Spark Playful Learning

Purposeful play for small hands with big ideas

Some of Our Playful Partners

Make Sparks

Sparks are hands-on innovation experiences for educators and learners. Each integrates engineering, design challenges, imaginative play and robust components that are made for learners to create and keep. Every Spark is tested by real educators and learners and can be trusted to engage and excite PK-5 builders.

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Why Sparks Work

Aligned to Your Needs

All of our Sparks are aligned to learning and youth development outcomes (NGSS, Common Core, CASEL, and YPQA)

Designed With Children

Sparks are tested by hundreds of learners and educators in schools, libraries and out-of-school time classrooms.

Any Time & Many Contexts

Use our Sparks to fit all your needs: family engagement, thematic events, growing STEAM understandings, growing SEL competencies, and playful brain breaks!

Little to No Prep

Sparks come in individual, reclosable packages with all the essentials each learner needs to create, store, and take home their Spark.  Just hand them out!

What Educators Say

“FutureMakers brings meaningful, hands-on STEAM learning to the classroom. The challenges they produce allow students to create and iterate in many different ways. They are not a “one size fits all” but allow students to make on their own terms. The support they provide teachers gives them the confidence to get messy and take risks with their students.”

Eric S. Cromwell
Coordinator of Elementary Science
Baltimore County Public Schools

“FutureMakers has made the concept of hand-on STEAM education fun and exciting for the children of DC. The kits sparked joy and were reusable so children could explore their own interpretations of the engineered structures. The pre-made kits were easy to distribute and helped DCPL create fun and safe programs this summer.”

Tora Burns
Reading Programs Coordinator
DC Public Library

“We have chosen FutureMakers to support our mission of inspiring and preparing K-12 students for STEM education and careers. We use Sparks in K - 2 classrooms to ignite a passion for critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. We have witnessed the power of collaborative teamwork as our students tackle real-world problems and see themselves as innovators.”

Alisha N. Sparks
Interim Executive Director
Center for Educational Outreach, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

"We are consistently impressed with the degree of student engagement and excitement we have seen in our virtual co-curricular clubs since implementing the FutureMakers Sparks program. The playful, project-based engineering approach of FutureMakers Sparks invites imagination and innovation.”

Dr. Corrine Perrella
Manager Virtual Learning
Anne Arundel County Public Schools

“FutureMakers has been instrumental in providing high-quality STEAM learning opportunities for students in our Chinese Immersion, French Immersion, and Spanish Immersion programs. The materials and activities provide hands-on learning and exploration and can be directed by teachers in all of our Immersion languages.”

Carmen Henninger
Immersion Programs Supervisor
Prince George's County Public Schools

“Students are craving engagement. With Sparks, they are experiencing now what they can’t experience in the regular school year. The resources and slides had great real-world connections to share with students.”

Brendan Penn
Magnet Coordinator & 2018-2019 BCPS Teacher of the Year
Baltimore County Public Schools

“FutureMakers has been an integral partner with Baltimore County Public Library throughout the years. They have empowered our staff to reach broader audiences with STEM programming through their training, programming, and kits. FutureMakers worked with us to develop ways to use their kits to train teens to be mentors to younger youth in a fun, educational, and engaging way!”

Conni Strittmater
Youth and Family Engagement Manager
Baltimore County Public Library

“FutureMakers’ Sparks are valuable tools that bolster STEM learning opportunities with equitable hands-on experiences. They are uncomplicated and provide a straightforward way to generate inquisitive exploration and creative problem-solving while fostering a deeper understanding of how things work.”

Marcellina Rodriguez
STEM Programming and Outreach Coordinator
Anne Arundel County Public Library

“Sparks are perfect for our summer camp programs. The kits, resources, and materials are all user-friendly, easy to store, fun to teach, and, most importantly, highly engaging for youth. We’ve used Sparks for our annual city-wide virtual Spring Break program, where youth receive kits at home and Zoom in with their FutureMakers coach!”

Rebecca Palmisano
STEM Coordinator
Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Baltimore

What Sparks Include

Playful Learning Anywhere

Sparks come in individual, reclosable packages with all the essentials each learner needs to create, store, and take home their Spark.  Just hand them out!

Learner Guides

All Sparks come with printed visual instructions that guide learners through the build process and include play prompts and collaborative design challenges.

Instructional Tools

Educators use our illustrated instructional slides and coaching guides to prepare and lead engaging lessons.  Each includes deeper dives into the how and why of every Spark.

Collaboration and Innovation

We offer Sparks with modular components that allow learners to experiment with new builds, or combine their inventions with peers!

Try Some Sample Sparks

We have a free sample set we’d love for you to have. We’ll hand them off to UPS the same day, and will follow up with instructional guides when they’re in transit.

Request Samples