Airdrie Maker Lab
What children learn

Practical maker skills for curious children.

Airdrie Maker Lab helps children learn by designing, building, testing, and improving real projects. These public topic previews show families what children experience before they join the academy.

3D
Design it. Print it. Improve it.

3D Printing

3D printing helps children turn ideas into real objects they can hold, test, and improve. It teaches patience, measurement, design thinking, and the habit of improving a first version.

Open 3D Printing
Area 1

Why it is valuable

Children see their ideas become physical objects.
They learn design, measurement, iteration, and problem-solving.
It builds confidence because the result is visible and practical.

How we teach it at Airdrie Maker Lab

Children start with simple printable objects, then gradually learn how shape, size, support, and material choices affect the final print. They learn that making is not just printing, but thinking, testing, and improving.

RB
Build machines that move and respond.

Robotics

Robotics introduces children to motion, sensors, motors, structure, and basic control logic. It helps them understand how machines work in the real world.

Open Robotics
Area 2

Why it is valuable

Children learn cause and effect through machines.
They develop logical thinking and teamwork.
They connect coding, mechanics, and electronics in one project.

How we teach it at Airdrie Maker Lab

We teach robotics through hands-on builds, simple moving mechanisms, sensors, and age-appropriate coding. Children learn by building small robots, testing them, and adjusting their design when something does not work as expected.

CAD
Think like a designer before building.

CAD and Design

CAD helps children plan their ideas before making them. It teaches spatial thinking, accuracy, shape, scale, and the design process used by engineers and product designers.

Open CAD and Design
Area 3

Why it is valuable

Children learn to plan before building.
They develop spatial awareness and technical confidence.
They understand how digital models become real products.

How we teach it at Airdrie Maker Lab

Children begin with simple shapes and gradually move into useful objects, parts, and assemblies. We keep it practical, visual, and connected to things they can build or print.

EL
Understand circuits, lights, sensors, and signals.

Electronics

Electronics helps children understand how power, circuits, switches, lights, sensors, and small devices work. It gives them a foundation for robotics, inventions, and smart projects.

Open Electronics
Area 4

Why it is valuable

Children learn how common devices work.
They build confidence with safe circuits and components.
They develop troubleshooting habits by testing connections.

How we teach it at Airdrie Maker Lab

We teach electronics with safe, age-appropriate components such as LEDs, switches, buzzers, batteries, breadboards, and microcontrollers when ready. Children learn by building small circuits and seeing immediate results.

STEM
Science, technology, engineering, and math through making.

Hands-on STEM

Hands-on STEM makes learning active. Children do not only read or watch. They build, test, observe, and explain what happened.

Open Hands-on STEM
Area 5

Why it is valuable

Children learn by doing, not only by listening.
It improves curiosity, confidence, and practical thinking.
It connects school subjects to real-world problems and projects.

How we teach it at Airdrie Maker Lab

STEM is taught through projects. Children make simple machines, structures, models, circuits, printed parts, creative builds, and problem-solving challenges that match their age and ability.

The learning loop stays the same.

1Imagine
2Design
3Build
4Improve