Choosing table and chair heights for a Makerspace that accommodates K-8 students

[David Palange]

For a Makerspace that bridges many ages (K-8), how do you recommend accommodating the many different sizes of kids that will be using the space? The main issue I am facing is deciding what chairs and tables to purchase for our K-8 Makerspace, especially with regards to the height of the furniture. I would greatly appreciate hearing from people who had to navigate this situation.

Thanks,
David Palange

Director of STEM Education, K-8

Bentley School

Oakland, CA

[Tracy Rudzitis]

I purchased stools for my MakerSpace and it was the best decision ever. Chairs are unwieldy and force students to sit, stools are moveable and can be pushed under tables and don't assume that students need to be sitting. More flexible that way.

Tracy 

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[Jeremy Sambuca]

David,

At my previous school, we purchased height adjustable tables as the space needed to accomodate kindergarten to grade 12. I also recommends stools. They slide easily under the tables and you can stack them when needed. 

Good luck! 

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Jeremy Sambuca

Director of Educational Technology

The Hewitt School

45 East 75th Street

New York, NY 10021

T: 212.994.2568

F: 212.439.9099

@jsambuca

www.hewittschool.org

 

Hewitt empowers girls to discover their full intellectual and creative abilities, to pursue their passions and personal best, and to lead lives of consequence with character, compassion, and conviction.

[David Palange]

Thanks Tracy and Jeremy for the recommendations. Any stool model you can recommend that has withstood the test of time?

Best,

David

[Jason Mickelson]

At my previous school, I had to deal with the same situation you are in David. For student work tables I decided to go with 18" metal stools (standard science lab model) and 40" high tabletops. The tabletops were 2" butcher block, 30" x 60", steel frame, and on lockable casters. Like Tracy mentioned, stools were optimal (especially in our small classroom foot print) since they could fit under the tables all the way when not used. Or be stacked. Students often stand up when using tools and working on construction projects. I found the dimensions worked were just fine for MS. The 18" stools worked for LS but the 40" table height was challenging for using some of the tools (saws and drills) since kids are too short to get the proper leverage. But we all coped. LS can also use the stool seat to saw/drill on. The 18"/40" is poor laptop ergonomics but it was the best we could do. Adjustable height sounds good but it either compromises the sturdiness of the table or can be a serious chore, sometimes a 2-person job, to adjust. For daily transitions back and forth between LS and MS I knew I would not adjust them.

A makerspace (like any classroom) shouldn't have to accommodate that large of an age span, but we were stuck with the limitation of space. Sounds like you are in a similar situation. I only hosted classes for grades 1-8. Even if I had to teach K classes I would have insisted tech/make class happen in the K classroom. The equipment and furniture in the Lab would not have worked for K in my opinion.

The school worked with One Workplace in SF who contracted the tables from a small shop in Morgan Hill. If you are looking for similar work tables, I could probably track down the contractor name.

On Monday, August 3, 2015 at 9:24:02 PM UTC-7, David Palange wrote:

[Matthew Dillon]

David,

We opened our space a year ago for Kdg-6th grade. The tables we got are from k-log.com...Open-Leg Shop Benches with steel tops and lower shelves...6 without casters (29.5" high) and 10 with  (36.25" high). They were ordered before I was hired so when I got here I wasn't sure they would work. They were high for the little ones, the support for the casters sticks out and I figured we would bang a bunch of shins. Needless to say, I was wrong. I love them. The lower shelf is great for storage...boxes and stools fit great (we got adjustable stools and we fit 4 under a table). True is, most of the Kdg-2nd graders do their work on the floor...even our big kids will work on the floor from time to time. The tables without wheels are for our equipment...3D printers, laser cutter, scanners, vinyl cutter, etc. The wheeled tables let me move the configuration of the room whenever I want or need to. 

You can check out our blog for pics to see how we use them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Aloha,

Matthew Dillon

Lower School S.T.E.M./FabLab Teacher

'Iolani School

Honolulu, Hawaii

Email: pmdi...@iolani.org

Blog: http://iolanik-6fablab.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @IolaniLSFabLab

[Kevin Jarrett]

This might be worth investigating: http://www.instructables.com/id/Drill-Powered-Adjustable-Height-Work-Bench/