An Hour of Cardboard

This past Thursday, students entered the Foxview LMC/Makerspace for an extravaganza of cardboard madness! It was the 2nd Annual "Hour of Cardboard"!

The inspiration for this event was two fold.  First of all, the very inspiring Caine's Arcade video laid the groundwork for what is possible when imagination meets cardboard. This boy didn't let circumstance get him down - he used his imagination and when his creativity caught opportunity, a worldwide movement was born.  That movement is the Global Cardboard Challenge, and that is why we ended up holding this event in October.

So how did we pull this together?

First of all, we gathered as much cardboard as possible. Some teachers and parents contributed, but most of the cardboard was obtained from the generous Food Service staff. Since the middle school is the central hub for all the food service deliveries, we had access to a nearly limitless supply of boxes.

Secondly, we purchases a few tools to make life easier for our kids as they put things together.  The biggest limit we found in year one was that scissors didn't cut very well, and we didn't have nearly enough tape to keep the kids working on their creations. We solved that this year by purchasing nearly $50 worth of tape, and another purchase of Makedo Kits

Thirdly, we set a theme.  This year was "Cardboard City". After discussing this further, we thought it might be better to do something like this over a longer time period. An hour just didn't seem like enough time to bring all the ideas to fruition.

Then, on the afternoon of, we spent some time watching Caine's Arcade:

Then, the kids cut loose and started building whatever came to mind as it related to the theme.  We made a mess of the LMC, and most of the kids didn't want to leave.  Ultimately, all good things must come to an end.  Here's to the next Hour of Cardboard!

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DPMS Lego Building Challenge

Last week Friday was not a usual Fun Friday at DPMS.  Not only was it an early release day for students but it was also activity day.  During the 75 minute activity block, students could choose to attend one or two advertised activities.  Choices ranged from cupcake decorating to gaming in the computer lab to silent reading.

I thought that this time offered a great opportunity for students to utilize some of the materials in our new Makerspace.   Inspired by the amazing Lego Quest Challenge blog and considering our abundance of Legos, I offered a "Lego Building Challenge" in the LMC.  The rules were minimal and simple: choose from an assortment of Lego challenge cards, gather materials, and build a creation in the allotted time.

Since this activity was something that I have never personally done with students before, I had no idea what to expect.  Of course, I should have known that I would be blown away!  This was a group of 7th and 8th grade boys who had free reign to create with Legos!  What more creative group exists?

After choosing a challenge card, students gathered their materials and got to work.  Students used no resources other than their own imaginations to create their chosen challenges.

Once time was up, each group explained what they created.  I was especially amazed by the intricacy of their designs and even some of the stories that some students created to go with what they built. I can only imagine the ways in which this group would use Legos in their classrooms to share their learning.  Legos are a perfect accompaniment to lessons on vocabulary, recreating events in history, or sharing a story.

Here are some images of the finished products so that you can see for yourself some of the amazing work that was created in about an hour.

An intricate aircraft

A Halloween inspired house

A labyrinth with trap doors and secret passages

A boat that can only be considered a marvel of engineering

A futuristic car that can also transport aircraft

What Failure Means In Our Makerspaces

So, the other day this happened...

Yes - a failed print.  A student worked hard on designing some things to be printed, but ultimately it failed. Our understanding of the 3D printer (and other things in our space) is growing daily, but we are still very much novices in how these devices work.

The beauty of this, however, is that we can have great discussions about what it means to fail in our space. We can make a plan for learning from that. Failure is a part of life. It is never fun. To reach our full potential and achieve and create great things, we'll likely fail numerous times. How we respond means everything.

For our makerspace to truly be successful, it needs to be a place where students cannot only fail, but a place where they are supported to grow from those failures to make the awesome happen.