Eli Lewis · elilewis2029@u.northwestern.edu · elilewisportfolio.info/projects/jcc-community-makerspace

Design & craft · 2023

Running a scrap-powered kids' makerspace for three years

Built and led a bi-weekly after-school makerspace at JCC Greater Boston: salvaged electronics, cardboard, and up to 16 kids per session

Float test: a scrap-built boat in the kiddie pool

From 2022 to 2025 I ran the JCC's after-school makerspace and its summer-camp version. The room ran on upcycled materials and a steady supply of old electronics from the local recycling center, which the kids took apart for parts. I designed the activities, organized the storage for hundreds of materials and tools, and kept the program running week to week.

Role: Solo
I was responsible for the program: planning activities, sourcing and organizing materials, supervising sessions and documenting the work.
Duration: Aug 2022 – May 2025
Tools: hand-tools, soldering-iron, 3d-printer
Skills: teaching, program-design, inventory-systems, leadership

Goal & constraints

Keep every session open-ended: kids pick the project, I supply materials and help.
Near-zero materials budget, so the room runs on donations and scrap.
Findable storage so a 9-year-old can get what they need without asking.

Process

Collected a room's worth of old printers, toys and appliances from the recycling center for "take-apart" sessions, which became the main parts supply.
Built a cardboard "rec wall" where group builds could stay up and grow week to week.
Ran the summer-camp version with older kids and fewer material limits (the stick fort got large).
Designed the car kit (separate entry) when one regular asked for a maker-themed birthday party.
Organized the storage by material and size so sessions started with building, not searching.

A lantern from a cardboard tube and a plastic jar, lit by a salvaged bulb

The same lantern with a switch taped into the tube

A trunk load of old printers and electronics from the recycling center, headed for take-apart sessions

The room between sessions, tables cleared and bins ready

A tape-and-stick build in progress on the table

A popsicle-stick cabin with a working door, built over several sessions

A salvaged motor spinning a propeller, mounted on a flask

A cardboard launcher wired to a salvaged motor and switch

A handheld build with a salvaged screen on a grip

Summer camp: the stick fort going up in the woods

The finished stick fort with its builders

Result

3 school years, up to 16 kids per session

What I’d change

[TODO: what I'd change]

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