Your Guide to What to Buy: Create an Exciting Makerspace for Teaching STEM
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While at WhyMaker we believe that STEM starts with great project based learning experiences, the stuff makes it exciting! To learn more about building great project based learning experiences, check out our online course The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Maker Ed.
What’s in a Makerspace for your STEM program?
If you’re wondering “what is a Makerspace,” this resource provides a basic Makerspace definition: “an area designated for creating, with tools and resources to allow your students to turn their ideas into a reality.”
Maker Ed’s Making Spaces program is also worth checking out along with the research that guides our thinking and our work here at WhyMaker, where we believe that Maker Ed engages all students in purposeful, project based learning experiences – that are fun to boot.
Take a look at some of our work at these great schools. We can make your school a Making Machine too! Contact us if you are interested in learning more.
Makerspace Ideas: What you need for your Makerspace
If you’re ready to learn more about creating a Makerspace for your classroom or school, let’s begin.
When creating a Makerspace, we encourage you to think about the following:
- What do you want your students to learn?
- What are the tools and other products that can support their learning?
- Next, think about storage. How many students are going to be in the space and where are they going to put their work in progress?
- Then think about consistency. Where can I place items that we are going to use over and over again so everyone knows exactly where they are?
Below are lists of great products to get you started with your Makerspace and STEM classroom.
Containers and Organizers
Containers help you organize tools and materials for building and creating STEM projects. Containers are vital for making sure you keep all your different materials and tools in an easy to access and organized fashion, and they help your students store work in progress. Here are some of our favorite storage containers:.
Small Clear Storage Tote With Lid - need to see what’s in the box
Slider Pencil Cases - for individual storage of projects
Robotics Kits
Kai’s Clan - AR and VR capabilities, semester-long possibilities
Marty the Coding Robot - humanoid, different, flexible, great for grades 2 - 12
Edison Robots - great for grades 2 - 12, durable, affordable, easy to use
Ozobots - Evo Classroom Kit (12 Bots) - great for younger kids to code with color
Electronics Kits
Makey Makey - hours of creative open-ended fun and play
Sam Labs - coding and building in one place
Snap Circuits 750 Kit - construct electricity circuits and learn all about it
Microbit - code and create whatever you dream up
Tech Room Construction
It’s important to construct your room to operate as a functional STEM classroom. Here are a few of our favorite items:
White board paint – for painting a full or partial wall as a white board
Safety Glasses - adjustable for kids and adults
Sanitizer Cabinet - for hygienic disinfecting of safety glasses, goggles and other small plastic objects
Heavy-Duty Dustpan - teach kids how to sweep, because they probably do not know how
Electronics Components
These items are handy for all your electronic projects in the classroom.
Coin Cell Batteries - small batteries
Brown Dog Gadget Maker Tape - for creating simple electronics projects
Battery Pack/Holders - helps keep projects neat and organized
Consumables
Things students will use and you will need to refill over and over again.
Wood Glue - great for wood and cardboard
White Glue - great for paper
Glue Sticks - don’t want a mess; buy a big pack
UHU Tac Removable Adhesive Putty - this is the best for hanging posters on cinder block walls
Color Masking Tape Pack - Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Black, White, and Pink
Coloring and Writing Utensils
You can never have too many of these.
Washable Markers - get a lot!
Dry Erase Markers Thick Colorful - get a lot!
Colored Gel Pens - kids love them!
Pre-Sharpened Graphite Pencil with Eraser - get more than you think you need
Craft Supplies and Accessories
Keep one of your storage containers packed with a variety of craft supplies.
Creativity Street Craft Pack - pom-poms, pipe cleaners, everything you need for fun!
Elmer's Foam Board - perfect for bases, walls, structures and so much more
Creativity Street Wonderfoam Craft Sticks - craft stick art is so great
Paper Remnants and Scraps - specialty paper for all types of arts and crafts
Cutting Tools
Nearly all of your STEM projects will require some form of cutting tool. Here are some great ones to get you started:
Blunt-Tip Kid's Scissors - most kids under the age of 12 should be using these
Large Straight Scissors - helpful for cutting tough materials
Fiskars Rotary Cutter - perfect for cardboard; get the Circle Cutter Replacement Blade too
Paper
Get a variety of these to complete your Makerspace!
School Smart Graph Paper - have kids draw their sketches on graph paper to make them feel like pros
Creative Collection Premium Cardstock - Metallic - it's just really pretty
Colored Cardstock - you can never have enough colored paper
Construction Paper - it is hard to find good construction paper
Hand Tools
Hand tools are a must for all of the fun projects you will be creating over the course of the year!
Hand Saw - easy to use and safe for kids
Power Tools
Having a couple of power tools will come in handy and save you time while working on your STEM projects.
Cordless Drill/Driver Kit - so that students do not get wrapped up in the cord
Drill Bits - Ryobi Drill and Drive Kit (60-Piece)
Construction Accessories
You can never have too many construction accessories. Make sure you always have your storage area full of a mix of these items so that you’re always ready to create.
Assorted Nail Pack - for general use
Assorted Screw Pack - for indoor use
Circle Template - to make a perfect circle every time
Tape Measure – 25-foot
Make your STEM program create excitement for learning with a Makerspace
These are just a few of the many options to help you build your Makerspace. There are so many possibilities for amazing STEM projects to do in your classroom. Take a chance, slowly incorporate different tools, materials and projects. Give students time to practice with it multiple times and watch how your students respond to them.
If you’re looking to provide your students with meaningful and engaging STEM projects using the WhyMaker Way, then click here to learn more.
Need some professional development on how to use your new tools? WhyMaker can help with great workshops to get all teachers up to speed using Makerspaces. We’re here to help make makers and help innovate the way we teach students. Please reach out to us with any questions or ideas.
And finally, when you have your Makerspace up and running, take some pics and share with us on social!