Make: Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities Book Review

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We are big supporters of the Maker movement, so I was delighted when I was sent Make: Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities ($13.38). Start Making! offers ways to engage young people all over the world in Maker-inspired activities. Developed by the Clubhouse Network — a global network of community-based centers led by Boston’s Museum of Science in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab — Start Making! shows you how to spread the love of creativity and science to the young people in your neighborhood.

Start Making! teaches readers how to plan and coordinate projects at home, at school or in a library, community center, after-school club, or makerspace. Written by Danielle Martin of the Clubhouse Network and Alisha Panjwani of the MIT Media Lab, this book provides strategies for engaging young people in creative thinking, developing individual and team projects, and sharing and reflecting on their creations.

Each session includes:
A list of needed supplies, step-by-step instructions for completing the projects, and prompts for stimulating discussion, curiosity, and confidence. These fun do-it-yourself (and do-it-together!) projects teach fundamental STEAM concepts — science, technology, engineering, art, and math — while introducing young people to the basics of circuitry, design, coding, crafting, and construction.

Start Making! projects include:

Paper cards and creations that light up
Using MaKey MaKey and Scratch to make music
Making paintings with LEDs
Designing and constructing 3D sculptures
Building a vibrating art-bot that makes drawings
Sew fabric creations with wearable circuits

Dip into the activities once a week, run them as a weeklong school vacation or summer activity, or go through the guide in any way that works for you.

Buy on Amazon.

We were sent a copy of the book for review, no compensation was received. This post contains affiliate links (which helps us keep the lights on). Make: Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities Book Revie