March 28, 2024

Beat the Winter Blahs with Classroom Making Books

It’s time to beef-up your classroom making library

Here’s a chance to spend your Amazon gift cards and brighten your classroom with kids learning by making. The following is an assortment of recent discoveries to inspire independent reading, making, tinkering, and engineering in your classroom. There are beautiful project books filled with how-to advice, fun picture books, and several books intended to help kids learn to sew. If you want to engage in eTextile, wearable technology, or soft circuits projects, knowing your way around a needle and thread is a good idea.

While these books are recommended for independent student reading, there are lots of ideas for whole classroom projects and reading aloud.

An ingenious picture book, with plenty of information, for kids of all ages in a style similar to the classic The Way Things Work.

The Smithsonian Maker Lab book series are the sort of gorgeous DK books kids love.

I’m a giant fan of Jane Bull’s books. All of them. Buy them all, but this newish volume contains clever STEMy project ideas.

Lovely and clear book for motivated 10-14 year-olds interested in really understanding circuitry. Best of all, the book takes a project-approach.

This new book/LEGO combo by the evil Klutz geniuses contains plans for terrific inventions utilizing simple machines. Get the Klutz LEGO Chain Reacti0ns book and Crazy Contraptions book too! These are perennial favorites.

Super cute. Super clear. Super fun! Platform agnostic intro to stop-acti0n movie making with LEGO.

Glossy little trade paperbacks complete with fun projects, factoids, and historical notes for girls and boys. Get the entire series for your classroom library.

Glorious picture book filled with making, tinkering, and coding about a girl and the doll she upgrades to be her new friend.

Maker projects for outside by DK.

Soon-to-be-released DK project book.

Kids should learn to sew for eTextile and wearable computing projects!
Two bonus recommendations for good measure!

The cutest, most infectious read-aloud/read-along book ever!

An excellent introduction to the vast wonders of SNAP! programming.

 

 


Veteran educator Dr. Gary Stager is co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Learn more about Gary here.