Kindergarten Maker Projects

[Reid Bingham]

Hello everyone

I am a design teacher for grades 1-4 and will start teaching Kindergarten next year. 

I'm currently brainstorming projects and curriculum and I thought I should ask this amazing list if anyone has any fun, cool, awesome, or neato projects they have done with K or pre-K age students that they'd like to share. I know that it's a whole new world when working with these younger makers so I am open to anything you feel like sharing, even just advice, classroom management tricks, or tools/materials you'd recommend. 

It's times like this when I miss old Twitter for a jolt of inspiration...but thank you so much in advance for sharing! 

Best regards,

-Reid

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Reid Bingham

973.906.6614

reidb...@gmail.com

[Robert Gilson]

Hi Reid,

When I taught Kindergarten I found it very helpful to begin each class with a short story, sometimes 10 minutes, somehow connected with design or with self-control or creativity or whatever vibe I needed to create or revisit. We would go to a specific location and sit on the floor. Sometimes I would use a book, but the kids responded best when I was just telling them a story. 

When we began some woodworking, for instance, I riffed a short Pinocchio, without telling them the name of the story until the very end. It helped set a calming tone, added some creative visualization, and allowed me to get a pulse of the class - who was bouncy, who was tired, who was deep into the story, etc. Some stories to consider: The Honest Woodcutter, Big Orange Splot, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Three Little Pigs, ... basically something with a moral that maybe also has something they can build.

As far as content, I wanted to build their skills with material management early, so I did a lot of craft-stick & Elmer's constructions, so that they could get good with how much glue you need for connections, for example. We built features of the stories we told (bridges and trolls, houses...), we built boxes with lids, picture frames, marble mazes, ... I can share more with you or we can brainstorm ideas.

I miss that age - you'll have a blast with them!

Rob

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[Jean Kaneko]

I love using books as prompts for design thinking. It depends the creativity the littles one bring with them to deepen creative confidence. They are so empathetic at this age and having them design solutions for characters in books while discussing the characters needs sets up great foundations for further grades. 

Read the book, discuss characters needs. Group kiddos to design solutions for different characters. Create needs statements. Brainstorm, draw possible solutions. Get feedback, make cardstock prototypes by cutting paper, folding, scissors etc., present, get feedback, make cardboard prototypes, public presentation. 

If possible, bringing in an expert or a field trip that relates to the book is great. 

One of the books I like to use is Muncha Muncha by Candace Fleming. Great opportunity to connect to the real world with field trips to community gardens or farms, engage parents who garden. Architects etc.  

Hope that helps. 

Jean

[Jean Kaneko]

Oops hit post too quickly.  

Sewing is great for fine motor

Golf tees into purple insulation for string art with small mallets

Wet felting 

Sun printing with nature to make gifts like Mother’s Day scarves 

Collaborations with older grades 

Look to Reggio classrooms for inspiration 

Photography is also great with poetry 

Makedo’s fo cardboard 

Legos for prototyping or structural engineering 

Signs for gardens by digitizing the kids drawings and engraving using laser cutter 

Screenprinting 

Man, I miss this age. 

On Monday, June 2, 2025 at 11:55:51 AM UTC-7 reidb...@gmail.com wrote:

[Lee Jones]

Hi Reid,
I taught in a PreK - G5 makerspace (I've switched roles now) and had a weekly rotation with PK3, PK4, and KG. I'll bullet point some things below. Depending on what tools you have, I'd be happy to share more information. Just let me know. Here are some of the highlights I remember:

• I had previously taught HS STEM, so I started working on a scaffolded design process that I could use with my younger kiddos that would feed into MS and HS STEM courses. You can find it here. For KG, I would also build design lessons around the 2-step cycle.
• We'd start out basic with stencils and scissors. I would give students stencils of a circle, triangle, and square. They would practice tracing out the shapes on paper and then cut them out. We would go over how to use stencils and scissors (simple skills, but a LOT of students needed practice). I set some plastic tubs up front and I had them all put their shapes in the tube (circle tub, square tub, triangle tub). I would encourage them to make a lot and use different colors of construction paper. The next week we would use the shapes to make things. I would have them imagine what they could make out of these shapes (trees, boats, houses) and then they would make them (see the 2-step cycle). They would glue them onto a paper (another skill).
  
• An introduction to the 2-step involving building wooden "robots" (similar to these). I cut out pieces of manila envelopes to represent the body parts and they "imagined" their own robot one week. The next week, we used pre-cut pieces of wood to make the robots. Below is an example. The paper was week 1 and the "robot" was week 2. I insisted that they follow their design so we could see how important that step is.
  
  
• We would use Doodle3D to practice turning shapes and 2D drawings into basic 3D models. I had them build a house with shapes and then I printed them out.
• Give them a bag of LEGO pieces. They would need to build something using only those pieces.
• I designed a simple "racer" that can be cut out in pieces with a laser cutter. The students assembled them, decorated, and raced them down a ramp. I did this in conjunction with the push and pull NGSS standard and they would test different ramp heights, wheel sizes, and masses. I can share the .svg files for these if you are interested.
• I got a couple tubs of different PVC connectors and cut some small/medium/large PVC pipe pieces. I cut some big pieces of cloth (king bed sheet size) and they would design forts.
• Toward the end of the year, I would maybe introduce cardboard saws. These were always a huge hit, but I spent more time with them in G1 and G2. I would only let my KG kiddos use them if I knew I could trust them to be responsible. We usually had a "you're a big kid now so I'm going to let you use a big kid tool" and they would take it pretty seriously.
• We'd do a string art activity where they picked a shape, taped on the paper, then hammered the nails. Instead of string, I used the mini hair bands (cheap and easy to put on).
• Since I had students in PK3, PK4, and KG, I also did an end of the year activity where I took a profile picture, turned it into a silhouette, and cut it out on black cardstock, and students decorated a frame and added the cut out. It was a nice memento and students/parents could see the change from year to year. 
• Students designed an "official seal" (their initials and some shapes) that I laser cut onto pieces of rubber. They built a handle and glued the stamp on and used it to stamp their work. 
• We built bug hotels that we put around the playground for them to observe throughout the year.
• A good button maker was a huge hit. We used them a couple times for different topics (start of the year to learn names, representing their team for field day, or to support some cause for civics).
• I also did quite a bit of coding and robotics stuff. Not sure how interested you are in that, but I can share some resources/links if needed.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely, 

Lee Jones

The Teachers College

Emporia State University

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