You Don’t Need a Makerspace to Be a Maker

When I was in 3rd grade my best friend Mark and I built a treehouse out of wood scraps we found in the forest behind his house. We were makers.

In 5th grade, our group of friends created a new sport with a Nerf football and a hula hoop at recess. Soon the entire grade was playing the sport having a blast. We were makers.

In 9th grade, our band “The 25th Hour” recorded our first EP. We set up the audio recording, the mics, and everything in the room to try to get the recording as best possible. We were makers.

In 11th grade, I took a programming class. My first product was creating an electric football game on the computer. It looked awful but it worked. I was a maker.

When I first got my Macbook and Garageband came out I spent hours and weeks creating beats, mixing and matching songs together to play for friends. I was making.

A few years ago during a snowstorm, all my siblings were stuck in our house. We created a new card game and played it for five straight hours well into the night. We were makers.

Making Can Happen Anywhere at Anytime

In each one of these stories, I was exploring what I could design, build, and make. And as I was making I was never thinking about the space.

I love the concept of makerspaces. Our elementary libraries have been completely redesigned to be mobile makerspaces.

But I hope the message we are giving to our students is not one that they need a maker space in order to be a maker.

Students can be makers in any classroom, any grade level, and in any subject. It’s why John Spencer and I created The LAUNCH Cycle to bring design thinking into every aspect of K-12 and let every teacher know that any student can be a maker.

It’s why on May 2nd we’re having our second annual Global Day of Design where teachers and students from around the world focus on how they can make, build, design, and launch projects and products with/without a maker space.

We have students from over 600 classrooms, from 16 countries (and six continents) signed up. Right now we are totaling over 60,000 students ready to participate in the Global Day of Design. We hope that you’ll join us to for this awesome event meant to engage and empower all students to make.

We Are All Makers

Do you believe this about yourself? Do you believe this about your students? Let’s agree on a Bigger Definition of Creativity and empower all of our students to make regardless of having a Makerspace or not.

Sign-up on the GlobalDayofDesign.com to get your Free Maker Project and join the Global Day of Design 2017.