Are your students using your Makerspace and now you want to show off their hard work? Host a Maker Walk. Picture a science fair, but so much cooler because it’s filled with the creations your students made in your Makerspace!
If you’ve ever run a science fair, you know the basics of organizing the event. Pick a date, time, place and then ask students to bring in their projects. They are judged and winners are announced. The difference is very small, but the object of a Maker Walk is to let the makers talk to each other, share their creations and inspire each other, so instead of judging, look to let the makers give each other feedback.
Encourage others to come see the creations. Invite classmates, teachers and local community members. The first even will always be a little smaller but as it catches fire, the word will spread and you’ll have more makers that you can handle. The event can be mandatory, but we’ve had better results just asking for participants. We don’t usually have prizes, but they love to talk about what they’ve created and share it with others.
We created an organization product to help you sort out all the details. It includes examples of some of our events, pictures, possible themes and materials to get your inspired. You can find it in our store.
We hope your students enjoy the Maker Walk as much as ours have. Be sure to tag us in any photos as our students would love to see the creations around the world!
The most natural place to connect subject areas is by incorporating art into the lessons. It’s easy to think a little colouring will be enough art each week, but it’s important to create art projects that teach actual art skills. We created several lessons around the landscapes and geography we were studying about Canada while building art skills such as drawing, sculpting, painting and printmaking. Want to try it? Read on.
We’re hosting a “Poem in Your Pocket” day as a celebration upon completing our poetry unit in Language Arts. It coincides with the National Poem In Your Pocket Day. This year’s event is being held April 26. It’s coming up soon! You can join us this year even if you haven’t taught poetry in your classroom yet! 
The Canadian news is flooded with discussions about pipelines and where they should or shouldn’t be built. So, how do we address these issues in the classrooms? Many of our students have family members who work in the oil industry and many have parents who work closely with Indigenous people and environmentalists. So when these issues are so hotly contested in the media, how do we teach students to listen to all perspectives and form opinions based on facts (especially in light of how many people are unable to look past bias)?
Do you like a lighthearted and fun prank? Do you have students that enjoy a good laugh? Are you looking for a way to celebrate April Fool’s Day? Were were always struggling with ways to prank our students in a fun and caring way, and we’ve come up with a few great ones over the past few years. 
Pink Shirt Day is coming up. In Canada, the movement of wearing pinks shirts to bring awareness to bullying has begun to spread worldwide. Do you need an activity to do? 
Here’s a quick lesson you can do with your students to learn how to use your Makerspace while teaching students to enjoy the process.
You’ve decided to have a Makerspace. What should you put in it? Any thing you want. Start small. We put out origami paper and a book during the first week just to see what would happen. (Turns out the answer to that question is lots of paper frogs.) But seriously, we made a list of potential items for your Makerspace. 