Last weekend I visited the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh with my family. Four years ago when we visited, they had a makerspace in its infancy. To my excitement, the MAKESHOP (on Twitter: @makeshoppgh) is now a force to be reckoned with, and I had to share some of the pictures I took there. My 12-year-old daughter wanted to stay there all day!
Words and pictures don't do the MAKESHOP justice, but I was hoping the projects, storage ideas, supplies, and so forth would prove inspirational to librarians. Although the makerspace concept is different in a children's museum in terms of scale and budget (and the MAKESHOP is on an epic scale), many of the lessons are similar in terms of safety, supplies, supervision, and scope.
I was lucky enough to chat with the MAKESHOP's manager, Rebecca Grabman, who gave me permission to share her name on my blog along with the pictures I took. Her email is rgrabman[at]pittsburghkids.org. (Replace the at with @.) She is incredibly knowledgeable about makerspaces and making/learning research, some of which is supported by the Children's Museum. We had a fascinating conversation, and while we talked I was busy making a tiny house out of cardboard while my daughter sewed a bunch of grapes out of felt. This place will truly bring out the creativity in everyone. Go see it if you're ever in Pittsburgh!!
Here is part 1 of my MAKESHOP slideshow!
And because PhotoSnack limits the number of slides you can use, here is part 2:
How cool and what an experience!
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