Little Scientists Online Workshop: Tinkering & Makerspaces for Children 0-8 Years

In this two-hour workshop, educators will learn the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ of incorporating tinkering and makerspaces into your educational setting. If you’re new to these concepts, tinkering involves children playing (or ‘tinkering’) with real materials and tools to explore their own ideas, questions, experiments. A makerspace is where the tinkering happens: often a dedicated workshop space in your setting where children can access loose parts, materials, and tools and workshop their ideas.

 

In this interactive online workshop, educators will gain fundamental knowledge required to introduce tinkering and establish a makerspace in your setting for infants (yes, that’s right!) all the way through to children in lower-primary school. This includes: 

 

• Exploring the educational benefits of offering tinkering and makerspaces.

 

• Learning to safely introduce children 0-8 years to tinkering.

 

• Developing a list of low-cost everyday tools and materials to foster tinkering within your setting.

 

• Understanding the pivotal role of the educator within children’s tinkering explorations.

 

• Gaining practical makerspace ideas and tinkering experiences suitable for the full early childhood age bracket. For example:

 

• • Taking apart broken electronics or toys to understand how components work together.
  • Constructing simple machines with pulleys and levers.
  • Experimenting with building materials like cardboard, connectors, and gears.

 

This online workshop is suitable for educators and teachers of children 0-8 years old. It is aligned with the EYLF 2.0 and invites educators attending live to ask questions, share ideas, and engage in hands-on activities during the workshop.

 

Purchasing a ticket allows you to tune in live or via a recording. While we strongly encourage you to attend live, a recording will be shared via email following the event and can be viewed for 3 days after the email is sent. This workshop will be held on:

 

Thursday 12 June 2025Time zones: 3-5pm (AEST), 1-3pm (AWST), 2:30-4:30pm (ACST)

 

Learn more or register here.