Classroom
Our first Host a Clixo Activity was a great success!
Madeline Stoddard, founder and CEO of InventHers in Clearwater, Florida, introduced Clixo to her community on September 4th to great fanfare. Madeline first learned about Clixo at this year’s ISTE conference and knew right away that it would be a great fit for the InventHers curriculum.
InventHERS is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation of female and nonbinary inventors through hands-on invention experiences, educational resources, and mentorship. With creativity and invention at the center of her work, Madeline was drawn to how open-ended Clixo felt. There was no single “right” way to build, giving students the freedom to experiment, change direction, and trust their own ideas.
More than 60 participants joined the event, making for a busy morning of building and creating! Madeline opened with Ashley Spires’ The Most Magnificent Team, setting the stage for an activity centered on collaboration. Rather than jumping straight into individual building, students first explored the different Clixo pieces together through a few group challenges, including creating one giant collaborative heart. Once they had a feel for how the pieces worked, it was time to free-build and to see where their own ideas would take them.
In Madeline’s words:
“Creativity fueled by Clixo! Students were enthralled by the magic of a very unique building material. It was a joy to watch them all branch off and make a myriad of different things, from bugs to jewelry, we had it all! The freedom of the build allowed students to be independent… It was always wonderful to see the different age groups find ways to scaffold its use.”
We’re so excited to see how InventHers incorporated Clixo into their programming and can’t wait to see what they build next!
*P.S. Interested in incorporating Clixo into storytime like Madeline did? Check out our blog post on the Sound Effects Lab activity and lesson plan!
