Maker Club - Getting Started

Welcome to the first-ever Maker Club at AIS Budapest. We'd like to let you know about some important "big ideas" regarding Maker Club:

• It's about making, being creative, exploring and having fun
• You're going to have a lot of freedom to make what interests you.  It's important to find something you really want to make and that you find interesting.
• There's a lot you will not understand or know how to do. That's okay since it's about figuring things out and problem solving.
• You will figure out how to do things using online tutorials, videos, Google searches, talking to people, etc.
• Things will not be perfect, especially in the beginning. Your ideas and what you make will improve as you keep working on them.
• Being persistent and not giving up easily is very important to your success.
• Making mistakes is part of the learning process. If you are not making mistakes you are probably not doing anything very challenging.
• Having said that, you do not want to make mistakes when it comes to safety. You will be shown how to use tools in a safe manner. You are required to use safety equipment like safety glasses when required. You need to ask for help if something seems unsafe or if you are not sure about some safety issue.

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 Don't forget to bring in your signed waiver form to the next meeting.

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You will want to start exploring ideas for something you want to make. You can get ideas from the following sites:

• Makezine
• Instructables
• Thingiverse
• Etsy

New Maker Club Starting Soon

Soon we'll be starting a maker club for middle school and fifth grade students. The goal is to give students opportunities to experience what it's like to create and problem solve using tools and materials that they would probably not encounter otherwise. Students will be given ideas about what kind of projects they might want to work on. Freedom and choice are important. Some examples of technologies we will be using are computer aided design (CAD) to be output to a computer controlled cutter or 3D printer, prototyping with Lego Mindstorms (programmable machines), working with Arduino micro-controllers and Raspberry Pi micro-computers, woodworking, sewing, etc.

With the removal of "shop class" and home economics classes from most college preparatory programs, students today have fewer opportunities to make, repair or tinker with the tangible world. A maker space is a great way to help students be creative and to experience real, authentic problem solving. Maker spaces give students a reason to develop their math, science, arts, tech and entrepreneurial skills through real-world application. Creating in these environments allows students to learn from one another and to see new possibilities. This is the first year we are doing this at AISB. No doubt, everyone involved will learn a lot, and in keeping with the the maker ethos, even when we fail, we will have learned what doesn't work.