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Elementary School Guide

So You Want a Makerspace

Maker gear and STEM kits in one space. Three tiers, low to high. Pick the one that fits your room and your budget.

What you might already have

$0

Before spending, check the art closet, the cafeteria, the parent donation bin, and your own recycling. These materials apply across every tier on this page. A note home will usually fill a bin in a week.

Structural
  • Cardboard (all sizes)
  • Foam board
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Wooden dowels
  • Bamboo skewers
  • Chopsticks
  • Toothpicks
  • Straws (drinking + bendy)
  • Paper + cardstock
  • Paper plates + cups
  • TP / paper towel rolls
  • Egg cartons
  • Cereal-box cardboard
Connectors
  • Rubber bands (all sizes)
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Paper clips
  • Binder clips
  • Brass brads / paper fasteners
  • Clothespins (wooden spring)
  • Twist ties
  • Velcro dots / strips
  • Zip ties (2-3 sizes)
  • String / twine / fishing line
  • Yarn
Motion + energy
  • Balloons
  • Marbles + ball bearings
  • Small springs
  • Hair ties
  • Magnets (button + bar)
  • Ping pong balls
Sheet + finish
  • Aluminum foil
  • Wax / parchment paper
  • Index cards (bulk)
  • Corks
  • Empty bottles + caps
  • Random scrap wire
Low Budget

Starter Makerspace

Roughly: $1,500 - $2,000

A rolling cart or shared corner. One 3D printer, some manipulatives, and enough electronics to run a full circuits unit.

What it covers. Cardboard design, structural engineering, prototyping, the "plug a banana into a keyboard" Makey Makey moment, one printer at the center, manipulatives on rotation, and a complete circuits unit alongside the Snap Circuits progression.
Medium Budget

Established Makerspace

Roughly: $10,000 - $12,000 cumulative

A shared room or full-time corner. Adds parallel printing, a soldering bench, vinyl + sewing, programmable robotics across grade bands, and the first laser.

What it adds. Multicolor printing, Arduino-driven wearables, solderable through-hole electronics, vinyl + soft circuits, organized storage, and a programmable-robots rotation that reaches K-2 through middle school. The diode laser handles wood and cardboard at scale; LEGO Spike Essential lands the first "real coding plus a physical build" moment.
High Budget

Flagship Makerspace

Roughly: $41,000 - $46,500 cumulative

A dedicated room with parallel stations, full class sets for the bigger kits, signature capabilities like a pro laser, CNC, VR, and an outdoor zone.

What it adds. The things that make a visit-worthy room: a print farm, a soldering bench big enough for a class, full-room signage and storage, middle-school class sets for Spike Prime and Sphero Bolt, pro laser plus desktop CNC, competition robotics on both VEX and FLL, an enclosed high-temp printer, a CAD + video corner, a 3D scanner, a podcast nook, an outdoor zone, and a VR cart for science field trips.

Makerspaces Worth Looking At

Six real spaces across the spread - elementary, independent, public library, and museum. Each one has ideas a K-5 school can steal today. Browse all 67 researched spaces, including 25 local to Atlanta ›

Mt. Vernon Elementary MakerSpace

Elementary school · Yorktown, VA

A K-5 library-based makerspace with a published rotation schedule (two weeks of every three) and a "Maker Mondays" after-school series led by parent volunteers.

Rotation schedule Parent-led
Visit page ›

Ocean City Primary Lego-Space

Elementary school · Ocean City, NJ

Third-graders identified an unused storage room, drew the plans, built the budget, and pitched the school board themselves. 65,000 bricks plus giant Everblocks that form the walls.

Photos Student-led pitch
Read Edutopia feature ›

Nueva School I-Labs

K-12 independent · Hillsborough, CA

PreK-12 innovation labs on two campuses with licensed engineers and a full-time shop manager on staff. Publishes the stat that 72% of students use the space weekly.

Photos Campus tours
Visit page ›

Chicago Public Library Maker Lab

Public library · Chicago, IL

The first free, publicly-accessible library makerspace in the US (2013). Open Shop hours require no registration - a rare open-door policy.

Photos Workshops calendar
Visit page ›

Octavia Lab (LAPL)

Public library · Los Angeles, CA

Makerspace in the Central Library's historic lower level, named for sci-fi author Octavia E. Butler. Full podcast and livestream studio alongside fabrication tools.

Photos Named-space story
Visit page ›

Exploratorium Tinkering Studio

Museum · San Francisco, CA

Open R&D lab whose activities - marble machines, cardboard automata, light play - became the core vocabulary of K-12 tinkering. Their project library is effectively a free curriculum.

Photos Project videos Open curriculum
Visit page ›

See all 67 researched makerspaces ›

Where next

Consults are free. Happy to help you trim or expand the list to match your budget and your room.

Book a Free Consult