Maketec is a youth center for digital-making located at Beit-Ariela public Library in Tel Aviv . The Maketec model is designed to promote making and socializing opportunities for girls and boys of ages 9-14.
The Maketec model is based on three underlying principles: (1) “Low Floor/Wide Walls”: careful selection of construction kits and digital fabrication technologies that allow kids to invent & create with no prior knowledge or expertise; (2) “Unstructured learning”: scaffolding mechanisms are carefully planned in order to empower visitors to create whatever they want; and (3) “A Makerspace as a Third Place”: the Maketec is managed by kids for kids in an effort to form a unique community of young makers.

The Maketec’s guiding principles are heavily inspired by constructionist thinkers. Our focus is on forming a sustainable model which empowers children to take their first step as makers with minimum dependency on formal instructors or classes.

With the help of trained supervisors and high school mentors, the center gives children the opportunity to imagine and create projects that blend the physical and digital worlds together. Maketec strives to create a fun and educational environment that encourages today’s youth to see themselves not just as consumers but as active creators of tomorrow’s technology.

Maketec’s vision is to alter the way every child interacts with technology. Through hands-on projects the young generation will acquire the knowledge and confidence necessary to invent and create the 21st-century.

Maketec’s mission is to encourage the children to explore new domains by making the latest physical-digital technologies accessible. Through a safe environment and trial and error, children will learn to view technology as a tool for creation and not just consumption.