Abstract:

Makerspaces are increasingly moving into K-12 schools and classrooms. Among the numerous benefits afforded by makerspaces, they offer great opportunities to encourage children’s imagination and creative processes through making activities supported by a diversity of high- and low-tech tools and materials. Both imagination and creativity are interwoven since the former is central to the creative process. Given their relevance for the workforce and life and the novelty of makerspace in schools, we conducted a research project investigating the influence of making activities to foster children’s imagination and creativity. The research is informed by Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspectives on imagination and Guilford’s creativity model consisting of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. The project involved designing and implementing extra-curricular making activities that included a sample of volunteer children from the community, aged between 6-16 years old, grouped into approximate ages (three cases). This paper discusses the preliminary results of a case within the project based on an analysis of children’s artifacts. The paper also provides background information and an overview of the research project. Implications, recommendations, and future work are discussed.

Keywords:

Making, makerspace, school children, creativity, imagination.