December 6, 2015

Greetings, 

With the recent official ribbon-cutting and dedication of The Imaginate Center, more families are hearing about the exciting activities going on in our new Makerspace. Students of all ages are creatively using the Makerspace, whether 
as part of a SASS (Swain After-School Specials) program, their Engineering & Design class, or special MakerClubs that meet throughout the week.
 
Makerspace Program Director Michele Archer has also hosted many of the K-4 classrooms to work on special projects 
(see the Makerspace photo galleries).

Some of the projects are 'low tech' - e.g. crafting Halloween decorations from found objects like boxes, recyled laundry detergent packages, and fabric. Others are more high tech, featuring electronics and apps.

Mrs. Archer has been asked by families how they can provide similar resources and experiences for their children at home.

You don't need a lot of space or an investment in expensive equipment. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

The Basics
  • provide a place to spread out, where you can safely leave projects-in-progress 
  • plastic bins or boxes for storing all the materials and tools
  • tools like scissors, screwdrivers, pliers, rulers, hammer
  • craft supplies like markers, colored pencils, glue, pipe cleaners, colored paper, fabric, ribbon
  • consider re-purposing an old table or desk for a work surface - we
    use an old ping pong table in the Makerspace (and sometimes it still gets used for its original purpose!) - cover the top with a couple of coats of whiteboard paint (yes, they make that) to sketch out those Maker ideas 
Recycle It!
  • before you throw things out, look at them with a new eye: "Could this be used in a Maker project?"
  • collect things like toilet paper rolls, corks, straws, pipe cleaners, plastic and cardboard containers, vinyl records, old CDs and DVDs
  • how about old items that don't work, like that broken radio you're never going to fix - they are a great source of interesting parts and pieces
Gadgets & Gizmo's

These are among the most popular items in Swain's Makerspace, in addition to Legos and K'nex, which are two kinds of building kits:
  • littleBits (easy to use electronic building blocks for creating instant circuits for foolproof inventing) 
     
  • 3Doodler (3D printing pen - pictured,  right)
       
  • Sphero (app-enabled robotic ball - use your device to program it to move)
Of course 3D printers are available too - check out here.

We invite you to an Open House this Tuesday from 9-11 a.m., after the Swain Association meeting (which begins at 8:15 a.m. in Rogers' Commons). You can see our Makerspace in action  - like the 6th graders, below, working on their Halloween decorations.



Also, watch for details: we are working on plans for two Maker Saturdays
for families to come and work on projects together. The dates are January 9 and February 20.
Thanks for reading this edition of Swain Stories. We hope you are following other Swain news on Facebook and Twitter, including photos from recent events, the 'off campus' activities of Swain friends, and articles of interest to parents.


 
The Swain School
1100 South 24th Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18103