotics club. • Try low-cost technology like Raspberry Pi or Arduino to experiment and create technology products. • Check out conductive thread to make clothes that light up. • Try Makey Makey, an invention kit that can turn items as simple as bananas or staircases into computer touchpads.

ORLANDO MAKER SPACES

Learn how to use 3D printers, laser cutters and etching, CNC Routers, electronics, sewing, vinyl cutting and more at these hands-on collaborative spaces. • Factur: factur.org • The Hive at Orlando

Science Center: osc.org/visit/exhibits/ makerspace • FamiLAB: familab.org

iStock.com | Daisy-Daisy

• Maker Faire Orlando: makerfaireorlando.com

• MakerFX Makerspace: makerfx.org

About the Author: Janeen Lewis is a certifi ed educator with experience teaching STEM. She is also a writer with degrees in journalism and education.

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