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Inspirational STEAM Projects from Educators!
Looking for inspirational ideas to use in your classroom? Here are some open ended and engaging projects we've seen teachers employ in their own classrooms!
Game Controllers
Code a game and build a game controller. The more divergent the controller the better!
This short video shows the incredible potential of custom cardboard controllers using Makey Makey! Video courtesy of AlexVsCoding.
Musical and Collaborative
Makey Makey musical projects are one of our favorite! And collaborative musical projects are even better!
This amazing project was designed and implemented at the Friends School in Philadelphia, PA. The students were given a "Project LEO" challenge (LEO = Love Each Other) with the goal being to enhance community and connection among students at the school. The central staircase was turned into an interactive experience using Makey Makey. The first handprint at the bottom of the staircase was designated as "earth" (ground) and then each successive handprint going up the staircase was assigned to a different input on the Makey Makey which correlated to a pop music song with a theme of love and connection (This project was coded in Scratch.)
This is one of our all time favorite proejcts! Using the Makey Makey and some basic supplies, this school created a giant layer of mats that created pleasant chimes when students walked down the hallway!
This site will walk you through how to create one of your own, and the steps necessary to make sure it is successful. This project is an excellent way to show off music technology and composition to expose your class to students and administrators alike.
Our Head of Content made this project for a Carnival Themed STEAM Day. Learn more and see the other projects in this post.
User Innovation
Great montage of user innovation upon Makey Makey's debut!
San Angelo Librarians in a Makey Makey workshop were challenged to solve a problem in their makerspace with Makey Makey.
Problem: Patrons need to sign a waiver when they enter the makerspace.
Solution: Create a sock puppet to remind someone to sign a waiver as they pick up the pencil to sign in.
Hooray! I found the video of the collaborative #makeymakey game controllers that these librarians designed to teach teens to play nicely together ! @scratch #sanangelomakers @makeymakey #empathy pic.twitter.com/ZvNtvsym4e
— Colleen Graves (@gravescolleen) June 16, 2018
Problem: Teen librarians find it difficult to get teenagers to play games well collaboratively.
Solution: Build a unique game controller system and a game that requires teens to play together in order to win the game.
Assistive Technology Solutions
There are so many amazing educators using Makey Makey as Assistive Technology, check out this post to learn more.
- Chelsea Rutledge is a Mathematics teacher at Calera High School in Calera, AL. She taught her students about Design Thinking by challenging them to design, build, and deliver custom DIY game controllers for fellow students in need.
More Amazing Makers and More Resources
There are so many amazing makers sharing resources out there! Here are some great ones to check out for inspiration!
- University of North Carolina - Greensboro: Self Design Studio Check out this site for samples of activities UNCGStudio has developed with pre-service teachers that incorporate the MaKey MaKey in different curricular areas.
- TechyKids Makey Makey Projects is a great compilation of resources from a Tick Tock Clock to a walking simulator! All great cross curricular projects.
- Eric Turrill and STEM in the GYM Check out this post to learn how PE teacher Eric Turrill used Makey Makey to incorporate STEM in the gym!
- The Techie Teacher has some great project ideas on her post "Academic Ways to use Makey Makey."
- STEAM in the Music Room from Tracy King
- BC Museums Association resources on making interactive exhibits with Makey Makey.
