Makerspace Resources Under $100

Starting your own makerspace can seem expensive and daunting, but STEMfinity has made everything easy by putting all the best affordable educational resources in one convenient location. The best part about starting your own makerspace is that it can be molded to fit the needs of your students and community, and you can make it whatever you want! Your makerspace should be a collaborative space used for making, exploring, sharing, and learning. A makerspace doesn’t need to have high-tech resources like 3D printers to be successful, it just needs to be a place where you can make things using hands-on materials. STEMfinity has put together a few of our favorite under $100 makerspace resources below to get you started, but if you need help just contact our in-house STEM experts for a custom STEM solution!

Strawbees | Strawbees Maker Kit

• Grades: 1-7
• About: Strawbees are simple plastic straw and connector building pieces that are budget-friendly and enable students to make almost anything! All Strawbees materials are durable and reusable - once you finish building just disassemble and begin a new project! This affordable Strawbees Maker Kit comes with an activity booklet and 200 construction pieces and is the perfect introduction to the Strawbees universe. Strawbees offers several more affordable hands-on kits as well as some classroom packs if you looking to support a large group of students.

MindWare Wholesale | KEVA Contraptions: 50 Piece Set

• Grades: 1+
• About: MindWare Wholesale’s KEVA Planks are simple wooden building blocks that can be used to create fun contraptions without the use of messy glue or connectors - just build and have fun and put them away when you are done! The KEVA Contraptions: 50 Piece Set is one of many affordable products offered by MindWare Wholesale that comes with exciting step-by-step activities, but students are only limited by their imagination and can use these materials to create their own advanced Rube Goldberg machine, challenge each other to the tallest tower, or anything else! MindWare Wholesale also offers several larger sets that include up to 1,000 KEVA Planks!

Squishy Circuits | Squishy Circuits Deluxe Kit

• Grades: 3+
• About: The Squishy Circuits Deluxe Kit uses conductive and insulating playdough to teach students about the basics of electrical circuits. The playdough requires no soldering or scary wires - just use the colorful playdough to connect to buzzers, motors, and LEDs to make your creation come to life! Students can follow the activities that are included with the kit or they can make whatever they want at their own pace. The Squishy Circuits Deluxe Kit has several colorful pre-made playdoughs to get started on day 1, and they also have included recipes to make new dough at home using basic ingredients.

Makedo | Makedo DISCOVER Kit

• Grades: K+
• About: Makedo is the ultimate cardboard construction kit for your makerspace program and was created for programs with a need for sustainability and reusing materials. The Makedo DISCOVER kit provides students with age-suitable tools that enable them to modify up-cycled cardboard and use it to create whatever they want! Makedo kits are one of the most affordable products to implement long-term considering that cardboard is more accessible than other hands-on materials that can be lost, broken, and have to be repurchased.

MaKey MaKey | MaKey MaKey Invention Kit

• Grades: 3+
• About: The MaKey MaKey Invention Kit turns almost any object into a computer key by simply using a circuit board, USB cable, and alligator clips. When we say that MaKey MaKey will turn almost any object into a computer key, we are talking about everything from bananas and lemons to finger paint and pencil graphite. The MaKey MaKey Invention Kit is also available in a classroom pack if you are looking to support a larger group of students.

3Doodler | 3Doodler Start+ Essentials 3D Printing Pen Set

• Grades: 1-8
• About: The 3Doodler Start+ Pen Set is the perfect entry point for students to learn about 3D printing and is a great resource for makerspace programs that can’t afford the significant financial investment required to implement and support a large 3D printing lab. 3Doodler created the Start+ with beginners in mind by giving the Pen an oversized grip that allows young learners to manipulate it more easily, and by designing the Pen with no external hot parts to ensure students are safe at all times. The 3Doodler Start+ Pen is easy to use: just press the ON button, feed a small strand of filament through the top of the opening on the Pen, and start drawing in three dimensions!

Teknikio | Teknikio Fabtronic Sewing Set

• Grades: 5-9
• About: The Teknikio Fabtronic Sewing Set gives students the unique opportunity to incorporate basic electronics into e-textiles, wearables, and more! Teknikio has included custom reusable parts in this kit that enable your students to make and remake as many times as they want. Sewing is a great life skill for everyone to have and the Teknikio Fabtronic Set gives students a glimpse at the future possibilities of integrating circuitry into wearable items.