Makerspace remains strong as an After School Activity (ASA) at the Rakovniska 5 campus. Our latest projects have been both crafts and technology-based. The students have created potted bubble wrap cacti, heart-shaped clip-on bird feeders, pebble puppies (and cats), complex paper airplane models with launchers, and buzzing crawling googly-eyed toothbrush dragonflies!
As Makerspace begins to collaborate more closely with the Parent Teacher Organization, the focus shifts from realizing many mini-projects to appreciating the whole process involved with learning through hands-on collaboration, exploration, and problem-solving. (It’s more about the journey than the destination!) This manifests in the “Little Free Library project,” where students from grades 1-3 began discussing the importance of sharing books with others. This led to the concept of creating a book swap box, which in turn led to researching existing designs. The children then began to sketch their designs in small groups. The next step is to make a prototype. (Problem-solving as they go.) After assessing the prototype(s), the final model will be constructed during ‘Reading Week’. We aim to produce a functional and attractive ‘Little Free Library’ that can be accessed by the entire school community, or even accessible to those in the broader community.
Makerspace has yet to establish itself at the Kersnikova 10 campus, mainly due to hot competition from other popular ASA scheduled simultaneously. Next quarter, we will re-launch the ‘Electrike’ project, hoping it will find a more favorable time slot within the ASA scheduling. We already know that the Campus on Selanova 20 will be a fantastic venue for Makerspace projects next year!