I decided to go to this workshop because the idea of a makerspace is not just hammers, nails, soldering/gun and other potentially dangerous objects, it is parent child interaction, the freedom for a child to try and create what they can imagine. It is the a freedom of choice for a child to decide they want to put 2 objects together to make a hat or airplane or whatever they can imagine.
At NYsci the Littlemakers space incorporates 3 steps: Design, Make, Play. It is an open 2 hour workshop for children ages 2 and up where parents first sit down for design. This involves some books on the concepts they will be talking about, perhaps some sheets parents can read with kids that talk about a challenge and how to explain what's happening. This empowers parents and gets kids focused on a theme.
In the Make stage they take recycled materials to make a hand made bubble blower using plastic cups, tape, pipe cleaner, and liquid soap OR children can take household items to see which ones can be used to blow bubbles. A slurpy cup lid, a mason jar lid, a fly swatter (new of course).
Then of course there is Play. All of these steps lend themselves to trial and error and science inquiry skills.
At the Lawrence Hall of Science at Berkeley, the Ingenuity Lab makes a space available during the week to schools and on the weekends to the public. All we needed to explore hydrolics were large plastic syringes, rubber tubing, wood and dowels (see video below).
One valuable tip is to make sure children have access. Both physically and visually. For the materials children can reach, of course they need to be safe for kids. For the things children want to use but need help with, a parent can reach it and make sure to monitor them. Of course there are volunteers and staff monitoring the room during the workshop.
These are some great ideas that we can easily incorporate into our story times.
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