Need supplies for your makerspace? Get your community involved! What to collect? Think:
- craft supplies
- recyclables
- old toys and game pieces
- old/non-working electronics (for reverse engineering)
Not only do they love to help, you will undoubtedly collect some interesting things! I found our collection drives to be an important part of bringing our elementary STEAM makerspace into existence. Also, don’t forget to ask your fellow colleagues! Additionally, if you are going through a science re-adoption, be sure to ask teachers for old science kit materials that they won’t need anymore.
We didn’t have a lot of resources, and what little I brought with me from my first grade classroom, would not have been enough to equip 415 students with craft supplies, recyclables, and other resources. Your students’ families, your colleagues, and your community at large are great resources and you’ll likely find, as I did, that a community drive is the best way to build your supply area!
To get the word out about our supply drive, I created this flyer using Canva.
Feel free to access the “community version” that I made available, so you could make a copy and modify to meet your needs!
We hosted a summer and October drive. We now have families and community members donating things on a regular basis. For special needs, I utilize parent communication apps to request items from different grade levels. For example, we needed Caribiner hooks once, so I hopped onto Bloomz, and asked if we could borrow some. I find that parents are more than happy to help out with these special requests.
Our K, 1st, 4th, and 5th grade teachers utilize Bloomz for their parent communication app. So for those grades I created grade level STEAM classes on Bloomz. Parents were then invited to join the STEAM grade level classes. For 3rd grade, the teachers use Class Dojo. They invited me to be a teacher in their classrooms so I can post. For 2nd grade, they don’t use a parent communication app, so I utilize our student information system, Infinite Campus, and send a mass email to the second grade parents.
To help keep track of what we might need, I started a list. This growing list of makerspace supplies is a great help to me. Feel free to grab a copy of it for yourself!
What tips do you have for building your STEAM/STEM makerspace resources?
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