Is there a makerspace or hacklab in your community? Makerspaces are community-oriented workspaces where people who are interested in making stuff can gather, socialize and collaborate. Talk to a teacher, principal or other parents to see what’s available. Your kids’ school may have a robotics club, or may be willing to bring in an outside organization to run programs for students. Check your local library's website or ask a librarian for more details. Many libraries now offer robotics and electronics workshops and courses for kids and adults. More and more organizations are offering easy ways for kids to learn, play and create. If your kids want to learn more about electronics, but you’re not ready to buy supplies just yet, try a course or workshop in your community. While robotics projects can sometimes seem overwhelming and intimidating, there are many ways to teach kids everything they need to know to create their own robotics and electronics inventions. Robotics projects can also reinforce literacy skills, as kids research and record their robotics experiments. Kids who learn how to plan and build structures and projects when they’re young can continue to apply these concepts as they’re exposed to more complex ideas. Turliuk says that when kids participate in workshops at MakerKids, they “start having so much fun, they don’t realize how much they're learning.” In addition to helping kids understand how things work, experimenting with robotics and electronics helps kids develop problem solving skills and creativity. They can even make their own light switch,” Turliuk says.Įxperimenting with robotics and electronics helps kids develop problem solving skills and creativity. “In programs, kids start to understand how these simple machines work. MakerKids is the world’s first and largest makerspace that’s just for kids it offers many different maker programs for children. “Light switches, electronics toys seem very closed off.The average person doesn't realize they can make or impact them,” says Jennifer Turliuk of MakerKids in Toronto. Projects can be as simple as a making a light blink, or as involved as building an entire robot. Robotics and electronics are two hallmarks of the maker movement (electronics explores using electronic circuits, while robotics combines circuits, movement and sometimes software to create a machine or robot). Maker culture is a movement that embraces do-it-yourself tinkering with electronics and physical objects-it focuses on learning and trying out new practical skills, building a community of resources and experimenting. From coding to stop-motion animation videos to sewing, the maker movement is becoming more and more popular with kids and adults.

Building robots games for kids