MAAM 2026 Annual Conference

Makerspaces are some of the most effective spaces for learning skills, but making is not merely an activity, it's a mindset. Freeing this mindset from the makerspace corner creates unlimited possibilities for creatively and meaningfully engaging your audience. So how can we leverage core maker approaches such as agency-building, open-ended problem solving, and reflection throughout the museum? This workshop will introduce maker-learning approaches and facilitate hands-on opportunities to apply them to your museum's content and stories. You will walk away with tools to help you bring these low cost interactives to life in your museum.

Session Takeaways:
•Redefine "making" from a localized activity to a museum-wide pedagogical framework, prioritizing agency and open-ended inquiry across all gallery types.
•Practice a methodology for mapping maker-learning traits (like reflection and iteration) onto their institution’s specific historical or cultural narratives, ensuring hands-on elements feel integrated rather than "tacked on."
•Leave with a toolkit for designing and maintaining high-impact, low-cost interactives that deliver deep engagement without the overhead of a staffed makerspace.

Often one-off programs, particularly those for neurodivergent audiences, cannot accomplish all of our program goals. A week-long intensive creates deeper opportunities for engagement, building confidence, and establishing relationships, especially for audiences with disabilities. Explore how two museums developed week-long intensives for neurodivergent children and teens, as well as extensions for program alumni, and how other cultural institutions can implement a plan and resources for similar programming. Participants will better understand the benefits of longer-term programming, be able to identify potential challenges and anticipate necessary supports ahead of time, and will start to apply resources shared to their own programming ideas.

Session Takeaways:
•Understand the benefits of longer-term programming for neurodivergent audiences.
•Identify potential challenges and anticipate necessary supports ahead of time.
•Apply resources shared to their own programming ideas.