Friday FAVORITES

During this year's AIMS Tech Retreat, Jonathan Fichter (St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School) and Emily Letras (The Bryn Mawr School) set up a Makerspace for exploration and tinkering during the conference.
QR codes were placed around the space with more information about a specific station as well as resources for building your own Makerspace.  Jonathan and Emily did a great job setting up the space! I had tons of fun exploring and experimenting and left excited to share with the students the following list of products our tinker space definitely needs!

1. MAKEY MAKEY -  An invention kit for everyone that allows you to turn everyday objects into touch-pad controllers. Students could be challenged to create anything from game controllers to musical instruments! Check out the USA Today article featuring Makey Makey: Inventors smarten up toys for a new generation

www.makeymakey.com

2. SPHERO - A spherical robotic toy that you can control or program using a mobile device. The students could be challenged to design and construct a ramp or even a cart for Sphero. Sphero for Education provides step by step lessons to teach the basic concepts of programming, robotics and math!

www.gosphero.com

3. ARDUINO - "An open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. Its intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments." Arduino is a great way to start exploring all levels of programming and robotics, check out the project gallery for ideas!

www.arduino.cc

4. LITTLEBITS - "Everything you know and love about Arduino without the breadboarding, soldering or wiring. littleBits takes care of the electronics, while you focus on the code." (blog.arduino.cc) NOTE: littleBits were not part of the AIMS Makerspace but look super interesting!

www.littlebits.cc

5. SOFT CIRCUITS - Using conductive thread to add circuits, participants were able to sew an LED and battery holder to a piece of fabric. The possibilities for this technology are endless. Students could be challenged to design something as simple as a piece of light up, battery-powered clothing like some of these or could take it to the next level by designing and creating a toy that uses Arduino to program the lights like this one.

my first stab at soft circuits

My goal is to quickly turn our space into more than just a space for the 3D printer!

What are your favorite things for a Makerspace?