Idea Gallery | K-12 Maker Lab at the MIT Edgerton Center

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3D Hacks Spanish Idioms

Design 3D printed models that express local language quirks and idioms (expressions whose meaning cannot be derived literally from its elements or atypical grammar).

3D Print Hacks in Tinkercad

Design expressive 3D creations quickly using existing online models and shapes. Little to no experience with Tinkercad is needed!

Engraved Jewelry on Cricut

Engrave custom designs into jewelry blanks and more using a Cricut cutter.

Light-Up magnetic Tiles

Create an individualized tile that lights up when added to a magnetic whiteboard with a clever electrified trick.

Rover Design Challenge

Build electric toy Rovers that run on monorail tracks.

Math Battleship

Design a Battleship-inspired two player game with math.

Arduino DFPlayer

Add sound to physical computing projects with this inexpensive MP3 player board.

Earbud Holder

Expressive, custom-designed earbud "buddies" (holders) to help keep wired buds safe and untangled. Made with Tinkercad.

Tilt-Buzz

Combine creativity with simple electronic components to make fun gizmos that blink or buzz when you tilt them. No soldering required!

Copper Pipe Glockenspiel

Learn the physics of sound and musical pipes while building your own musical instrument!

Arduino Particle Meter

Introduce students to real world data collection by measuring particulates in the air with a handheld device that they make themselves.

Microbit Rover

Code a rover to avoid obstacles with block-based coding or Python in micro:bit

Amplifier with a Piezo Contact Pickup

Combine a mono amplifier board kit, a piezo electric disk, and a potentiometer to make a custom amplifier with a contact pickup. Use amplifier to amplify sounds.

DIY Pinball

Laser cut, 3D print, make by hand, and even code to create a custom pinball game for one or two players.

Automata with 3D Printing

Student will use Tinkercad for fabrication on a 3D printer or laser cutter to create automata machinery.

Organizers

Students will create a storage organizer for a set of items.

Weather-Proof Hats

Students will design a hat to bear the elements.

Festive Flashlights

Students will make an LED flashlight, a reflector, and a symbol out of easy-to-find materials. Your symbol will come to life as the reflected light washes over it.

Tetris Tiles

To demonstrate understanding with a set of custom laser cut Tetris pieces.

Custom Molded Rubber Stamps

Use Tinkercad to design and 3D print a mold with unique shapes to create rubber stamps out of reusable casting material

Virtual Tours

Students will create a virtual tour of any spaces they have researched. They can also make it interactive by adding a quiz element.

Paper Lanterns

Students will create light up decorations using tealights (or electronics for added difficulty) and a paper bag that will be cut using a vinyl cutter.

Fused Glass Art

Students will design art by fusing glass in a kiln.

Literary Mapping With Ozobots

Trace a journey of a literary character through an Ozobot and a map.

Polygram String Art

Model polygrams compare rules and algorithms, analyze symmetry properties, and look at the relevance of their polygram in art and architecture.

Air Column Flyers

Construct a contraption with plastic cups & lids, ping pong balls, feathers, paper, pipe cleaners, and more, and observe if and how it flies in the air column.

Pop-Up Books

Make a pop up book relating to the content that they are learning.

Key Kozies

Create decorations for keys in Tinkercad and 3D print.

Probability Dodecahedron

Students make a polyhedron using laser-cut faces and a paper net to support the shape. In math, nets are 2D shapes that can be folded up to make a 3D solid shape.

Shadow Casters

Cast unique and interesting shadows using a hand-fabricated LED projector and custom shadow caster shapes.

Attribute Accessories

Students will make accessories reflecting a particular time in history, novel, or literature that they enjoy.

3D Models from 2D Materials

Learn low-tech prototyping techniques that work on their own or support learning digital design and fabrication.

Light-up Flowers for Día de Muertos

This activity is used in Spanish classes when students are learning about the Latin American holiday, El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Weaving Patterns and Computational Thinking

Students are introduced to computational thinking and coding concepts through hands-on weaving and pattern design – no computers needed!

Personalized Rulers

Use Tinkercad to design bespoke rulers with custom units and features. The rulers can be designed for fabrication on a 3D printer, or with a laser cutter or vinyl/craft cutter.

Shadow Scenes

Using silhouettes, cut-outs, and 3D nets, students created vector designs of festive shapes that cast interesting shadows when lit with a tealight.

Snappy Rings

Get started with Tinkercad and 3D printing by designing a custom interchangeable snap-on ring.k

Paper Canoes

Using an assortment of craft materials, students constructed paper canoes with personalized stickers to tell a story about themselves.

Moiré Animations

The Moiré technique uses a mask that only reveals slivers of an image.

Magnetic Tiles

Use magnetic tape and any flat material to make individualized pieces of a content-themed collective work.

Bill of Rights

Students work in groups on projects about the Bill of Rights and the controversies that surround them.

Felt Funsters

Use conductive thread to light up some crafty creations!

Laser Cut Frames

Students use 2D graphics tools to design a custom picture frame. The example shown above celebrates the winter holiday season.

Identity Squares

Students design and create images around identity, to show belonging, showcase what they have learned, or advocate for a topic.

Papel Picado

Create eye-catching designs using a technique called Papel Picado (“cut paper”), a form of Mexican folk art in which an elaborate design is cut out of colored paper.

Tealight 3D Scenes

Use Tinkercad to put a 3D scene on a cover for a battery-powered tea light.

Video Game Controllers

Students create new human interfaces to existing game controllers.

Molded Acrylic Bracelets

Students will engrave a design onto acrylic and then mold the acrylic into a bracelet

Balloon Cars

Students will work to make a balloon powered car that uses materials complementing the students' age by teacher discretion.

Ornament Generator

Students learn to use Tinkercad Codeblocks to create an ornament.

Scratch for Maker Projects

Code your own creative animation or story with Scratch!

Shadow Boxes

Students will create a design box that will showcase a 3D object in layers (shadow box).

Fearbots

During a unit on Shelley’s Frankenstein, students were given this prompt: “Explore your own fears and create autonomous robots that demonstrate or represent those fears.”

Automata Linkable

Students design a character that can move by cam action and are linked together.

Clothespin Characters

Students build a character/object with motion and/or an electrical circuit.

MiniGolf

Student will design a golf green that share a common content standard theme.

Earthquake-Resistant Structures

Students will learn about earthquakes, and then design a structure to survive an earthquake.

Quiz Boards

Students will design a quiz board to test each other's knowledge.

Visual Poetry

Students will create a scene depicting a visual representation of a poem.

LED Quiz Boards

Light up understanding with interactive quiz boards!

Light-Up Backpack Tag

Students will create their own light up backpack tags.

Arduino Electronic Drumkit

Students build a simple electronic drum kit. Students work in groups of two or three to make the drum pads, build the circuit, and write the Arduino program for their project.

Shape Stepping Stones

Students will identify and draw shapes on a tree cookie. Then students will bang nails until the area of their shape is filled, and older students can compile data into graphs.

Videos - Words from the Myths

Students will work together to research and create a video over any subject matter

Craft Foam "Rubber" Stamps

Students create a foam stamp by carving into foam and attaching it to a back wooden plate.

Tile Puzzles

Students will craft a tile puzzle using laser cut pieces.

Constellation Box with Lights

Students chose a constellation and designed a display box that lights up to reveal its star pattern.

Light-Up Acrylic Displays

This inexpensive and easy project is a great starter project and will help new makers get familiar with simple electronics, image processing, and using the laser cutter.

Custom Currency

Students work in groups to design systems of currency, with each student working to design a different denomination.

Collaborative Mirror Display

Students create an expressive mirrored tile as part of a collaborative display. Designs are laser cut into the back of a pre-cut mirrored acrylic tile.

2D Art on a 3D Printer

Draw (by hand or computer) a 2D piece of art and 3D print it with a few simple steps.

Coding Weaving Patterns in Scratch

Students practice computational thinking and coding concepts through weaving and pattern design.

3D Art: War and Humanity

Students in an 11th grade social studies class created a 3D art object affirming their capstone thesis on the effects of war on an individual’s humanity.

Pop Up Cards

Students will work together to figure out the mechanism of a pop up card and design and make one themselves.

Mini Compost Bins

Students will design and 3D print an efficient composting bin in a cool design.

Mouse Trap Cars

Students design and build a mouse trap car that meets design criteria.

Monster Genetics

In this Monster Genetics project, students demonstrate their understanding of inherited traits, engage in creative design, and strengthen their crafting skills.

Glowing Figurines

Students create decorative/meaningful figures and make them light up with embedded LEDs.

Math Mobiles

Students create mobiles to practice math skills associated with geometry, number sense, and even an intro to algebra.

Light Sensitive Rover

Students investigate robotics that don’t use a computer to process logic. In this project, simple analog components to create a motor driver circuit that responds to light.

Chain Reaction Machine

Student will make a chain reaction machine, that shows the cause and effects of inputs and outputs in the machine.

Automata with Craft Tools

Students represent dynamic situation by constructing machines that utilized automata cam motion.

Fan Powered Vehicles

Students will make a fan-powered vehicle that can be used to test a wide variety of boat characteristics

Cause and Effect Board

Students will make a light up puzzle game centered around cause and effects. They will design the puzzle using touch sensing circuits.

Biome Dioramas with Micro:Bit

Students will create a diorama of different biomes, with organisms being able to react to their environment.

Data Visualization Models

Use tools and materials to make a data model with a variety of questions about each participant.

Felt Skulls for Día de Muertos

This activity is used in Spanish classes to learn about the Latin American holiday Dia de Muerto (Day of the Dead).

Custom Laser-Cut Mirrors

Learn beginner and advanced graphics techniques for laser cutters while designing and making custom mirrors.

Custom Cork

Students studying Spanish idioms created two-sided laser cut cork coasters to demonstrate their grasp of the concept and language through a creative and expressive medium.

Etched Glass with Vinyl Stencils

By creating custom etched glasses, students explore graphic design while building hands-on maker skills.

Create a Creature

Students synthesize their knowledge about ecology to extrapolate the life histories, ecological niches, and physical adaptations of theoretical animals.

Infinity Mirrors

Students consider the infinite, explore electronics, and construct custom designs in this infinity mirror project.

Black Out Poetry with Lights

Students take a more advanced approach to blackout poetry - a style of poetry in which you piece together different words from a body of text to create a new poem.

3D Printed Cookie Cutters

Design and 3D print cookie cutters of meaningful characters or objects, or in pie-slices to understand fractions better.

3D from 2D: Folding Net Models

Students will craft their own net models in order to observe how 2D shapes can form 3D models.

Laser Cut Tree Medallions

Students laser engrave meaningful symbols and text into slices of tree branches.

Candy Casts

Design and create molds for pourable candies, crayons, and figurines. The molds are typically quick to print, minimizing 3D printer time.

Emotion Emojis

Students will use a vinyl cutter to cut out color emojis.

LED Constellation displays

Students use simple electronics and everyday materials to create light-up constellations.

Chess Sets

Students design and make chess pieces to create their own unique set with a common theme.