What makes a great maker parent (and educator)
Collaborative, learner-driven exploration is what young makers need
Parents who aren’t deep in the maker movement might make better maker parents than people like me. I studied both physics and philosophy in college, a combination that sounds eclectic—and often left people wondering what I would do with it. I ended up on this path due to childhood influences, but it was never my passion. I did, however, make my parents proud.
As a semi-knowledgeable engineering parent, I could figure out how to help my young maker build and create—at least when the projects were simple. Robotics and more advanced projects were not only beyond me, they didn’t interest me. This meant I couldn’t offer my young maker what I offered my young mathematician.
My math kid was begging me at the age of three for longer, harder arithmetic problems just to extend bedtime. It worked every time. He was deeply mathematically inclined, and when I didn’t know how to explain something, he often seemed to grasp it as though remembering ancient knowledge. Even as a toddler, he was my partner in exploring math. The greatest gift I could give him was helping him understand how his brain worked—how he related to math. When he made mistakes that were reasonable based on the information he had, I had the background to see that his logic was often quite brilliant. I could affirm his thinking, then add the missing piece that led to the correct solution. That kind of learning—insightful, curious, joyful—is the very definition of math being fun.
My young maker, on the other hand, worked in circuits and programming—areas I had worked in professionally but never loved. I lacked the intuitive understanding needed to recognize the brilliance in her mistakes. Our saving grace was debugging. Even if the soft circuits she built were more like following a recipe than inventing a new dish, debugging was the wild west. There were no right answers, only clues and discovery. I learned more about pragmatic tinkering from her than I ever did in a college class or on the job.
In both cases, what made this learning, as Seymour Papert would say, “hard fun” was the authenticity of us working together to figure things out. This kind of collaborative, learner-driven exploration is something young makers need. It’s something educators need. But it can be deeply challenging—intellectually and emotionally—to make the shift from guiding to partnering.
I wrote an article about a decade ago about this and I concluded that non-engineering parents—those who don’t come in to “help” with design ideas, plans, materials, or goals—might actually make the best maker parents of all. The same is often true for educators. Providing space, tools, materials, support, and active questioning are things educators can do beautifully without needing to be experts in electronics or programming. In fact, not having that expertise can make it easier to step back and let students explore freely.
If we measured success in a makerspace not by how much content students absorbed, but by how much joy and flow they experienced, educators could begin to focus on what really matters: creating the conditions for tinkering, play, and discovery. That’s the mindset shift. It’s hard—but it can be hard fun.
Students are naturally curious, though some carry wounds that make their curiosity quieter, more fragile. Educators are naturally lifelong learners, though some have been overwhelmed by systems focused on compliance rather than growth. But when educators shift from an expert mindset to a learner-collaborator mindset, something remarkable happens. Flow becomes possible—not just for students, but for educators themselves.
It takes patience. It takes courage. It is difficult—but also deeply rewarding. As a mom, I’ve found this mindset to be the source of true engagement. There is nothing more beautiful than watching your child discover instead of memorize.
Educators want that too. In this time of great change, we must sow the seeds for schools that nurture curiosity, joy, and self-driven learning—for educators, students, and parents alike.
Nine years ago, Marie made a video of PDX Young Makers for an ISTE conference.
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“If we measured success in a makerspace not by how much content students absorbed, but by how much joy and flow they experienced, educators could begin to focus on what really matters: creating the conditions for tinkering, play, and discovery.”
Yes! Thank you for putting into words what I’ve been trying to achieve in my teaching practice. Making and playing goes hand in hand with learning—and not just in the makerspace.
Teachers like you who give students a chance to learn beyond just training are critical!