Makerspaces have emerged as one of the best ways to engage young minds in creative, educational play. These freeform environments consist of tools and materials that children can manipulate to form their own innovative projects. Typically, they will incorporate electronics or computer components to encourage a healthy exploration of technology that can translate into lasting STEAM aptitudes and career interests.
The benefits of a makerspace, whether based at home or in the classroom, are many. Allowing kids to dream up, design, and develop their own open-ended projects inspires confidence in their own abilities and hones their creative capacities. Kids exposed to makerspaces also begin to develop concrete technological and problem-solving skills that they take with them into the classroom (and eventually the workplace). And the best part? Kids don't perceive working in a makerspace as tedious—they consider it to be a form of play, which inspires a natural love of learning and creating.
If you want to take advantage of these benefits for your child or students, there's no better place to start than with the Makey Makey Invention STEAM kit.
Makey Makey is extremely popular for use in makerspaces, and for good reason. The kit employs a simple plug-and-play alligator clip mechanism to connect everyday objects with a computer input. In this way, kids can create their very own keyboards, game controllers, instruments, and much more. They simply develop a concept, connect the physical components to the computer, and map each interaction to a button press or mouse click. It works with everything from ketchup to your pet cat, allowing for infinite creations.
The Makey Makey enables any number of imaginative ideas. Young inventors can hook a donut button up to their favourite video game or program their stairs to work as a keyboard—the possibilities are limitless. This inspires experimentation and a sense of accomplishment with completed projects.
The Makey Makey links the physical with the digital, giving children an engaging way to understand very conceptual concepts about science and engineering.
Playing with the Makey Makey is a clever way to teach useful technology skills in an approachable way. Even the most basic Makey Makey project develops skills in circuitry and computing, and advanced students can delve even further into computer engineering projects.
The Makey Makey is extremely versatile, meaning it's suitable for tinkerers of all ages and skill levels. It is also available in three configurations to suit different use cases.
The classic kit that started it all, the Makey Makey Original Invention Kit comes with everything you need to start rewiring the world. This set includes the standard circuit board that accommodates remapping of up to 18 keys, enabling even complex creations to come to life.
The Makey Makey GO offers all of the benefits of the standard Makey Makey but with the added flexibility of being completely portable. This kit comes with a single USB invention stick and one alligator clip, making it simple to create on the go.
Designed with teachers in mind, the Makey Makey STEM Pack Classroom Invention Literacy Kit is tailored specifically to the needs of educators. Including 12 classic circuit boards, 75 alligator clips, 144 connective wires, and fun extras like conducive pencils, your class will never run out of ways to use your new toys.
Kidzinc is committed to fostering a love of STEM/STEAM from an early age. We carry a wide selection of educational toys and developmental products, including the full range of Makey Makey invention kits. Don't sleep on your child's potential—cultivate their mind early with playthings from Kidzinc.
For the whole range of Makey Makey, please select here.