Making the Makerspace #2: Lego Corner

I am on a journey to create a makerspace at my school in the preschool through 8^th grade Technology classroom. This room has been off to a rocky start this year since new Technology classes were introduced, two teachers utilize the room (one being me), and all ages and sizes of students filter through the space. Of special note, the creation of the makerspace is being completed on a “dime” as there is no real budget allocation towards it.

Step 2: Lego Corner

The second step taken to transform the space to makerspace was to revamp our Lego corner. Last summer we decided that the room needed a Lego wall, and, after ordering the baseplates and assembling the wall, it stopped there. The students utilizing the room knew the wall existed, but, to an outsider visiting the room, it wasn’t apparent that the green thing on the far wall was for Lego building. 

For starters, the blank wall next to the Lego wall was ripe for decoration and a title to denote its use. After searching around, I found an example of a Lego wall title in a blog post by Matthew Arend about his makerspace and modeled mine after his. After a quick Google search, a Lego font was located and high quality images of bricks were ready for printing.

The other problem to be solved was Lego storage. The white cardboard box Lego bricks were stored in was unlabeled and difficult for numerous students to access at one time. Having the bricks separated between several bins was the answer. I chose to go with a storage option from IKEA – the TROFAST frame and bins. This creates clean-looking storage and easy access to the blocks.

To finish the corner off, I purchased an inexpensive IKEA rug to help invite students to the corner. I liked a rug that is a more sophisticated version of children’s road-patterned rugs. With older students using the space, I didn’t want to make it feel too childish. Within the first week of redoing the corner and adding the rug, two 8^th grade students made a Lego stop animation that followed the roadways. 

Making the Makerspace #1: Materials

I am on a journey to create a makerspace at my school in the preschool through 8^th grade Technology classroom. This room has been off to a rocky start this year since new Technology classes were introduced, two teachers utilize the room (one being me), and all ages and sizes of students filter through the space. Of special note, the creation of the makerspace is being completed on a “dime” as there is no real budget allocation towards it.

Step 1: Materials

The transformation of the classroom began with the organization and acquisition of materials. I decided to start with the materials because one needs them to “make.” I collected together some loose bins located around the room. Many of the bins were the deep TROFAST IKEA bins. Labels were created and affixed for the categories of: Bags (paper and plastic), Newspaper, Foil, Small Cardboard, Attach, and Random. Most of the bin labels are easily understandable except for the last two. The “Attach” bin currently contains anything used to connect items together such as paper clips, binder clips, string, tape, glue, and rubber bands. Since I am just starting out, I do not have much in this category, and it makes sense to combine it all into one. Then, the “Random” bin contains items that could potentially be useful, but do not exist in large quantity and cannot be exactly classified. For example, we have a small collection of depleted tape rolls that might act as wheels in future projects.

The bins are filled with items that already existed in the classroom, stock from the teacher workroom, and recyclables from my house. I decided to avoid asking for material donations until specific items are identified as necessary for an upcoming project to prevent an overstock of unneeded items.