Build set 612 Minneapolis Free for students & families

Some assembly required.
Every part included.

Kids do the building. createMPLS brings everything else: robots, code, 3D printers, sound gear, drones and the mentors who lean in, right into Minneapolis schools and community sites.

Bring a lab to your site → See what kids build

In this set

1x curious kid
1x mentor
1x real tools
0x cost

STEP1

Open the box.

Here's everything that comes with a createMPLS lab, and what it costs the family at home.

Parts for this step6 pcs

curious kid, any grade, any background

mentor who leans in beside them

kit of real tools: robots, printers, mics, drones

room your students already use

cost to students or families

extra rides to get there

We bring the lab to the kids, not the other way around.

createMPLS is a Minneapolis nonprofit that runs hands-on STEM inside the places students already spend their day: classrooms during school, and after-school, summer and community programs around them.

Students build robots, code games, print parts, record sounds and fly drones. They test what they made, change one thing, and show it to someone. Partners provide the room. We bring the rest.

AFree for every student and family, by design.
BDelivered on-site, in school and out of school.
CReal tools, real mentors, real things made.

"The best part is that the programming takes place on site at my children's school! As parents, we don't have to drive our children to the programs,it comes to us!"

Raechelle, parent

Students and two adult coaches gathered around a robotics competition table, adjusting a robot.

Fig. 2 — robotics practice, 2016

Building since 2015

It started with one robotics team and a cafeteria table.

Ten years on, the kit is bigger: coding, fabrication, circuits, sound, flight and design. The idea is the same. Show up where kids are, hand them real tools, and let them build.

STEP2

Snap it together.

Every session follows the same build rhythm. Short demo, long build, then test it, fix it, and show it off.

A classroom of student teams working at tables while two mentors circulate.

See it once

~5 MIN

A quick demo, then hands off. Nobody sits through a lecture.

Two girls lean over a robot they are building, one gripping its controller brick.

Build sprint

~20 MIN

Teams get the most time on the clock, with real parts in their hands.

Test it

MEASURE

Does it hold? Does it run? The test tells you, not the teacher.

Over-the-shoulder view of students coding at a laptop with a half-built robot in front.

Change one thing

~15 MIN

Second sprint. Fix the link that failed and run it again.

A student explains her project to a classmate at a table with a tablet.

Show it off

~10 MIN

Every build ends in a share: a demo, a gallery walk, a race, a listening party.

✓

Two girls building a tall machine together.

Model complete

THEIRS

They made it, they tested it, and they can tell you how it works.

ASSEMBLY TIP

We never cut the last ten minutes. That's when kids explain what they built, and it's often the best part.

a floor-sized chain reaction an arcade game with a boss level a tiny drone you built and flew a beat made from a stairwell a box that survives the drop test a pixel self-portrait a robot that solves a maze a drawing you can hear

STEP3

Pick your bags.

Every program comes packed like a kit: the thing kids make, what's in the bag, and how long the build takes. Pick a grade, pick a bag, add it to your site's kit.

1:1 grade ruler: who's in the room?

Can run with no screens

Your site's kit

Add a bag or two. We'll plan the rest with you.

Request this kit →

Parts inventoryp. 05

Four young kids sitting on the floor laughing with building blocks.

5,657 students have built with createMPLS since 2019.

The one number we keep: the sum of our yearly student counts, 2019–2023.

STEP4

Add your piece.

The model isn't finished. Three slots are still open, and each one is shaped like someone in this city.

A city full of kits needs more builders.

Schools and community sites bring the room and the students. Volunteers bring an afternoon and some patience. Donors keep every part free. Snap one in.

For schools & community sites

Host a lab at your site.

Tell us your grades, your schedule and your space. We'll bring the program, the tools and the people, during the school day or after it.

Start a kit request →

A volunteer mentor in a cap talks through a robot with a student.

Volunteers

Be the 1x mentor.

Sit beside a build team for an afternoon. You don't need to know robotics. You need to ask good questions.

Volunteer with us →

Two girls building a tall machine from building parts.

Donors

Fund the parts.

Gifts buy kits, printers, drones and facilitator time, so no student or family ever gets a bill.

Donate on Givebutter →