Rob Morrill
Maker Stuff
Sites to make stuff
Creative Commons: Search page for finding images licensed for free use in projects.
Fotor: A photo-editing and collage-making app.
"How to Work with Cardboard": Info on types of cardboard and ideas for joining it.
Cardboard Attachments: a useful image from The Art of Education.
Hstry: A powerful timeline-creation app with many possibilities.
Juxtapose: create before/after-style slider images.
My Maps: Google's tool for making custom maps with text, images, links, and videos on the places, lines, and shapes you create. So choice.
Pixlr: photo editor web app.
Scratch: Super introduction to coding.
Thinglink: Insert "tags," links to text, web pages, images, and videos. Combine with a collage you've made in Fotor!
Tinkercad: Fantastic tool for 3D design, along with lessons and student management via Project Ignite. No 3D printer? No problem; give kids design challenges that aren't meant to be printed.
Turtle Blocks: Code designs here, export them to Tinkercad to tweak, then 3D print.
Typing Club: A good app to learn typing, with many powerful features for teachers.
Vidcode: A really sweet site for learning Javascript in the most user-friendly way possible.
Wick Editor: Make frame-by-frame animations and turn into gifs, or add interactions with code.
Wix: The tool I use for this site is Wix.com, a powerful and free web app. Let older kids play with it for an hour or two, then they are off and running.
Sites to get stuff
Adafruit: Site for electronic and digital kits and components.
Chibitronics: LED stickers and conductive tape. Excellent projets.
Kelvin: Many great kits and components for STEMy projects.
Kidder: Many great kits and components for STEMy projects.
Littlebits: great electronics components that snap together.
MakeyMakey: Great devices that turn anything conductive into a computer key input.
MatterHackers: Good site for 3D printing supplies.
PITSCO: Many great kits and components for STEMy projects.
RAFT: Resource Area for Teaching is awesome. Kits and all kinds of STEAM stuff. In CA and CO and on the webs.
Sparkfun: kits and components for electronics projects.
Strawbees: Neat connectors for building with drinking straws.
Tech Will Save Us: Various kits for making and programming.
Thingiverse Education: Great place to get and share ideas for 3D printing.
Youmagine: Another site for sharing 3D designs.
Sites to get ideas
Alice Keeler: Huge amount of ideas for using Google apps.
Ed Tech Team: Excellent Summits and Bootcamps for learning about Google Apps.
Ed Tech Teacher: Many resouces here, plus PD opportunites, around Google and iPad apps.
Exploratorium: Science Snacks
Free Tech 4 Teachers: The name says it all. Good resources.
Frugal Fun 4 Boys: Despite crazy-sexist site name (irony = site creator is a woman), some excellent ideas here.
Instructables: Amazing array of community-created projects, from the simple to the very technical.
Kids Make: YouTube page with many great projects.
Twitter: Yes, Twitter. This is actually a key place for sharing education and maker-related ideas and resources.
Shake Up Learning: Casey Bell's excellent resources around web apps.
Sphero's Lightning Lab: Here's Sphero's page with activities by Sphero and users.
Specific products
Adhesive Baseplates for Legos: Great to stick on walls and make stations
The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen Graves
Canary cardboard scissors: Very useful cutters.
Compressed Air Rocket Launcher: from the Makershed
Grizzly compass: XL compass that is great for cardboard projects.
Hacksaw blades: Wrap a few inches of one end in masking tape, and you've got safe, cheap cardboard cutters.
Hummingbird Robotics Kit: A programmable circuit board to control LEDs, vibration motors, servos, and motors.
Invent to Learn Guide to Fun maker project ideas by Josh Burker.
Makey Makey boards: Turn anything conductive into a key input; great with Scratch.
Micro:Bit: A tiny, affordable, easily-programmable computer.
Print Removal Tool: This is the best tool for getting prints off 3D printers that I have tried.
Robot Turtles: Board game that teaches coding concepts.
Structure Sensor: Scanner that attaches to iPad for 3D scanning, modeling.