Makerdays!

Last fall when I was first in charge of coming up with after school programs, I decided to ease into it by doing the same program a few times during the semester. That program was Makerdays! And now I add it to our schedule at least once a semester because it is easy and fun and things can always be added!!

The gist of Makerdays is that it is all makerspace activities. Makerspace activities use materials that kids can make things with. Popular examples are play dough, Perler beads and LEGO (all present at this program).  They don’t always get to take things home but they do get to create while they are here and it keeps their hands AND minds busy!

This program is set up in stations and is completely unstructured. The only thing I consistently have to do is take photos for the website and iron Perler bead projects together. That’s it. Kids can either bounce from station to station or they can pick one and stick with it the whole time. Usually there is little to no arguing and it sort of runs itself!

This program was during the final PTO Meeting of the year, and I had 17 kiddos. They all had a great time and a couple even asked when we would be doing it again!

Some of these stations are new since we started this program last fall, but most have been around since the beginning. I’ll go through station by station so you readers can get a feel for what we do!

Perler Beads

These are always a hit. I have a few kiddos who go straight to this station at the beginning of the program and camp out there until it’s over. I always tell them to let me know when they are almost done so I can plug in the iron. I always do the ironing in the back room, so this station is as close to the back room as possible so the space I have to walk with un-ironed projects is as short as possible.

Playdough

This staple shouldn’t need an explanation! I bought new Playdough at the beginning of the semester, and a coworker brought in a ton of tools to go with it that her grandkids didn’t play with anymore. Its always a smash! (And always smashed into the carpet somehow).

Keva Planks

These are really cool little wooden planks that you can use to build whatever you want! They seem to be more popular with the older kids, and even middle school kids at the other building. There is a booklet with ideas on this table as well!

Squishy Circuits

I found these deep in a cabinet last fall and our director said we got them for free at a conference. They are SO cool and I have a couple of kids who are super into this. Using the conductive dough (essentially playdough) and the provided wires, circuits are made and can light LED lights, sound a REALLY loud and annoying buzzer, or made a propeller spin. The buzzer ended up in my pocket about halfway through the program because they wouldn’t quit sounding it. I really need to order some more of this stuff! The website  is here!

The Epic LEGO Wall

I did a whole blog post on the LEGO wall, found here. The LEGO wall is always open after school, but I encourage it extra during the Makerdays program. Once they are finished with their project, I take a photo for the LEGO Wall of Fame in the hall!

Checkers

I usually try to leave this one out during all unstructured programs because the kiddos love to play! I’m fairly certain this is a set from Cracker Barrel and I need to get a new one because somehow a black checker is lost now.

Coloring Pages

These pages are always out during school but again, they love it!

Blocks Rock!

I won this game at a conference last year! The basic premise is that two kids sit across from each other, each with their set of blocks and a bell in between. Using the cards, they flip one over and the first kiddo to match the pattern using the blocks rings the bell and wins the round!

T-Rex Puzzle

This was the first time I used this puzzle after it was donated by a coworker. It was SO hard but a kiddo and a couple of grown ups finally got it but together!

Its all very unstructured fun! I;m running this program again next semester! Can’t wait!