Ideas for School Community/Family Maker Nights?

[Jason Mickelson]

Hello Group. 

My independent school is looking to evolve our 'Family Maker Nights' this year and I'm curious about what's worked well for you -  both in terms of interest/attendance as well as how the activities/projects embodied the spirit and mission of your maker/design/fab/engineering program.

We've prioritized having an energetic experience of food, fun and collaboration on fast-paced design challenges through big carpentry builds like hovercrafts, catapults and human-sized boats that involve some playful competition. They 1000% deliver on conveying our mission and vibe as a school and program. Parents who participate leave totally stoked. But sign up/attendance is generally low (free events, weeknights) and the investment of staff time and materials is high. 

We're considering different formats/deliverables for such a program that generally happens only 2-3x per year. 

I'd love to read about any ideas or models that have been successful for you. Feel free to forward links to write-ups, websites, etc.

Considerations:

Frequency?

Best days/times?

Free or paid?

Topics/tools?

Design challenges vs. tool skills/techniques?

Number of total sessions? Total amount of time?

Any dliverables or takeaways?

Pre-work or follow up work?

Thanks in advance for your stories and ideas.

Jason Mickelson

Synapse School

Engineering and Design Specialist

[hele...@isomers.com]

When we did our STEAM night, I had the 8th graders volunteer to work stations (along with some parents if the tasks involved supervision). I did a passport stamp for each activity so that after 10 stamps, they get a raffle ticket.  Raffle tickets were also sold and I solicited businesses for raffle prizes and donations. The money from the raffle was dispersed to the 8th graders.  We also did a robot petting zoo to showcase the kids' work. We had pretty good attendance and it only happened once a year. 

[Jason Mickelson]

Thanks for you input! Getting the 8th graders involved is a great idea. 

I realize lots of schools have an Arts or Tech night once a year. Instead, we have a whole school showcase that happens during the day 3x year. But maybe that's something we can revisit.