Ever dreamed of doing maker projects at home but don’t have a state of the art makerspace to make it happen? Don’t worry, there are tons of awesome maker projects that you can do at home even if you don’t have a full-blown makerspace.
If you’re looking for a fun and educational STEM activity that you can do at home, look no further! Check out these 10 starter makerspace activities that you can easily do at home, even if you have limited materials! All of these projects can be done on a budget and at home.
1. Paper Circuits
Paper circuits are a great way to learn the basics of circuits and electricity. You can make one of these awesome projects using paper or cardboard, some conductive copper tape, a few LEDs, and some batteries. This is a great maker project that can bring your artwork to life or they can bring a simple greeting card to the next level.
2. Foam Boat With a Motor
All you need for this project is some batteries, a motor, and any materials to make your boat! This project is simple but produces a super fun result.
3. Playdough Circuits
This is a fun experiment to do at home that lets kids learn about circuits and electricity, and they get to play with play dough while they do it! Click the title for a fun experiment to do at home!
4. A Junk Robot
Recycling can actually be lots of fun if you repurpose your recyclables into a robot! You just need a small motor, some batteries, and whatever recycled materials you need for your robot and you’re on your way!
5. Recycled Book Origami
Books can get worn out, but the pages can make for interesting materials for maker projects! If you don’t have any books at home you want to part with you can always use an inexpensive thrifted book, or any colour of paper works too. Origami can be a simple and relaxing maker project to do, and there’s a lot more STEM involved in the making of origami than you may think!
6. Hackeronics
This is something we LOVE to do with our students. All you need is an old or broken piece of technology that you will be parting with and some screwdrivers. You simply take apart the technology and explore all of the amazing things that are going on inside. It’s extremely simple, but kids love to have a look at what makes all of their devices work! This project will definitely require adult supervision to ensure that only the broken technology is taken apart, and not your new tablet!
7. LEGO™
Makerspace activities don’t need to be high tech or complicated! Building with LEGO™ is an easy and versatile Makerspace activity to do together. Click on the title to try one of our favourite challenges at home!
8. Design Challenge
Give kids limited materials and give them a construction challenge and you’ll be amazed at what they come up with! Any challenge can be lots of fun: build a strong structure, do an egg drop, create a catapult, or one of our favourites is designing a bridge. Use set amounts of materials to encourage creativity and problem solving as kids work to complete their challenge!
9. DIY Phone Speakers
The built-in speakers on your phone aren’t loud enough? That’s ok! If you have two plastic cups and a paper towel roll you can DIY a set of phone speakers.
10. Experiments in Gardening
You can create your very own jungle at home! You can create your own self-sustaining rainforest out of a few recycled materials, you won’t even have to water it. Making this project is a great opportunity to learn about the process of transpiration and how it works in real rainforests!
There you have it! 10 amazing maker activities that you can do from the comfort of home. Have a favourite project that we did not include here? We’d love to see it in the comments below!
