In the spring of 2021, the 6th grade science teacher and I began forming a plan. She had seen the engagement of 6th graders in our afterschool Maker Days program and wanted to find a way to bring that into her classroom so that ALL of our 6th graders could have this opportunity. We … Read more
The Cardboard Challenge remains one of my all-time favorite makerspace activities. I love how accessible it is to students. How enthusiastic and creative they can be with such simple materials. I’ll never forget one of my favorite makerspace moments – my students at Stewart were Skyping with another school that was looking to start a … Read more
Many educators falsely believe that you can’t start a makerspace without a huge budget. But some of the best makerspace supplies are free! As part of our new Maker Mondays program, I recently tried out a new activity with my students that went off great. I only spent around $50 on supplies, most of which … Read more
Note: This post is a brief summary/intro of an article I wrote that appeared in the Septemeber 2017 School Library Journal. To read the full article, click here. The Furniture Challenge Towards the end of the 2017 school year, I introduced a design challenge to my afterschool Maker’s Club that was one of our best ones … Read more
(Note: Post contains affiliate links. Actions taken may result in commissions for Renovated Learning) A Creature Workshop Towards the end of last school year, one of my students came up with one of my favorite design challenges: Make a creature that does something. That’s it. This prompt wins for simplicity and the designs that people come up … Read more
Check out my post on Demco to learn more about design challenges in low tech makerspaces! Many educators have the misconception that makerspace activities always need to involve expensive technology like 3-D printers and circuit kits. But this isn’t true. Students can have amazing learning experiences in makerspaces with low-tech and no-tech tools. Design challenges … Read more
Design challenges are powerful ways to engage students in making (that’s why I co-wrote a book about them). Sometimes, I craft the design challenges myself. But other times, I go to my students and ask them to create their own design challenges. This one was one of those, and I think it was brilliant: The … Read more
If you’ve been following Renovated Learning for awhile, you might remember the Catapult Challenge my Stewart Makers Club did last year with Colleen Graves’ students at Lamar Middle School. My students had SO MUCH FUN with that challenge, although I always felt like Catapult Challenge was a bit of a misnomer, since our students’ creations … Read more
Yes, I realize that the official Global Cardboard Challenge happened back in October, but cardboard is timeless 🙂 I did actually hold the Cardboard Challenge in our makerspace with my students in October, but between FAME and AASL, I hadn’t gotten around to blogging about it. So here you go. About the Cardboard Challenge If … Read more