New Resource Book Applies Makerspaces to Early Childhood Settings
Lewisville, N.C., June 30, 2021 – Do you enjoy making things or tinkering with a new item until you figure out how it works? Have you ever been told you are creative? If you answered yes to either question, you are probably a maker! Makers build furniture, gardens, pet beds, art displays and countless other specialty items. Makers have a mindset—a way of viewing the world—as a place to create, to take things apart and put them back together. A makerspace is a place for individuals to explore a variety of items, including creative-art materials, electronics, technology, woodworking materials, and recycled and upcycled materials. It’s a place to engage the senses and to manipulate materials from their current state into something only the maker can imagine.
Making Space for Preschool Makerspaces, a new resource book written by Robin Marx-Mackerley, MS, Teresa Byington, PhD, Sarah E. Wright, MEd, and Cathryn L. Peshlakai, MEd, explores how educators of young children ages 3-6 can make space for a makerspace in their classrooms. Filling a gap among the many makerspace books available that focus on elementary and middle schools, the authors present several different approaches to makerspaces proven successful in early childhood environments. Chock-full of photographs and stories that will inspire early educators to join the maker community, this book is a step-by-step guide to drafting a plan, gathering materials, setting up, garnering administrator and parent buy-in, supporting specific skill development, and facilitating children’s learning to deepen their understanding.
Making Space for Preschool Makerspaces ($32.95, 152 pages, 7”x10”, paperback, ISBN 9780876599129) by Robin Marx-Mackerley, MS, Teresa Byington, PhD, Sarah E. Wright, MEd, and Cathryn L. Peshlakai, MEd will be available in October 2021 from Gryphon House. The authors are available for media inquiries. Digital review copies may be requested through Edelweiss.
Robin Marx-Mackerley, MS, is a former Early Head Start and Head Start director. She is an instructor with the University of Nevada, Reno, extension program.
Teresa A. Byington, PhD, is a professional-learning facilitator, trainer, and speaker as well as an associate professor/extension specialist with the University of Nevada, Reno.
Sarah E. Wright, MEd, is a former preschool teacher and director. Currently, she is the coordinator of early childhood education at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and supervises Child Development Associate education programs.
Cathryn L. Peshlakai, MEd, is a program officer for Children, Youth, and Families in the department of Early Care and Education, University of Nevada, Reno, extension. She is also an instructor with the Nevada Ready! program through the State of Nevada Department of Education.
Gryphon House is an award-winning publisher of resource books designed to help early childhood educators and families with children from birth through age understand and successfully apply today’s theories and best practices of early education.
