The Big Book of Makerspace Projects - Inspiring Makers to Experiment, Create, and Learn

This easy-to-follow guide features dozens of DIY, low-cost projects that will arm you with the skills necessary to dream up and build your own creations. The Big Book of Makerspace Projects: Inspiring Makers to Experiment, Create, and Learn offers practical tips for beginners and open-ended challenges for advanced makers. Each project features non-technical, step-by-step instructions with photos and illustrations to ensure success and expand your imagination. You will learn recyclables hacks, smartphone tweaks, paper circuits, e-textiles, musical instruments, coding and programming, 3-D printing, and much, much more!

Discover how to create:

* Brushbot warriors, scribble machines, and balloon hovercrafts

* Smartphone illusions, holograms, and projections

* Paper circuits, origami, greeting cards, and pop-ups

* Dodgeball, mazes, and other interesting Scratch games 

* Organs, guitars, and percussion instruments

* Sewed LED bracelets, art cuffs, and Arduino stuffie

* Makey Makey and littleBits gadgets

* Programs for plug-and-play and Bluetooth-enabled robots

* 3D design and printing projects and enhancements

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education TAB; 1 edition (October 19, 2016)

Language: English

Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 10.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds

Reviews

"This is a really nice primer of projects ranging from the basic and low budget to higher end and more challenging projects. The instructions are clearly outlined with lots of pictures (black and white in my review copy). Very happy with this and excited to test it out at my library."

- M. Print

"This is a great resource for anyone considering starting a Makerspace. The book contains projects with clear directions, common items and reasonable prices. It is a win-win for everyone."

- J. Hendrickson

"This is a classroom or workshop book, but it can certainly be used with small groups and families, or by individuals.

Each chapter includes a number of projects and each project has a well-organized plan including the cost, the time to make the project, the supplies (ranging from free things in the recycling bin to a couple hundred dollars for electronics kits), and step by step instructions. Each project is finished up with Challenges -- experiments and extensions to build skills and provoke creative problem-solving.

Chapters include smartphone projects, circuit building with paper and with fibers, musical instruments, coding, 3D printing and more. Then there's a chapter of simple low cost projects and one of more complex projects that use ideas from more than one chapter. There are 51 projects in total, from a robot built with stuff you can buy at the Dollar Store and a super-simple kazoo made of scraps to DIY video games and embroidered LED bracelets.

The book is clearly for kids, but teens and adults will find challenges in these projects as well, if they don't give in to the temptation to be put off by the classroom format.

Every maker will find appealing projects in this book. Classrooms or scout troops will have a full year's worth of exciting and thought-provoking projects. The instructions are clear and the makers will end up with lots of transferable skills and the mindset that uses innovation and creativity, a couple of soft skills of prime importance for 21st century jobs."

- Rebecca Haden

"This is a great introduction to many different branches of creating, from simple crafts with interesting effects to starting to write code. The projects start out simple and cheap/free, but the more advanced projects can get costly. Don't let that stop you though, you can learn a ton from the advanced projects even if you don't have the physical equipment to get the tangible results, after all it's the knowledge you're after and you can apply that to many other things!"

- Martin J.

"This is a great collection of projects with the junior maker in mind. These are budget-friendly projects that anyone can do - just takes a little bt of time, thought, and effort.

The maker movement is incredibly popular right now, and nowhere is it MORE popular than in schools. STEM and STEAM projects have infiltrated every corner of education (there are even music classes that are incorporating STEAM principles!). This book is a great resource for teachers, for club facilitators, and parents - because what's more fun than helping your kids create something cool at home - and seeing them learn in the process. This should be in every library and media center in the country - that's where this copy would be going, but the librarian already got a copy!"

- Warren Kelly

About the Author

Colleen Graves (Denton, TX) is a high school librarian and blogger, obsessed with Learning Commons transformations, Makerspaces, technology education, making stuff, and getting girls involved in STEM. She offers the unique perspective of starting/creating two different makerspaces and Girl STEM groups in established public schools.

Aaron Graves (Denton, TX) is a school librarian with 15 years of experience. He is a mash-up of robot geek, book lover, and tech wizard. Aaron gained his perseverance for projects through collaborative and interactive art experiences as a member of the Good/Bad Art Collective.