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Top Tips for Creating a Makerspace in Schools [ep.5 ]

Top Tips for Creating a Makerspace in Schools [ep.5 ]

Check out the full episode on Makerspace in Schools:  

 

Watch the video version of the episode here on YouTube:

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Having a classroom Makerspace is a wonderful opportunity to help students think of the world in new ways and design creative solutions with simple materials. 

How do you get started creating one? 

In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you my top tips when setting up your Makerspace. 

Whether you are a STEM teacher, classroom teacher, or library specialist; this episode will make this process more manageable and easier for you!

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • Setting up your space & storage
  • Organizational systems for supplies
  • Gathering Makerspace donations

Resources Mentioned:

Makerspace Organization Options



Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

0:00
Having a classroom Makerspace is a wonderful opportunity for students to think about the world in new ways, and design creative solutions with simple materials.

0:10
But how do you get started creating one? In this episode, I will be sharing with you my top tips for setting up your classroom Makerspace.

0:19
Whether you're a STEM teacher, a classroom teacher or library specialist, this episode will give you actionable tips to make the process more manageable and easier for you.

0:29
I am so excited to talk about this topic today; setting up your Makerspace. I have to be honest, this has taken a lot of trial and error in my own classroom to figure out systems and routines that worked for all grade levels, K-5.

1:27
I definitely had moments where during the lesson things weren't working out, whether it was where I put the supplies, what supplies was being used… (I definitely have some stories to tell you about that!) These are my tips and tricks to help you get started right away so you can have a great foundation in your own classroom and not have to go through all of the mistakes that I made.

1:51
I will be sharing with you three major tips and breaking down each of those tips so that you can have a great Makerspace year.

2:00
The first thing when getting started with your Makerspace is decide on the storage and space, you're going to house everything.

2:08
Now this is definitely up to you and a case by case situation; all classrooms are different. I was very lucky! Ehen I got my brand new job, I was gifted a brand new classroom. I felt like I had won the lottery! But I know that's not the case for everybody.

2:23
Some people may prefer having one designated small location where it has all the Makerspace supplies. Some might have materials spread out along the room. Whatever you decide, make it work best for you. Now, we will talk about organization later on in this episode, but really figure out what space do you have to work with.

2:43
You can make it all work, just work with what you got!

2:46
Once you have that figured out, decide if you are going to have a grab-and-go method where students are going to grab their materials from that location or locations and take it back to their seat, or if you are going to pull out bins as needed for the project. There are benefits to both and I actually use both methods for different times of the year.

3:08
I will start off the year K-5 by pulling out bins of specific materials I want the students to be using. My Makerspace is spread out along my classroom, and everything is organized at kid-height. I will have specialty items in the closet for specific projects put away in my cabinet, but the majority of materials are out on the floor.

3:30
Even when you think about when you're shopping at a store, you might ask, “Do you have anything in the back?”, I usually don't have a whole lot hiding in my closets. I just don't have room for extra things!

3:41
Everything is out in my classroom at kid-height. I get started by pulling out the bins so whatever specific materials that students will need for their project, they will grab the items that they're allowed, or however many I say they can get, and then bring those items back to their seats.

3:58
For younger students, if this is hard for them to remember how many, even if you write it on the board, a simple tip that I have for this. Grab a little sticky note, write a number. Let's say I want them to have three straws, I'll write the number three. Then I'll draw three dots on the sticky note and put the sticky note on the bin.

4:16
This is something I will definitely use even if the students are grabbing things from the locations in my Makerspace it helps so much so that helps build their independence. Then, they're not relying on me asking, “How many straws can I get?” This simple little trick has just been a great hack in my classroom.

4:34
Another major thing when setting up your Makerspace in your classroom is have designated locations for projects. Now I know this is actually one of the most tricky things in classrooms because some teachers even see all the kids in the whole school the entire week!

4:51
You definitely want to make sure you have space for all of those projects. (Now I do have a tip that will make storage a lot easier later on in this episode; and you're definitely going to thank me later for this one!)

5:03
Think about where those projects are going to be stored. I like to have on my open shelves, a shelf for each grade level. I just have the grade level written down on an index card with an arrow pointing to the shelf. For smaller supplies, I have a big fabric box from IKEA, the fold- out boxes, I can take apart and pop up whenever I need. Students will place their loose materials in a grocery bag or Ziploc bag with their plan inside. Then, the bags will go in the bucket at the end of class.

5:35
This is really helpful after I teach the mini lesson in our group meeting area, I'll pull out that bucket I might even pull out all the bags and lay them in a row on the floor to help students get their materials faster. This little trick has just worked for so many different types of Makerspace projects.

5:53
Not only are you setting up those materials, but set up a place where the projects can be stored when the class is done for the day.

5:59
The second major tip when setting up your Makerspace is the organization of your materials. Now keep in mind, I was given a brand new classroom, so some of the furniture is very expensive in there. I will look up other things that are very similar that can help with your organization as well.

6:26
Before I start asking for donations, I like to have my organization system set up first. That way I know how much of things that I can ask for and actually hold on to. This is really important! Instead of asking for supplies, let's get organized first! When you are organizing all of your bins and drawers and buckets, make sure to label all of your things with pictures and with words. (We talked about this in Episode 1 when you're creating your systems and routines.)

6:55
This is a great tip and helpful for all learners because that way they know where things go, they might even learn new vocabulary of what things are called. Also as a teacher, you will know where everything goes too! I swear, you will find things on the floor no matter how much you have a class clean up. This will help you know where everything goes in the classroom.

7:15
Even further with your organization, I like to have different categories and locations for those different types of materials. I have a cardboard station where all of the little cardboard pieces will be; thin cardboard that will cut into pieces, cardboard tubes, eggs cartons… anything that is cardboard related will go in one section (and those are labeled, of course!)

7:40
The other station is the paper station. I will have all of the construction paper set up for them, lined paper for planning, scratch paper for building and for planning, and graph paper. All of those can be found together to make it a lot easier for what they're looking for.

7:56
Finally, are the Makerspace items, the other little fun things that they can build with; the pom poms, popsicle sticks, cups….all of those are found in the same location. In another part of the classroom, I have all of the crayons, glue sticks and scissors.

8:12
Now when I first got started, I thought it was a really good idea to have a big bucket of crayons and place it on each table group for kids to use. The older kids had no problem with this.

8:24
I distinctly remember it was my first week teaching STEM, and I had 1st grade. It had been a while since I had 1st grade and taught them. I taught 1st grade when I was student teaching and then 2nd grade my first couple of years when I was teaching, So it had been a little bit of a while. I hear crying and think, “Oh great… Who's crying? Why are they crying??”

8:46
I go over to the table and the kids are telling me, “Oh! He's not sharing the crayons.!” I say, “Well, okay. You need to share the crayons! The crayons are here for everybody!”

8:55
Instead of giving the crayons back, he decided to put the crayons that he had taken in his mouth, chew them up and spit the crayons into the bucket. So nobody could use the crayons at that point…. and then there were more tears.

9:11
I knew I had to change my structure of even just how crayons were in my classroom.

9:16
For some time, I did use little supply boxes. In each box there was a pack of crayons, scissors, glue sticks, 2 pencils and an eraser.

9:25
I also found out quickly the lids kept coming off of those buckets and they weren't the best quality. The pencils were getting mixed up and the Kindergarteners were really excited that they had scissors in their box. (I don't think they had scissors in their supply buckets in their classroom always out.)

9:42
So, here has worked best for my crayons, glue sticks and scissors and markers. I have them in one area of the classroom. These actually get used more than my Makerspace. I have the crayons in little metal tins with a little handle and buckets can go on each table. This is really great when students are helping pass out supplies, they can carry these buckets. Or if I'm passing them out really quick in between transitions, this has worked great. Two students can share one bucket which is way better than a giant bucket in the middle of the table.

10:17
Then I have an another container for the glue sticks and the scissors. Sometimes I might only need crayons for a Makerspace activity or for something else, students might only want crayons.

10:31
Now it's also helpful having the scissors and glue sticks separate because the younger students love playing with the scissors and you don't want anybody accidentally cutting their hair. (Not saying that ever happened to me! Wink, wink.)

10:49
Markers are in little drawers that are organized by color. If students want to use markers for a project, they can go grab the colors that they need. On each of the tables in the classroom, I keep this out year round, are metal buckets with two big erasers and sharpened pencils for all the kids to use whenever they want. Those simple materials are really easy to grab whenever needed.

11:13
Finally, when setting up your Makerspace after you have figured out the space, you have everything ready to be organized, you're ready to collect items. In Episode 3, we talked more about how to get creative when gathering supplies. There's some tips and tricks to help you be creative when collecting supplies. Also at the end, I talk about a spreadsheet you can download for free, where I inventoried my whole classroom Makerspace supplies included, that will help you get an idea for what you might want to collect for your classroom.

11:48
I did mention you want to create a space where you students can put their projects. This if you don't get anything else from this episode, this is something I want you to remember; small items make small projects They take less time to build, they take up less storage space, they take up less use of materials.

12:12
On the flip side, big items make big projects, they take longer to build, they make bigger groups, and they use more items to build. Also think about the amount of tape! (You know how I feel about tape!)

12:27
I learned this the hard way. I let students create whatever size project they wanted and I didn't have room for anything. I ran out of supplies so fast, that I didn't even have enough for the same classes in one day. When I shifted my mindset to where projects can be smaller, be a prototype and accomplish the same task, it's okay! It really changed how materials are being used in my classroom.

12:56
When I'm asking for donations, I actually don't ask for large pieces of cardboard, big milk jugs, water bottles, I don't have room to store that. They're awesome to build with, however, in my classroom space, I don't have room for that. I really aim for smaller items that can easily be stored and I can get a lot of it. Again, I have those smaller projects and I have more room to store them.

13:21
If you're thinking about a size, what is a good size? Think about a large gallon sized Ziploc bag. I try to aim students, if possible, to create something that could fit in that bag. Now there are some exceptions to some of the projects, but we're not making ginormous things that have nowhere to go in the classroom.

13:42
Creating a donation letter can be very helpful. Instead of sending a mass email out to families, maybe you could think about sending that donation letter to one grade level a month and you can build connections with those families. Each month could be a different grade level. In turn, if you have a specific project that you are going to do with a grade level, you could send out a donation letter to that grade level and very specific items that are specific to that project.

14:10
You probably will get a better response with a smaller group and that way, and then you can really target what you need for the project.

14:17
Also for specialty items, sometimes I'll just send out a staff email and see if anybody has that at home. For example, I needed bubble wrap for a projec. I sent out an email and the next day, all these people brought in bubble wrap for me.

14:31
I might even ask students in the class during a project for items. I needed more grocery bags to store our supplies. I didn't have a lot at home (I really try to use reusable bags; not perfect, but I really try!) and we ran out of grocery bags in our classroom. I told the kids, “Hey, whoever brings in grocery bags tomorrow, I'll give you some Makerspace money that you can spend on your project!”

14:54
(Now if you're wondering what Makerspace money is, we're going to talk about that in a future episode. So hold your horses; that is a whole thing that we will dive into.!)

15:03
There's a lot of creative ways that you can gather materials and donations and easily get things for your classroom.

15:09
I also have a few places for dropping off materials. In my building, I have a box by my classroom and in the front of the building. I would love to add another box in the teacher's lounge. So just really great high traffic areas where students and families can drop things off that can be used in my room.

15:27
Another way to gather supplies in your classroom is to have students deconstruct. Now some students are obsessed about taking things home, which is awesome. Some kids really don't care. They loved the building process, but they don't have a desire to take it home. So after they take a picture, and Flipgrid, Seesaw or any other platform that you're thinking of, students can take apart their projects and then put away the supplies like be can be reused for other projects. This is a great little in the moment mini lesson to talk about conservation and materials as well.

16:00
On the last day of your projects, while students are deconstructing, just make sure you leave enough time for them to put everything away and clean out those bags. I will also reuse bags when possible if they don't have any holes or they're not broken. The more that you can reuse in this space, it's just really great. You can get more life out of all those materials.

16:22
As a recap, here are the three major things when setting up your Makerspace for success, so that you have a great system that will work all year long.

16:32
First, is to set up that space and storage and where everything is going to go.

16:37
Next, set up an organization system for all those different types of materials.

16:42
Finally, think about ways that you can gather Makerspace donations.

16:47
To make this setup even easier. I made you a Makerspace Bundle for getting started that comes with 180+supply labels with words and pictures, different colors, an editable donation letter and Makerspace Menu with money (which we will talk about in the next episode), anchor charts for specific supplies and getting started lessons.

17:11
This will be linked in the show notes or you can grab it using this direct link: naomimeredith.com/tptmakerspacebundle.

17:20
Thank you so much for joining me today for all of these Makerspace tips. I can't wait to see you in the next episode!

makerspace-in-schools-2makerspace-in-schools

makerspace-in-schools

stem-donation-letter

makerspace-labels

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

STEM Favorites that You’ll Enjoy: 

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

need-for-a-stem-classroom

What Do You Need for a STEM Classroom? [ep. 3]

What Do You Need for a STEM Classroom? [ep.3]

Check out the full episode on what you need for a STEM classroom:  

 

Watch the video version here on YouTube:

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Are you in charge of setting up the STEM space in your school? Have you been gifted a classroom with a collection of supplies but not sure what to keep, what to toss and what to buy? 

And let’s mention budget; what should you be buying within different budgets and balancing that between consumable and non-consumable items? 

Let’s break down what you actually need for your STEM classroom and create a system that will work best for you.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Tips and tricks gathering materials when setting up your STEM space: 

    • #1- List those current assets 
    • #2-Create a budget 
    • #3- Be creative when gathering materials 
    • #4- Plan ahead

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Are you in charge of setting up the STEM space in your school? Have you been gifted a classroom with a collection of supplies but not sure what to keep, what to toss and what to buy? 

And let’s mention budget; what should you be buying within different budgets and balancing that between consumable and non-consumable items? 

Let’s break down what you actually need for your STEM classroom and create a system that will work best for you. 


The first step when setting up your STEM space is to list your current assets. Now you might be starting with a blank canvas, so you have nothing to list; you can skip this step! But you might want to keep it in mind for next year so don't write me off completely! First, pull out everything that you have in your space and notice: 

-What are some things you absolutely want to keep? 

-What are some things that you can toss or recycle? (like an old Boombox or CD player. I'm sorry you're definitely not going to use that!) 

-What are some things you can donate within the district? 

-Are there items that are actually not age appropriate? 

Maybe the items are actually too young for your students and you can get them to other schools or preschools that are within your district. Maybe even your ILC/SPED programs in your school would like them. 

You might even have items that are actually too advanced for your students; that could be a possibility for an after school club. Or they actually might be better suited for your middle school or high school programs. 

I actually had a lot of these types of supplies when I entered my STeM space that were purchased by other STEM and tech teachers who were in my school [before me]. I was able to donate those to our middle schools and they could definitely get more use out of them. 

Once you have the items that you know you're definitely going to keep, think about what type of balance of materials. Are you overloaded with robots? Are you overloaded with coding materials (like I was) and are you in need of more building materials? Or maybe vice versa! Maybe you have a lot of Makerspace items and don't have any robots at all! 

Definitely think about the balance because when you move forward with these supplies, this is going to help you keep in mind the types of lessons that you want to be planning. Again, you definitely want your lessons to have a balance. 

Once you are aware of all of the assets that you definitely have in your classroom, next you need to think about creating a budget.

Budgets are really tricky, especially in the STEM space. Some teachers don't have a budget, some have a little bit, some have a lot. There are opportunities to gather materials whether you have money or not; we will be talking about how to be creative with the funds you may or may not have. 

First, you want to know how much money that you have available and when you actually need to spend it. Some schools are really particular about when money needs to be spent at certain times of the year. Some of them are flexible and let the funds carry over year after year. Find out what this means for your school and how and when you need to spend your budget. 

Once you know how much you do (or do not have), this is a great time for you to create a donation opportunity. Amazon has a great selection for you to get started on a wishlist. You can easily get that set up and keep adding items throughout the year. You can share with your families and friends outside of your school. 

Donors Choose is also another awesome website where you can create a grant opportunity and they walk you through step by step how to create that grant. They actually will gather the supplies once the funds are fully funded. The process is so easy; I've definitely had things funded in the past and now paying it forward into other classrooms and helping fund their projects as well. 

Another way that you can be flexible with your budget that actually won't cost you anything is to reach out to other STEM and science teachers within your district. They might have items that they have purchased already and they might be willing to let you borrow them for a unit. This can really help you as well to try things out if you do or do not or actually want to buy them! Likewise, you might also have items that another teacher would love to try as well and you guys can do a little bit of a swap. I have a few friends in my district where we do this and it's such a great opportunity to help out their students that they have enough supplies and vice versa.

That last suggestion actually goes into this next tip; be creative with materials. There are a lot of ways to build up the supplies in your classroom that doesn't cost anything. 

Think about consumables and non-consumables in your classroom. What I mean by this is consumables are the things that once students use them, they are used up; you can't use them again. 

No matter what your budget is, you want to somehow get your hands on lots of tape. Kids LOVE tape. I think it's the new pencils; I'm pretty sure kids eat tape. Definitely set aside a budget for that! I set limits on tape, I make baby tape rolls (where I wrap a certain amount and wrap it around a popsicle stick and that's their tape limit), but I swear I don't know where this tape goes. They love it! 

Think about those consumable items that students love, and how you can have a budget for that. 

Sometimes you might want to purchase things that are a little bit more expensive because you know are going to last a longer amount of time. 

My best example is when I'm thinking about robots. There are the code-and-go mice and the BeeBots. They are very similar robots; they pretty much do the same thing. When teaching over 500 kids, the code-and-go mice are not the most durable. The code-and-go mice are awesome for a home robot and I suggest this for students if they love coding at home. This is a great robot. It's about twenty bucks or so.

I do purchase the BeeBots. or even the BlueBots. The BlueBots even cooler; they can connect to iPads using Bluetooth. If you can invest in BlueBots and have iPads to connect to, I definitely recommend those. 

Either way, the BeeBots and BlueBots are a great investment of my money. I will buy one or two each year based on my budget because I know that they're going to last. They're durable and also they don't use batteries. They have a rechargeable battery so they are worth the investment.

When purchasing, especially when it comes to those non-consumable items that will eventually become out of date, you don't always need a class set. A big part of STEM is being able to collaborate and use those materials as a team. So if you're buying one for every kid, where's the collaboration!? 

Think about how you could buy items where it works for about half of the class, where they can work in pairs. Could they work in groups of 3 or even even smaller; how could they work in a station rotation? If you're unsure about a material you would like to buy, start small, enough for where it could be a station rotation, and build up from there. 

Don't go all in when you're none getting started! You might not even like the tool or have found you don't even have time to use it. 

Another way to build up your materials is to ask for donations. You can get very creative when you're asking for those donations! You know at the beginning and end of the school years when teachers are cleaning out their closets teachers are getting rid of stuff and you're so tempted to not look but you don't need anything? 

Okay, as a STEM teacher, go look! You will be amazed by how many science supplies you will find from past science kits, math manipulatives that kids can build with, even lined paper which is great for planning. You can find a ton of stuff in your own school building! 

Even sent out an email. Some teachers have kids who are growing up and they want to get rid of a big bucket of LEGO (take them up on it)! There are resources in your own building that you can definitely pull upon. 

If you know you're going to start a Makerspace project, set out a box in your teachers lounge. Have teachers put in the boxes from their breakfasts and lunch meals that they're heating up in their microwaves and save that cardboard for your projects. That is the best cardboard to use by the way; all kids can cut it with regular scissors. 

Be creative with the things that already are happening within your school building! 

Another way that you can be creative when gathering your materials is to have a LEGO Donation Day. Have kids bring in those little snack bags filled with some basic LEGO bricks. If you have about 500 or so kids in your school, that's a lot of basic bricks that you can add to your collection! That would be a really cool thing to do for your Back to School Night! 

Have kids bring you in a snack size bag filled with the LEGO and maybe you give them a cool sticker in return or another little behavior incentive for thanking them for their donation. 

Also consider reaching out to local businesses. Businesses are looking for ways to have tax write offs, especially when it comes to STEM education. This is a big opportunity that businesses are just waiting for. They might have materials from their company they would love to give you. Or even if you write a grant, in return, they'll purchase items that you're looking for. 

Finally ,when you are building up the supplies in your STEM classroom, you want to plan ahead. You won't get everything that you want your first year. [If you do, I want to come to your class because it would be amazing!] Having an ongoing list of supplies that you would love to have. 

This is great because what if a business reaches out to you and they ask?, “What do you need?” You will have a list of things you already know that you would want and you can hand it over. Same with PTOs or parents; you will be prepared with that list also for your planning ahead. 

Also, plan for repairs you're going to set all those systems routines and rules for all of the things in your classroom, but things will break. Now less things will break if you do have those systems and routines and rules, and you won't have as many repairs. But, accidents happen, things break with wear and tear. If you can set aside a budget or what you're going to do if things do break, have a plan for that.

Let's have a recap of now that you have all of these tips and tricks for setting up your STEM space. 

#1- List those current assets 

#2-Create a budget 

#3- Be creative when gathering materials 

#4- Plan ahead. 

Now that you have this system for setting up the supplies in your classroom that you can use year after year, you probably want to know, “What exactly do I need right now? Just tell me exactly the things I need to buy!” 

I actually went through and inventoried my whole classroom and created a spreadsheet of the must have items that work well in K-5.  You can download that whole inventory spreadsheet for free here: naomimeredith.com/stemsupplylist

Thank you so much for ah thank you so much for hanging out with me today I will chat with you in the next episode.

 

 need-for-a-stem-classroom
Have a Makerspace donation box outside of your classroom and near the front entrance of your school.

 need-for-a-stem-classroom

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

dash-rob

DIY: Paper Dash Robot Instructions

dash-robot-instructions

DIY paper Dash robot instructions that guide you through making a cute decoration for your class. The larger than life robot is a crowd pleaser and can be made at any time of the year.

Dash Robot Instructions

This robots is one of my most favorites to use with kids in my K-5 STEM classroom. It's durable, easy to code and can be integrated into any content. Check out more in detail what I think of Dash and other awesome robots that can be used in the classroom.

 

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through the link, no extra cost to you, but I receive a kickback from purchases. 

 To make Dash, you'll need:

  • Teal poster board
  • Black poster board/construction paper
  • Bright orange poster board/construction paper
  • White poster board/construction paper
  • scissors
  • tape
  • pencil
  • 3 bowls of various sizes (large, medium, small)

dash-robot-instructions

Dash Robot Instructions

First, using the largest bowl, trace 3 circles onto the teal poster board. Then, cut out the circles. I was able to get three on the same sheet, so play around with different bowls in your kitchen to find the perfect size.

There should be some teal poster board left. Cut off a corner to make a large triangle. This will go in the center of dash to connect all of the circle together.

 

dash-robot-instructions

dash-robot-instructions

dash-robot-instructions

To connect the circles, tape the triangle in the middle of the group. Flip Dash over so you can't see the tape and where everything is connected.

Next, using the medium bowl, trace one orange circle. Cut out.

Then, using a medium bowl, slightly smaller than the first, trace and cut out a white circle.

Finally, using the smallest bowl, trace and cut out a black circle.

dash-robot-projects

dash-robot-project

Stack all of the circles that were traced and cut out, center and tape together. Tape on the top circle of the Dash outline to create its cute little face.

Finally, ddd the triangle embellishment underneath Dash's head. Like the center triangle, cut a corner off the black poster board to form a triangle. Next, cut a corner off the white poster board to create a smaller triangle.

Again, stack and tape these triangle right below Dash's head.

To secure all the pieces, add any additional tape on the back. If allowed, laminate your giant Dash so it can be used year after year without getting destroyed!

dash-robot-projects

dash-robot-projects

My paper Dash made its first appearance at our 5th grade parade. I taped him on the back of my car (along with my LEGO MiniFig creation, sorry no tutorials for her yet!) When school starts, Dash will fit perfectly in my K-5 classroom with my large bulletin board letters.

dash-robot-projects

 

For the real robots in your classroom, these fun signs help teach students the rules when using robots during lessons. They also give the robots a “voice” while adding another fun decorating element to your classroom.

dash-robot-instructions

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

Where would you hang your paper Dash in your classroom? Feel free to tag or direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!

 

Want more resources to support Technology & STEM all year long? Grab this FREE downloadable guide that I’ve put together for you!