—From Mitchel Resnick, professor and director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group, MIT Media Lab, and co-founder of the Clubhouse
I hope you’ll enjoy building projects using the ideas, tools, and materials described in this book. In the process, you’ll learn many important things. For example, you’ll learn math, science, and engineering concepts related to electrical circuits, conductivity, light diffusion, and computer programming. These concepts are important and valuable. But that’s not the most important thing that you’ll learn.
What’s most important is that you’ll learn how to think like a maker—and to think of yourself as a maker.
It means that you know to start with a spark of an idea and turn it into a meaningful project.
It means that you know how to break down complex challenges into simpler parts.
It means that you know how to identify problems as they arise, to keep trying when things get difficult, and to come up with new strategies and approaches.
It means that you know how to collaborate with others, to build on the work of others, and to share your ideas with others.
Learning to think like a maker is more important now than ever before. To thrive in today’s rapidly changing world, you’ll need to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. And that’s exactly what you learn as you work through the activities in this book.
But the activities in this book are just the beginning. The book is called Start Making! for a reason. Even when you’ve completed all the activities, you’re still at the start of your journey as a maker. The challenge is to keep making!
You might want to work on variations of the activities and projects in this book. What if you make one of your projects bigger? Or smaller? What if you combine two of your projects into one? Or what if you add some new materials to an existing project? How about modifying one of your projects to turn it into a gift for a friend?
Or you might try making a totally new type of project. For inspiration, take a look at other books, magazines, and websites featuring maker projects (like makezine.com). Or imagine a new project that connects with one of your favorite hobbies or interests.
It’s often helpful to make and learn with others. There are a growing number of Makerspaces and Maker Faires where you can meet other makers. And there are online maker communities (like diy.org and scratch.mit.edu) where you can share your creations and see what others are making.
Learning to think like a maker is a lifelong process. You need to keep experimenting, taking risks, and trying new things. There are always new ideas to explore, new tools to use, new techniques to learn, and new projects to share. Let your curiosity be your guide.
The LEGO Group has a slogan that I love: “Joy of Building, Pride of Creation.”
You’ll make your best projects, and you’ll learn the most in the process, when you embrace the joy of making, and when you share your projects (and your joy) with others.
Congratulations on joining the worldwide maker community! Keep making!
The Clubhouse provides a creative and safe out-of-school learning environment where young people from underserved communities work with mentors to explore their own ideas, to develop skills, and to build confidence in themselves by using technology. The program was founded in 1993 as a collaboration between the Museum of Science, in Boston, Massachusetts, and the MIT Media Lab. To learn more, visit theclubhousenetwork.org.
Walk into a Clubhouse and you will find groups of young people producing and editing films, building robots, creating graphics and websites, making 3D models and animations, designing computer games, writing and recording music, and much more. In the process, they become excited about learning and about their own future.
Today, The Clubhouse Network is a global community comprised of 100 Clubhouses in 20 countries, which provide more than 25,000 youth per year with access to resources, skills, and experiences to help them succeed in their careers, contribute to their communities, and lead outstanding lives.
Based at Boston’s Museum of Science, The Network supports community-based Clubhouses around the world by providing start-up support, professional development, new technology innovations, evaluation and assessment, access to an online community for youth, mentors, and staff, and more.
The success of the Clubhouse community depends on five core values:
For more than 20 years we have seen firsthand the impact of a safe, creative place that empowers young people to become more capable, creative, and confident learners. That is what makes us passionate about sharing the Clubhouse approach and the activities and projects in this book with others. We hope you too will see young people unleash their creative talents, build confidence in their own learning, and discover a unique voice of their own with which to express themselves creatively.