Makerspace

The school where I have been completing my placement has created a ‘Makerspace’ area within the library for the students to engage in. The best way to describe Makerspace is through relating it to a Do It Yourself (DIY) project/area, where you are provided with different materials to explore and manipulate in order to generate your own creation. In this specific Makerspace area, there are several open-ended games or activities, such as Lego, where the children are able to build, connect and detach the different objects.

This week I had the opportunity to go to the library with the children and take part in Makerspace with them. Through this experience I was able to observe the children while they were creating their final products as well as engage in conversation with the children regarding what they were designing.

Makerspace is an area where the children are able to explore and express themselves creatively which is really important. Creative expression is a way in which children are able to put their feelings and emotions into a project or another area of focus. Throughout my experiences volunteering at the Hospital for Sick Children, I have learned the importance of creative expression for children who are going through tough times or tend to hold in their feelings.

This is not to say that Makerspace is a method of discovering the child’s inner emotions, rather their intrinsic interests while offering them a sense of empowerment and accomplishment.