The Maker Movement

Do you know about the Maker Movement?  It is a movement to put creativity and innovation back into the lives of children.  It covers a wide range of activities that involve STEM and the arts.  The Maker Education Initiative’s “mission is to create more opportunities for young people to develop confidence, creativity, and an interest in science, technology, engineering, math, art, and learning as a whole through making.  Maker Ed is dedicated to the idea that every child is a maker and deserves opportunities to express their creativity.  We want young people to and eventually lead—the growing Maker Movement.” 

More and more Makers are learning how to do the things that interest them.  They plug into a wide variety of “Do-it-Yourself” (DIY) programs on TV and the internet and are willing to try things other than purely academic education.  According to Brit Morin, “Makers will continue to be found in fields ranging from food to crafts to technology. And together, they will push each other forward to invent and build new and innovative things. Many technologies that will drive this growing population are not even built yet.  In effect, the maker movement has only just begun.”

To support this effort, the Maker Corps was formulated as a national commitment towards building the next generation of innovators at the Clinton Global Initiative America Conference in June, 2012.  The Maker Corps works closely with youth to support the creative, collaborative thinking and working required to be successful.  To find out more about the Maker Movement you can check it out online.  If you have a Maker Program at your afterschool program, please send us pictures so we can highlight them on our website.  Contact us at support@consultfourkids.com