If you believe that creativity along with problem solving and collaboration skills will continue to be key differentiators in the 21st century then it begs the question of how we nurture these traits and skills in our children. The answer is surprisingly simple.
We need to provide more opportunities for unconstrained, authentic experiential learning. A Makerspace is the perfect place to make this happen because it is intentionally designed to provide children with real-world opportunities to build contraptions, tinker with electronics, and take apart everyday objects.
Here are three reasons you should want your child to spend more time in a Makerspace:
- Inquiry-based learning meets hands-on experience – A Makerspace goes hand and hand with inquiry-based learning because it empowers students to take their inquiry from research to reality.
- Real-world collaboration – The cognitive capacity of a room full of curious students can only be tempered by the limitations of available resources. This means that students can build together or they can build alone. Either way, they’re building around each other and through cooperation and its distant cousin collaboration, they’re learning to share materials, tools, and ideas. When the stars are aligned, they’re inspiring each other to build bigger and better versions of the things they see each other building, which ultimately leads to students building things together.
- Curiosity-driven exploration – A Makerspace puts students in the driver’s seat to explore their curiosities, protoype their ideas, and learn new skills.
If you are interested in learning more about Whitby School's groundbreaking Makerspace program then click here. If you'd like to find a Makerspace in your area then check out this global directory here.