News and events
April 2024
Last week we visited the Royal Academy of Engineering to celebrate the end of our Ingenius public engagement award. We also managed to pop into the Young V&A - an inspiring exhibition of play, design and imagination in Bethnal Green.
March 2024
It's been a busy British Science Week for Maker{Futures}. 750 children have taken part in our maker workshops over three action-packed days.
December 2023
2023 has been a bumper year of newness for Maker{Futures}. Take a look at our annual report.
August 2023
This summer Maker{Futures} visited 12 libraries in and around Sheffield with our ‘Ready, Set, Make!’ family workshops. Inspired by the sport and play themed Summer Reading Challenge, over 300 of you joined us to tinker, test and make in our pop-up library makerspaces.
July 2023
We've teamed up with Libraries Sheffield to bring you playful family workshops inspired by the Summer Reading Challenge 2023 - Ready, Set, Read!
March 2023
This project has linked local engineers from industry and academia and brought interactive activities to fifteen primary schools in South Yorkshire.
February 2023
As part of our Maker{School} initiative, we are really excited to launch the Collective. A chance for teachers to get together for all things Maker!
November 2022
Our Makey Makey workshop was the latest in a series of skill-builder sessions where we make time to explore, experiment and share knowledge.
November 2022
Our annual report highlights a range of the projects and initiatives led by Maker{Futures} since we launched, navigating the lockdowns and through the 2021-22 academic year.
October 2022
This term we're relaunching our story box scheme for children aged 4-7 in partnership with the STEM Hub (North Midlands, South & East Yorkshire).
September 2022
Last month, Maker{Futures} embarked on a library roadshow! We visited 12 libraries in and around Sheffield with our ‘Gadgets and Gizmos’ events.
September 2022
From September 15-25 2022 we will be taking part in the Festival of the Mind - a celebration of ideas, culture and collaboration from The University of Sheffield. Join us at Event Central in Sheffield.
August 2022
This summer we've teamed up with Sheffield Libraries to bring you playful family workshops which bring the Summer Reading Challenge 2022 - Gadgeteers - to life!
July 2022
The Children’s University ‘Gold Awards’ are for those who have spent 100 hours or more in learning activities outside the normal school day. We were at the award ceremonies to help with the celebrations.
July 2022
On the 7th July, Maker{Futures} and Arbourthorne Community Primary School held the ‘Robot Olympics’. A gadgety, electronic, maker festival to celebrate the culmination of their year becoming Sheffield’s first Maker school.
July 2022
We have been co-running a series of Maker{Home} events with school staff, pupils and their families this term - introducing the concept of making with cardboard in a fun, creative way. At the end of the session, families take home a Maker{Home} kit encompassing various gadgets to continue their making journey.
June 2022
We've teamed up with Dr Sabine Little's Lost Wor(l)ds project to create a nature inspired makerspace for families to come and explore and share their languages and words associated with nature.
June 2022
Our project looks back at excellence in engineering through the lens of the Vulcan XH558 and explores the future of a more environmentally sustainable aerospace industry.
May 2022
Here at Maker{Futures} we’ve been lucky to have two placement students with us from the University of Sheffield. As part of their Education degrees, Lin and Zitong committed 70 hours to volunteering with the Maker{Futures} team and have been involved in every angle of our ever-changing schedule.
March 2022
On the 23rd March 2022 the MakerFutures team exhibited at Get up to Speed with STEM (GUTS), held at Magna Science Adventure Centre.
March 2022
On Friday 11th March we were excited to be part of the National Careers Week activities at Parkwood Academy in Sheffield. Our visit also marked the start of British Science Week 2022.
February 2022
Our Maker{Move} van will be on the road during February half-term in Sheffield and Rotherham.
Ever thought about creating your own makerspace? Learn how with our free, three week course ‘Makerspaces for Creative Learning’ on FutureLearn. Start straight away and learn at your own pace.
Dr Alison Buxton, Programme Manager of Maker{Futures}, will join researchers from the Sheffield Urban Institute in a live panel debate exploring what role schools should play in their urban communities.
A consortium of Yorkshire schools, The School of Education and Maker{Futures} Project at the University of Sheffield and The National Videogame Museum have been awarded funding for a two year action research programme, which will see children taking on the role of videogame designers and artists.
The short film Dr Alison Buxton and NBIC partner Katherine Fish made for Maker{Future}’s Think Like An Engineer initiative, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is now featured on the NBIC webpage.
As part of the Think Like an Engineer project, Civil Engineer Katherine explored the importance of clean drinking water and the wonderful world of Microbes.
Makerspaces for creative learning is a new free-to-access online course developed by Maker{Futures} in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, launching on 28 June 2021.
We are excited to be partnering with the Victoria & Albert Museum to deliver a series of digital makerspaces for early years as part of their Alice in Wonderland exhibition.
As part of the Festival of the Mind 2020, MakerFutures offers a free fantastic opportunity for children and families in Sheffield to get involved in a mini adventure of making, adventure and play.
We are very excited to be taking part in the amazing Bags of Creativity project by Create Sheffield and IVE.
The project aims to deliver creative activities and resources into the homes of vulnerable children and young people across the Sheffield area.
Staff in the University of Sheffield’s School of Education have developed a series of ‘maker activities’ which provide ideas about how to engage in fun maker activities that foster science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) learning.
At the heart of the Maker{Futures} programme of work is play – through playful engagement in makerspaces, children learn a great deal, not just about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), but also about other subjects, including the arts, language and literacy.
Just before the schools closed the Maker{Move} team managed its first mobile makerspace outing to Northfield Junior School in Dronfield, Derbyshire. The team arrived in the new bespoke van, loaded up with everything needed to set up a large makerspace in the school hall.
The MakerFutures team were involved in a previous research project 'Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity.' A book has been published which outlines the project.