6 Things You MUST Include In Your Makerspace

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Start With Design The Extraordinaires Design Studio: This is a kit with fun design challenges that stimulate design thinking with a series of characters, inventions, and question cards to help think through the design thinking process.

When you move to computer design, there are a wide range of free options that are quite powerful; Blank Slate Systems is one of our favorites as is SketchUp and AutoDesk. Many of the tools you work with will have their own design elements to get you started. If you purchase, for example, a Cricut or Silhouette machine for cutting, they have the program built in.

Electronics/Soldering/Robotics/E-textiles The first go-to for us is always Sparkfun for electronics and related tools and projects. Based in Colorado, they have a strong educator division with discounts, packages, tutorials, and curriculum support.

Building Tools

It’s important that a makerspace not just be filled with the latest tech toys. Our most successful projects integrate with classic fabrication tools. For the Nerdy Derby we bring in wood blocks, metal pins, circuits, lasers, 3D printing and computing tools. With these items we set up a project where kids design and build cars and a track, then hold races. In addition to the woodworking, circuit building and more, they also lean about gravity and acceleration. For classic fabrication tools, pick up a range of materials from your local Home Depot.

Cutting and EngravingEvery community makerspace will tell you that their most used piece of equipment is the laser cutter. If you don’t have the budget, space, or expertise for this level, look into the Cricut or Silhouette machines. These will give you the same skill set of design and creation in a layered environment. When you’re ready, you can’t go wrong with the range of Epilog Lasers. We’ve also seen good results with the Full Spectrum Muse.

3D Printing For small projects and little hands, the UP mini is a reliable starting printer. When your projects get larger and your kids gets better trained, look into the Lulzbot printers from Aleph Objects or the range of MakerBots. One fun set to make 3D technology more accessible for those who aren’t comfortable designing with computers, is to include 3Doodler pens in your space. You’ll be amazed at what can be done with them and they integrate 3D printing easily into a range of projects.

Programmable Computing

To get started, there are a range of raspberry pi and arduino kits. Our kid testers enjoyed the Piper Computer Kit, and we appreciated how it integrated building aspects as well. It’s a fun way to build your own computer. Once you’ve mastered these, go back to Sparkfun for the raw materials for more advanced projects.