Makedo Toolkit ᱠᱟᱨᱰᱵᱚᱨᱰ ᱵᱮᱱᱟᱣ ᱦᱟᱹᱛᱤᱭᱟᱨ ᱡᱚᱛᱚ (ᱴᱩᱞᱠᱤᱴ)

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Makedo is a simple to use, open-ended, reusable system of tools for creative cardboard construction. With just three customised tools: the Safe-saw, Scru and Scrudriver, children as young as four can safely cut, punch holes in and securely connect layers of cardboard. Makedo is designed for girls and boys, young and old, individuals and groups of all skill levels to make anything imaginable, of any size with found cardboard.

Dimensions & Packaging

Resealable Pouch: 12 (W) cm x 4 cm (D) x 24 cm (H) Contents: 1x SAFE-SAW, 1x SCRUDRIVER, 21x SCRU, 7x SCRU XL. A growing library of free 3D print files is available online (hinges, brackets, tools) to extend and enhance the Makedo system.

Tags

stem, steam, education, maker, cardboard, imagination, play

Design Challenge

Using cardboard as a making material for creative projects is not a new idea. There are however inherent limitations with the use of standard ubiquitous tools such as scissors, blades and tape to craft cardboard. They pose safety risks to the maker and functional limitations on the making itself but more importantly they set limitations on what can be achieved by young makers independent of adult intervention. The focus for this project was therefore in developing tools to empower young makers to work with cardboard safely and intuitively to manifest their ideas from minds eye to 'I made it'.

Inspiration

The story behind Makedo is the tale of a designer working from home and having his day punctuated by his children requesting 'props' for their imaginative play. A shield here, a helmet there, possibly a turreted castle with working drawbridge! The desire to support his children to manifest their wild imaginations in the real world (and get some work done!) precipitated a light bulb moment for Paul Justin and Makedo was born. Makedo now empowers kids the world over to create a hackable world of their own making.

Makedo aligns with global shifts in education wherein creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration are integral to learning. Makedo fosters the natural inclination of the child to learn by making and doing.

Operation Flow

Find some cardboard, grab some Makedo tools and get started. The awesomeness of Makedo is that children learn by doing, creating, experimenting, failing and maybe succeeding but that's not essential. The creations then open the door to imaginative play where the child is protagonist in a hack-able world of their own making. Makedo comes to life in collaborative creative environments such as classrooms, maker spaces, museums and of course homes.

Image Credits

Makedo