A chain reaction as big as the floor
Roll a ball down a cardboard ramp, knock the blocks, pass it to the next builder. Then fix the one link that fails and run it again for visitors.
FROM: Chain-Reaction PlaygroundMinneapolis · K–12 · Hands-on STEM
KidsLight upthis city.
createMPLS brings robotics, coding, circuits, 3D printing, sound tech and drones right into Minneapolis schools and community spaces. Students and families pay nothing. Ever.
On site, where kids already areNo cost to familiesMaking since 2015
01 — How it works
It comes to you.
No field trip, no fees, no tryouts. Our instructors set up where kids already are: the classroom, the after-school room, the summer program, the rec center. Your building joins the circuit.
Zero resistance
Free for every student and family. No fees, no kits to buy, no bus to catch.
Grounded on site
School-day courses, plus after-school, summer and community labs, taught in your space.
Hands on. Every session.
A short demo, a long build, then kids test it, change one thing, and show what they made.
It comes to us!— a createMPLS parent
02 — What kids make
What’s on
the scope?
Every program ends with something real: built, tested, changed, and shown off. Tune through four of them.
Live · scroll to tuneCH1 · STEPcreateMPLS · SC-4
CH1 2V/DIV
PRE-K–2
An arcade game with a boss level
Title screen, power-ups, three stages and a final boss, all revised after real players tried it.
FROM: Scratch Arcade Adventure
A tiny drone you built yourself
Simulator first. Then solder a harness, build a sub-250-gram whoop, and fly check-rides through gates.
FROM: Robotics to FPV
A beat made from a stairwell
Record found sounds, chop and loop them, then re-record in a stairwell so the building itself becomes the reverb.
FROM: Lo-Fi Beat Laboratory03 — The program board
Probe
the board.
Every program we can bring to your site, laid out like a circuit board. Grades run left to right; each colored trace is a kind of making. Drag the yellow probe to a grade and see what kids there get to build.
Ready to schedulePiloting: written, first run comingCollege column: where it can lead
Family nights
Mixed-age teams and their grown-ups build one thing together in a single evening. All six are piloting.
Workplace lunch labs
45 minutes, one small make, and an easy first step toward volunteering with kids.
04 — Since 2019
Students · since 2019Counter · 01
5,657 Students have plugged in since 2019.
Building robots, writing code, wiring circuits and flying drones in Minneapolis schools and community sites.
Total of yearly student counts, 2019–2023.05 — Get involved
Patch in.
Three ways to join the circuit. Schools and community sites first: that’s where the current flows.
For schools & community sites
Plug in
your school.
Bring a lab to your classroom, after-school program, summer camp or community room. We bring the instructor, the gear and the plan.
Grades
When
Start a partnership →
Volunteer
Be the extra hands.
Coach a team, help at a build night, or bring your trade to a lab. Curiosity counts more than credentials.
Volunteer with us →
Donate
Fund the parts.
Kids bring the sparks. Your gift buys the motors, filament, batteries and instructor time that keep labs free.
Give on Givebutter →