For Maker Day, our Making Creatures group decided to combine with the Drawing Bots group. At first it seemed overwhelming to fit all the parts of both projects into one, but it all came together wonderfully. I was part of the design crew. After students put together the basic pieces of their project, they decorated their project with tape, fabric, markers, feathers, and googly eyes. Each of the six tables flowed into the next step of the project.

First: Students were given a body (egg carton/cup) for their project.

Next: Patrick helped with the batteries.

The Next Two Tables: They were placing on the markers.

Next: They started to decorate their creature.

Lastly: They tried out their bot.

What moments stand out? When did a child surprise you, by doing something unexpected?

The first students I worked with made a very nice cat bot and there project had blue and red markers to give off a 3D looking drawing. It went in a perfect circle and was very well balanced. They seemed so proud of it, and it was a really sweet moment.

What did you observe about the interactions between the children and their adults?

The adults helped a lot with this project. They guided the children, but didn’t take over their project. They made some suggestions during decoration or offered advice for why their project may not have been working.

What worked particularly well?

I actually thought our group was very well organized and structured. Because they were lots of parts of the project, there was lots of room for error. At each step, we were able to quickly engage and help each student without much frustration.

Please add any other reflections or feedback on Maker Day.

Maker Day was an extremely rewarding experience. It allowed us to put what we’ve been learning into practice and see the results of our hard work which is very important, because, at the end of the day, art is about real experience and growth of ideas. Personally, I had the most fun seeing the kids get involved, start experimenting, and start creating!