In this final session, makers will share their projects with family, friends, and others in a community showcase event. They will have an opportunity to reflect on their process and celebrate their accomplishments.

Session Goals

In this session, makers will

• Exhibit their work for others to see, try, and appreciate.
• Reflect on their projects, process, and progress.
• Imagine new possibilities for future projects based on the skills they have learned.

✓ Getting Ready

Plan for the community showcase well before the event. Engage your makers in planning the showcase, creating invitations, and decorating for the event.

Schedule this session so that your makers have some time to set up, make labels, and finish anything before presenting their projects. You’ll also want to make sure there is dedicated time for everyone to document their work and share what they plan to present with each other before any guests arrive. Encourage makers to focus on their process of making, not just the end result. Invite friends and family members to come for the final hour of the session.

Running the Community Showcase

Here are a few ideas to help you creatively showcase makers’ experiences, projects, and processes.

• Create and play a slideshow of photos or videos of the earlier sessions.
• Offer hands-on “make and take” projects, such as paper circuit name badges, where makers lead demos.
• Create carnival-style booths where makers’ friends and family can play with projects and are able to see the code behind the Scratch projects.
• Create a space for displaying Art Bot drawings and light painting photographs.
• Make the space inviting and interactive—for example, by creating a MaKey MaKey doorbell at the entrance.
• Make and wear homemade t-shirts that say “Ask Me About My Project!”

Story from the Clubhouse Network: A Start Making! Community Showcase

The Clubhouse at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro West in Framingham, Massachusetts organized a final showcase for makers, friends, families, and other Clubhouse supporters. The makers prepared presentations of their final Open Make projects using poster boards to explain the materials they used, the challenges they faced, and what they hoped to make next.

For example, some of the young people shared musical projects made with the MaKey MaKey and Scratch. Here is a description from Clubhouse Coordinator Yarelis Garcia:

These two friends got together and worked on amazing hands-on MaKey MaKey projects incorporating copper tape, cardboard, brass fasteners, wires, construction paper, and magazine cutouts.

The purpose of their project was to re-create Guitar Hero using these materials and MaKey MaKey to create the physical instrument. They then worked with Scratch to create music. They also created an interface inspired by Dance Dance Revolution so that they can dance and play the guitar at the same time.

These girls have encountered many challenges and difficulties, but they have overcome many of them by taking their time researching and using creative methods.

Others at the Clubhouse have been inspired by their projects. Their Open Make project has impressed many of our guests and visitors. These girls now want to do making projects every day!

Additional Resources

• Start Making! video from the Clubhouse Casa de la Juventud: youtu.be/LKk5F0sbhs4
• Creating in the Clubhouse: Tools for Conversations and Portfolio Development developed by the Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology: bit.ly/cct-clubhouse-toolkit