It's a making experience where kids (and their siblings and caring adults) can try something new, meet local artists and technologists, and get to know your learning space, maybe for the first time.
Saturday Crafternoons is a free drop-in program where kids ages 5 to 10 learn from a guest expert and make something they can take home with them. With support from Assemble teachers, local makers and community partners share their skills with kids and their families.
Saturday Crafternoons are the perfect informal setting for people who want to try out your programming, or can't attend regularly but still want to participate. They smush together local families, your neighbors and partners, and science, technology, engineering, art, and math. What results from all that smushing is an incredibly fun and flexible program that will make kids love you, parents trust you, and partners engage with you more deeply.
Monthly or weekly, for 2-3 hours during a weekend afternoon (families have more free time on the weekends!)
8-20 kids, many of whom are accompanied by caring adults (especially if it's their first or second time)
5 to 10 year-olds looking to learn something new each week (dropped off or accompanied by their parents/guardians/siblings)
Scientists, artists, academics, technologists, and hobbyists who want to share what they’re doing with the community
Drop in, stay awhile! Free to everyone (About half of our students are weekly regulars, the other half are big mix)
<aside> 🕑 Run of show for one Saturday Crafternoon: Assemble's Crafternoons take place on Saturdays between 1pm and 3pm. This is a great time, because it's after lunch but before supper.
20 minutes Get to know each other with an icebreaker, set community agreements, meet the guest expert, and learn about the day's topic
35 minutes Making time, led by the guest expert and co-teachers
10 minutes Snack break
30 minutes More making!
15 minutes Share out about our experiences, what we've made, and what's coming up soon in the space
10 minutes Clean up, everybody helps with this part!
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Pedagogy ?
Crafternoons introduce kids to topics and materials that they wouldn't otherwise be bumping into, and give them a peek into our messy, complicated, interdisciplinary world where subjects aren't separate. They might discover that artists use math to plan out paintings, or that computer geeks need to spend a lot of time thinking about how their code looks. The casual, drop-in setting helps them stay open to looking beyond what they see immediately and try something new.
This program is all about hands-on making. Over the course of a few hours, kids are introduced to a new project, medium, or topic, and given the opportunity to try it out themselves, with their own two hands. It's a good idea to design an activity that results in something that the kids can take home with them, some tangible evidence of their ability to make.
We put a real emphasis on fun here—activities are stimulating and responsive **to their interests and abilities. Be sure to design activities that your youngest participants can do. When you do that, kids that started out thinking "This is impossible" will walk out the door saying "Wow, I did it!" Building that confidence is at the heart of our pedagogy. As they saunter into their Saturday evening, participants will have learned something new about the world and their own abilities and potential.
People ?
The secret sauce in Crafternoons is Guest Experts. Why bring in someone from the community? So glad you asked:
<aside> 😜 Can't find a guest expert? Source from within! Your first guest experts can absolutely be your friends, family, neighbors, and neighbors-of-friends-of-family. Broaden your definition of expert to include artists, technologists, hobbyists, nerds, engineers, and college students. And in case you hadn't noticed, you probably have some serious expertise on your team (looked in the mirror recently?).
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You need to coordinate collaborations with guest experts carefully. Make sure they're open and interested in sharing their craft with a group of young'uns. You'll need to plan the activity well ahead of time, to ensure that it's kid-friendly, doesn't take too much time to complete, and the needed materials will be at-the-ready day-of (more on that in Resources needed below). You may need to work closely with your guest expert to ensure that what they have in mind fits with your way of teaching, and aligns to your mission and learning philosophy.
Get clear with your guest expert, up front, about compensation. Our standard honorarium is $100 for 2 hours. (Many people donate it back, or don't take it.) You might consider extra funds to pay for the planning that they need to do ahead of time. Or, if you're looking for no-cost options, academic departments and companies are often willing to visit for free! They're a part of your learning community, don't forget it.
But it's not all about the guest expert—always always always have teachers on site and helping out during your Crafternoons. You'll want at least 3 adults total, which means your guest expert plus 2 teachers, preferably at least one of whom is experienced with your space and way of doing things. To ensure a smooth session and easy distribution of materials, snacks, and help, the more adults the better: if you have budget for additional teachers, or willing volunteers, bring them in (college students who want to volunteer tend to have good availability on weekend days). We keep to a 1 teacher to 10 student ratio, and those students sometimes add up quick at drop-in programs like this one.
You need teachers present to support the guest expert, who may or may not be a natural communicator and teacher. But having your teachers around unlocks something else special: the opportunity to build deep relationships with Families. Many kids in this age group will be accompanied by their parents, guardians, aunties, grandpas, cousins, uncles, etc. This is your chance to show them that this is a place where their little one is safe and valued, the kind of place where they'd want to take their kid back week after week.
For exactly that reason, it's important to put your reliable folks on the Crafternoons schedule. Drop-ins like this are community-oriented, so you need teachers who can truly be there each and every week, building trust and relationships with the people who walk in the door. We have at least one full-time staff member working every Crafternoon.