Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #8: Droid Maker

Things were a little different today at Scarlett Middle School. For the activity we brought a littlebits R2D2 Droid Inventor kit for the students to build and explore with. The kit worked with an app that gave step by step instructions on how to build and test the droid.

The instructions were easy enough to follow without too much adult input and the students really enjoyed putting the parts together and testing each addition as they were added. One limit of this activity is that is something that can only be done in small groups. It was easy for people to get left out or to take over the building process. Emphasis on teamwork was necessary to keep everyone equally involved.

Once the droid was built the students were able to complete quests and challenges on the app. One challenge was to build a obstacle course and then using the app steer the droid through the books, boxes, bags and other obstacles in the way. There was definitely a learning curve with the controls. It was not as easy as it looked. Other future challenges included placing a pen in a loop on the back of the droid and using a large sheet of paper to create designs with the droids movements. It will be fun to see what possibilities the droid has in the future.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #7: Toy Takeapart

Today was a day to bring an old Michigan Makers favorite to Scarlett Middle School. Toy Take Apart! After getting the students geared up in goggles and gloves, they were handed screwdrivers, pliers and any tool they might need and a box filled with old toys.

Toy take apart is always a mix of curiosity, fun, and patience. Removing dozens of screws can test anyone’s patience, but nothing is more satisfying than removing the last screw and seeing what is inside of the old toy. One student spent her day taking apart an animatronic dog toy. Nothing brought her more joy and creeped everyone else out more than seeing the dog without any of its fur. It’s white plastic casing looking more alien than dog like. One student turned an old frog clock into a vase for fake flowers, really pushing the limits of what old toys can be used for.

To wrap up the day students were able to use their personal favorite tool – the button maker. The students love taking old magazines and looking for cool pictures or patterns to create into pins for their bags or magnets for their lockers.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #6: Backstitching

Today at Scarlett Middle School only one student came for Michigan Makers. With only one student the focus was on direct one on one interaction which worked out for the activity. Today we learned how to backstitch. In previous weeks we tried cross stitch but it was not the best activity for the time constraints. With back stitching an image can be created in both a simpler and quicker way. Backstitching is a way to make a solid line of thread on an embroidery project, unlike the patchy line created by the classic running stitch. Using a pencil the student drew out her initial and a heart on the fabric. With some instruction and encouragement she was able to slowly trace the design with her thread and create a patch that with iron on Heat and Bond she can with her parents help iron on the design to a backpack or other approved fabric object.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #5: Clothing Hacks

Since today is the week before Halloween we decided to do a fun activity with the students at Scarlett Middle School. It is time for Clothing Hacks! We brought several large IKEA blue bags filled to the brim with donated and thrifted clothing. With two sewing machines, scissors and creativity students were able to create their own new clothing or costume pieces for Halloween, if they celebrated. One student took the sleeves from a plaid button down and added it to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt, giving the shirt a new look. Another student took light blue kids clothing and turned them into leg warmers. There was no shortage of creativity today.
One of the most elaborate projects involved almost no sewing. Using black clothings and accessories from the bags one student turned a “Happy New Year” hat into a witches hat. The biggest problem she had to solve was how to get all of the items to attach without visible tape. It took a little bit of creativity since she was not using the sewing machines to help.
At the end of the day each student had something they had made to take home and we had what could only be described as a literally explosion of fabric everywhere. Sometimes creativity is a messy process and there is nothing better than accepting and living with that fact.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #4: Cross-stitch

This session started off with a bang! Immediately after the bell rang to release students from class for the day the fire alarm went off. As you can imagine fire alarms are much more chaotic when students are not being marched out in lines by their teachers. There was quite a bit of running and screaming. Mostly for dramatic effect and not due to any emergency. Luckily the alarm was a false one and after a few minutes the alarm stopped and we could settle in for the session that day. On this day we had low turnout. Only one student came by. This did mean that we were able to give more individualized attention and feedback. Missing from this session the sense of camaraderie in the group; which is something the students enjoy.

The challenge for today was to create a cross stitch patch. There were two options for choosing a pattern. The first option was to choose a pattern from some that had been pre-selected. Optionally, the students could take images from the web and use editing software to pixelate the image creating a cross stitch pattern.

Once the pattern was picked it came time to learning how to cross stitch. Growing on previous sewing related projects This project reinforced the skills of threading needles, knotting thread, and starting work. The new skill was mostly in the precision of the stitches. Using grid created by the weave of the Aida cloth fabric we created small x’s for each square of the pattern. There was definitely a learning curve. It was important to make sure that you followed the pattern closely to recreate the same image. Overall this was more challenging for everyone than expected. As time passed the student found it easier to improvise instead of follow the pattern exactly. She did this by creating the outline of the shape she wanted and instead of filling it in drawing in facial features. All that was left to do was to cut the image out into a patch size and iron on interfacing. We did not iron this on to backpacks or clothing, but rather sent her home with instructions to follow with her parents once she got permission to iron this on to whatever her heart desired.

We might not do cross stitch again. It is hard to learn with the time constraints we have, but sewing is definitely something we will continue to revisit.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #3: Photo-editing/Monster pillows

Bracelets, buttons, monsters, and spooky editing! This was a jam-packed session. Today ended up being a girl-only day with a handful of girls coming back to Michigan Makers. We had a couple different crafts going on; all relatively simple and fun. There was the option to use stamps to decorate bookmarks or bracelets, make custom buttons with a button maker, use photo software to take photos of the school and edit them, and monster pillows were back.

We will start with a small oops. We were all ready to go with the button maker and were pretty excited too. Using a circle punch, students cut out images from magazines that they found fun or pretty to turn into buttons. The buildup was tense and the excitement was palatable. Then the worst thing happened. The button machine was not working. It had gotten banged a bit in transport. We were worried we had broken it. No tutorial or information manual was capable of fixing the button maker in the moment. It was a bit of a let down, but we did have a bunch of other activities with us. It was time to let go of the buttons for today.

For the physical crafts we had two options. We could create more monster pillows. Which is fast becoming a favorite of the group. Or you could make bracelets and bookmarks by stamping letter strips with a variety of stamps and inks. While I did not manage to get pictures of the finished bracelets I can tell you they were a smorgasbord of colors and images. One had a very strong pineapple theme to it. Too go along with the pineapple bracelet there was a pineapple monster pillow. As well as a cat and an owl monster pillow. Sewing skills are improving. Students are getting a better grasp of the whip stitch and are also having a blast creating their own sewing patterns to make new unique shapes.

The digital item of the day was photo editing. The idea was to take a photo of the school or something in the library and edit the photo to see what you can do with it. One student took a photo through the window of the building façade and with the help of Picmonkey she was able to make quite a chilling and spooky black and white Halloween inspired photo. I definitely would not want to go to the school she created in that photo.

All in all the session was filled with exciting things to try both in physical and digital media. I do also have good news to report. A few days after the session we were able to fix the button maker. Apparently a small magnet had found its way into the machine and it was just enough to prevent it from working properly. We look forward to bringing the button maker back finally turning our small circle punched pictures into buttons to wear with pride.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #2: Stop Motion

Click to play!
Click to play!

It’s boy versus girls in the ultimate stop motion movie show off! Today we combined the digital with the physical in creating stop motion movies. We had an even number of boys and girls show up, so when it was time to split up into teams they divided themselves up into a competition of the sexes. Through this activity personalities and leadership styles set the members apart and in some cases caused a little bit of conflict. The teams took radically different approaches and each came out with a movie in the end.

For the girls, one girl took on the role of the leader. She knew exactly what story she wanted to do so she took charge. She became the director, producer, writer and actor in one fell swoop. We tried to encourage story boarding to get the ideas flowing and create a coherent story but the girls were more interested in just jumping in. They used Legos, wax sticks, paper, fabric, and other materials to create their characters and scenery. They story was of a girl going to a haunted house. I encouraged one of the quieter girls to take charge of taking the pictures that would turn into the movie, while encouraging the other to speak up and participate. Their movie, while completed, was not the cleanest. Some pictures were blurry and the camera was not always held in the same spot so not all of the transitions were smooth. In a lot of their shots you could see their hands moving the pieces. Even so, they were proud that they had finished. In the future, it would be helpful to encourage them to think about ways in which they can improve their finished product.

The boys had a more difficult time with their production. In the beginning a lot of ideas were flowing and they really took to storyboarding their films. It took a while for them to transition into making props and filming. Compared to the girls, the boys took the tasks more seriously. There was some trial and error when it came to creating a device that would keep the camera in the same spot, ultimately they decided to hold the phone very still and hope that worked. Once they got started their attempts were fraught with technological complications. In the beginning there was debate on whether to have the app automatically take pictures or if they would manually take pictures. The automatic pictures went too quickly and it created a frantic energy in the group. For their movie the plan was to have a time lapse of them creating a building with Legos. There were debates on which Legos would go on in which order, along with debates on the sizes and types. The whole process seemed to create an energy of tension, riddled with minor disagreements and a constant feeling of being rushed against the clock. Unfortunately, when they did produce a film it was deleted by mistake. These boys were not willing to give up and kept working until they at the end of the day had a short GIF of the word “FAIL” written with Legos- which seemed to be their opinion on the whole process. While it didn’t work out they did not seem overly frustrated.

Both groups came at the challenge with a different perspective and mindset. While no group was particularly successful they both had fun. This is a challenge that I think will only get better with more practice and time for trial and error.

Michigan Makers at Scarlett, Fall 2017, Meeting #1: Monster Pillows

It’s the first day of Michigan Makers at Scarlett for the 2017-2018 school year! Today as an introduction into making we are making monster pillows. Monster pillows are pillows made with felt, thread, and embellishments, to create cute or scary monsters. Some of the skills the students will be learning are using a straight stitch or overcast stitch to close the edges of their monsters.

The students were ready to jump in once we introduced ourselves. There were a lot of questions about how to thread needles, and how to get started. However, once they mastered their basic stitch of choice they were ready to go all for it. Some went from crazy shapes out of the felt while others made more traditional square pillow shapes. For colors we had a couple different options making this a fun cast of monsters. Some students quickly learned that the larger the shape and the smaller the stitches the longer it took to finish sewing the pieces together to get to the stuffing and decorating part.

For decorations there was a big box of junk. The best part was exploring the box to see what was inside and see what could be made with all the random pieces of stuff. One student found a necklace that lit up when a switch was hit. There was plenty of yarn and string. As the items got more unique so too did the final monster creations. Even those who were not able to finish had fun monsters to show for it at the end of the day.

Slides for Makerspaces Library 2.017 Webinar

Decorative - logo for Library 2.017 conference on makerspaces

Ben and Kristin are presenting today at the Library 2.017 mini-conference on makerspaces.

If you’d like to see our work in action, check out our Flickr page.