Maker Celebrations are becoming a monthly occurrence here at Maker Jawn. These special Maker Jawn programs highlight the previous month’s projects and creations, and serve as a time for our makers to show off their work and new skills. Individual and group projects are set out on display along with all of the supplies for interested participants to make their own. Parents, family, and friends are encouraged to come participate, so that our makers can become the instructor and mentor others on how to complete their projects. The makers love becoming the “teacher” and it is a great way for them to feel empowered and solidify their new knowledge by walking someone else through a process.
Our January Maker Celebration highlighted the December curriculum. At Lillian Marrero, we were making a lot of paper based projects- the favorite being notebook making. Notebooks of all sizes and colors were designed with various covers, and put together by puncturing holes in the spine in order to sew the pages together. The February celebration highlighted the January projects and activities, and the makers and I spent a lot of our time teaching each other how to make “stick bombs.” Stick bombs are made by arranging popsicle sticks in such a way that tension builds up until you remove a key element of the structure, sending popsicle sticks flying into the air. It is a somewhat tedious process that often frustrated many makers at the beginning, causing them to want to give up and move on to something new. However, it is made much easier with help from others, and it leads to a pretty dazzling result when done properly. This made for an excellent Maker Celebration activity since it allowed for multiple makers to work together and exchange tips and techniques on how to make the process easier.
The Cecil B. Moore makers were celebrating the completion of a 5 Nights at Freddy’s movie that they all worked on as a group. The idea was to use the February Maker Celebration as a movie premier. In the true spirit of Maker Jawn, the Makers showed up that day and decided they were not as excited about watching the movie as they were about creating “usher” flashlights for the premier. The day that was meant to run as a movie viewing quickly shifted into an LED and circuit workshop. So their Maker Celebration turned from a movie premier to a full on Maker program instead.
The Maker Celebrations will continue to take place the first Saturday of every month at the Lillian Marrero Library and the Cecil B. Moore Library. Come check out what our makers have been making and try your hand at some projects yourself!
-Jules
