Poetry Makerspace Challenge

On Fridays, I bring out the Mobile Makerspace cart during our weekly Genius Hour. Wonderfully decorated by one of my amazing parent volunteers, the cart is stocked with a variety of materials for student use. (Read more about it here.)

Since beginning my Makerspace in 2014, the materials have varied and so have the products. But the products are rarely the focus -- Mostly, it is about the act of creating. It is about the thinking, the problem-solving, and the planning. 

Some students participate each and every week. Some come to try it out once a month or so, curious about what is available.  They are usually ready for any project, and sometimes work together in pairs -- which is fabulous! 

Last Friday, because it IS April,  I decided to incorporate a challenge and bring in some poetry. 

I glanced  at my poetry collection and found the perfect book: 

This picture book is a collection of poems about cars -- cars that are inventive, fun, and wacky, such as the "Bathtub Limousine" or the "High Heel Car". (The illustrations are so engaging, too!)

It occurred to me that this was just the right book to tie in with Makerspace. 

I first read some of the poems to the group who showed up to participate. (The poems are lively  so I really enjoyed sharing them!) I showed them the illustrations for the rest of the poems, then had them begin, and they got right to building. Since this was not their first time at Makerspace, they were already familiar with my two main expectations: 

(1) Clean up after yourself.

(2) Take your project home with you. :-)

Here are some of the cars that were built. (I've been collecting cardboard tubes and boxes, so almost all of the project involved these materials!) 

This car had a popsicle stick driver -- painted with a yellow marker and a smile.

This car has cup holders cut from an egg carton. 

This vehicle has headlights and seating for eight passengers! There is also a license plate on the front! 

This learner created a "caterpillar cab" and began writing a poem. 

Because most of the time was spent building the cars, there wasn't enough time to finish the poetry. So, everyone took their cars back to their classroom and worked on the poetry during their writing time. 

Overall, I think this challenge worked out very well! I'll continue to incorporate books with Makerspace making sure that the project always remains open-ended and fun!