Every week the Macaroni Kid calander is filled with fun and unique Maker Camp classes held at LabSpace Robotics inside Capital Mall. Have you ever wondered what a Maker Camp is? At LabSpace, Maker Camps are one-session classes that explore things like wiring circuits, investigating different methods of making things move, the power of air in pneumatic systems and more. Sounds really complicated right? The projects for the most part actually use things you might find around your house like; craft sticks, balloons, rubber bands, and paper clips. These projects are selected because the supplies are familiar to children and they can take what they learn in class and experiment more on their own at home.
Projects are designed to strengthen fine-motor skills, introduce a variety of building methods, and to encourage looking at familiar building supplies in an entirely new way. In a recent Maker Camp class students built their own fidget spinners using cardboard, pennies, and toothpicks. The majority of the students made more then one fidget spinner; experimenting with different shapes, sizes, and materials. Specific skills and concepts children learned or practiced were:
Reflection-if they didn't flip their shape before they traced it the second time, pieces didn't match
Balance- if the toothpick wasn't in the center, or their pennies weren't placed correctly, their tops didn't spin as well.
Safety- when you cut a toothpick-one part often flies through the air- wear safety glasses
Cutting Skills- cutting cardboard is hard, but you can do it if you keep trying
If I break it-I can fix it!
If this sounds like something both you and your child would enjoy; register your child for an upcoming class and feel free to join in. It's fun to build together as a family! In the mean time here’s a great article on making and kids:
http://www.edudemic.com/maker-movement-classroom/
Watch the Macaroni Kid calander for upcoming classes and follow Lab Space Robotics on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/LabSpaceRobotics/
