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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 with for it are always amazing.
A few months ago, ABC-CLIO, the publisher of my book Challenge Based Learning in the School Library Makerspace, and I were talking about possible activities to host in the booth to promote my book, and my mind went back to the Creature Challenge. It was such a fun, open-ended challenge and I know it would translate well into a quick, fun maker activity that librarians would love.
Suggested Supply List
Here’s the list of supplies we had at the booth for this workshop. I post this mainly because several people asked me to, but remember that you could do a challenge like this with any materials. The total runs about $150 if you buy everything on this list, but of course, you could pick and choose items and run a similar workshop for a lot less (or look at what you already have and work from there). This amount of supplies could easily support several classes – we had maybe about 20 or so people stop by the booth in one hour and we still had a TON of supplies leftover.
- Craft popsicle sticks
- Googly eyes
- Rubber bands
- Scotch tape
- Washi tape
- Scissors
- Glue dots
- Aluminum foil
- Coin batteries
- Large LEDs
- Colorful sharpies
- Peel and stick foam
- Glitter peel and stick foam
- Pipe cleaners
- Craft feathers
Hosting the Creature Workshop
As librarians stopped by the Creature Workshop in the booth, I would offer a brief explanation.
The goal is to make a creature that does something. What “does something” means is up to you own interpretation. Your creature could be something that brings happiness to people because it’s cute. It could be a practical creature that helps you pick up things. You creature could light up the book that you’re reading. Your imagination is the only limit.
The projects that everyone came up with were amazing! We had a tiny Harry Potter with a light up broom. Several creatures that decorated conference badges. Quite a few bookmark creatures. A creature that could hold your business cards for you. There was so much creativity all around!
Translating to your school
This would be an easy maker activity to replicate with your students and/or teachers. It only takes a little prompting, but it can go a long way in building a maker culture in your school. And if you want something more in depth, add a bit to the prompt. Here are some ideas for more involved, curriculum-based challenges:
- Make a creature that does something that can help the environment
- Make a mythical creature based on your research of mythology
- Design a creature that could help explorers colonize Mars
By the way, if you like that table we’re working on, you have Custom Educational Furnishings (CEF) to thank for that – they graciously loaned it to ABC-CLIO for the workshop.
What a great activity to use up those odds and ends that seem to accumulate.