Find Project Ideas
- Makezine.com, from Maker Media, allows users to search projects by category and assigns a level of difficulty to each.
- Instructables.com offers step-by-step instructions (and photos) for projects spanning from fish tank dividers, to Swedish pancakes, to wearable message boards. Sign up for contests and participate in the community forum.
- Students can join DIY.org to create a portfolio of projects, share ideas with others, and earn patches for completing challenges. Adults are welcome to start a DIY Club or DIY Classroom.
- Twelve-year-old Sylvia Todd produces the Super Awesome Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show, a popular web show with do-it-yourself craft and science projects for kids.
Get Involved (and Inspired)
- Follow #makered on Twitter to share projects, ask questions, and chat with other maker-minded educators.
- Attend a Maker Faire or host your own mini-Maker Faire.
- Sign up for summer camp! The free online Maker Camp runs from July 7 through August 5 and offers weekly project ideas to ramp up summer learning. Campers can post questions and get answers if they are stuck on a project. To participate, follow MAKE on Google+ and join the Maker Camp Community.
- Need inspiration? Watch the short film on Caine's Arcade that inspired the global cardboard challenge.
- Search for an existing club or start a Young Maker club in your school with resources from the Maker Education Initiative.
Build a Makerspace
- The Makerspace Playbook contains detailed instructions for setting up a makerspace in classrooms and communities. The companion document, High School Makerspace: Tools and Materials (PDF), offers a roadmap for budgeting more advanced makerspaces and selecting equipment and tools.
- Beginners can get helpful advice on collecting materials with this YouTube video, Young Makers: Managing Supplies, from the Maker Education Initiative.
- The Digital Harbor Foundation maintains a wiki document with resources for teachers interested in adding a makerspace to their classroom.
- Big on ideas, but not on funds? Read these "Six Strategies for Funding a Makerspace" from Paloma Garcia-Lopez, executive director of the Maker Education Initiative, on Edutopia.