Making Learning Happen
Maker Faire – and its regional cousin, the Mini Maker Faire – is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.
Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.
Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire inspires, educates, and entertains curious and creative learners of all ages. It celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, food, green design, music, science and technology and brings together communities who embrace the DIY (do-it-yourself) spirit. We welcome students and teachers to take advantage of all that our Mini Maker Faire and Maker Media have to offer. There are several ways to do this.
Bring Your Students
Students can enjoy extended visits with Makers, hands on “Make & Take” activities and a full day of interactive fun and learning. The handouts, “MeetAMaker” , and “MakeUpYourMind”, are also available for teachers and students who would like to make a project of some of the educational opportunities the Faire provides.
Showcase Student Work
If you are interested in exhibiting your students’ work as Makers (or in sharing 
your very own Maker-ish classroom projects), please consider being part of our Maker Schools Showcase. Consider holding a Maker Faire at your school to exhibit student work in a variety of disciplines as wide as we welcome at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire, too.
Set Up a Makerspace
Modeled after hackerspaces, a makerspace is a place where young people have an opportunity to explore their own interests, learn to use tools and materials, and develop creative projects. See makerspace.com for more info.
Start a Young Makers Club
The Young Makers program is a collaboration between MAKE, The Exploratorium, and Pixar. The purpose of the program is to inspire and develop the next generation of makers, creators, and innovators. New clubs can form year round — and any and all efforts to get kids Making no matter where you make with kids is an opportunity for learning by doing! See youngmakers.org for more info.
The Value of the Maker Experience
We hope to bring the Maker Movement to education in a few specific ways:
- Creating the context that develops the Maker Mindset, a growth mindset that encourages us to have the confidence that we can learn to do anything.
- Building a new body of practice in teaching making—and a corps of practitioners to follow it.
- Designing and developing Makerspaces in a variety of community contexts, in order to serve a diverse group of learners who may not share the access to the same resources.
- Identifying, developing and sharing a broad framework of projects and kits based on a wide range of tools and materials that connect to student interests in and out of school.
- Designing and hosting online social platforms for collaboration among students, teachers, and the community.
- Developing programs especially for young people that allow them to take a leading role in creating more Makers.
- Creating the community context for the exhibition and curation of student work in relationship with all makers, and ensuring that new opportunities are created for more people to participate.
- Allowing individuals and groups to build a record of participation in the Maker community, which can be useful for academic and career advancement as well as advance a student’s sense of personal development.
- Developing educational contexts that link the practice of making to formal concepts and theory, to support discovery and exploration while introducing new tools for advanced design and new ways of thinking about making. (Practically, this means developing guides for teachers, mentors and other leaders.)
- Fostering in each student the full capacity, creativity and confidence to become agents of change in their personal lives and in their community.
Impact Areas
- Inspiration : inviting students to participate in the creative economy and to direct their own future
- Innovation : serving as a catalyst for grassroots invention
- Education : building a connection between the community and learners
Maker Education in the News
- Maker Education Intiative
- Making: From Clubs to Curriculum
- The Maker Movement: The Case for DIY Science in the Classroom (Nature.com)
- Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2012: The Maker Movement (Inside Higher Ed)
- The Maker Movement’s Potential for Education, Jobs and Innovation is Growing (O’Reilly Radar)
- The Maker Movement Creates Jobs (PC World)
- Learning by Making (Slate)
- Engaging Students in the STEM Classroom Through “Making” (Edutopia)
