In Speyer’s Makers Lab: The Invasion of the Paper Creatures

Check out "The Invasion of the Paper Creatures" by clicking on the mini video above!

Yes, those one-of-a-kind paper creatures were spotted outside Speyer's Makers Lab and made by our eighth graders in their first Creative and Computational Thinking (CCT) project. In the first step of this project, they drew their design onto a flat piece of paper, which was a bit trickier than they imagined. An important part of the process is double checking that their drawing will align properly when it is folded into its final form. After they got the drawing just right, they assembled their templates into 3D creatures. 

This hands-on project introduces the students to template design and emphasizes CCT skills such as brainstorming, planning, iteration, instructional design, and cutting safely with an Exacto knife (always a good skill to have, no?). The great thing about this project is that it involved accessible materials – you just need glue sticks, printer paper, and scissors/Exacto knives. Adding an additional design challenge to this project was the instruction to make their creature distinct from the others...even though everyone started with the same base template. 

In their next adventure, students will learn how to design 2D vector templates in Adobe Illustrator (or comparable software) and laser cut the shapes to create a 3D puzzle. Shout-out CCT educator Mx. Ramsey for this cool kick-off to the year!