Global Kids — Celebrating the Joy of Learning

A Spotlight on One of Our Favorite Fab Initiatives

Read 5 min

The Global Kids initiative is a celebration of the pure joy of learning. Rather than the whirring of machines often associated with Fab Labs, the most prominent sounds heard at one of their immersive workshops are children’s laughter, clapping, and singing. Inevitably, these are accompanied by smiling faces, dancing bodies, brilliant colors strewn about, and a vibe that evokes the optimism and energetic spirit of summer camp.

That’s not to say that these gatherings are frivolous in any way—quite the opposite. Global Kids harnesses the power of playful learning, employing an arts and crafts approach to teaching sophisticated maker methodologies and fabrication techniques. Engaging young people around the world in age-appropriate and culturally respectful explorations of digital technologies, this group of Fabbers is nurturing the next generation of international innovators and changemakers.

In its journey toward greater inclusion, the program has gone through some changes over the years. Starting in 2013 under the name Fab Lat Kids, the project was originally targeted toward youth in Latin America. Over time, its reach expanded to Asia, then Africa, evolving, finally, into Global Kids by 2017. Thanks to the support of the international Fab Lab Network and the increased availability of virtual gathering spaces, the initiative is able to connect children all across the globe with their international peers to collaborate on human-centered, innovative digital fabrication projects. And these gatherings go beyond simply making things; such events aim to foster understanding and appreciation of world cultures in the young participants.

Learn more about the exciting projects brought to life by this youth-led movement!

Now in its second decade of programming, Global Kids remains an entirely volunteer-powered initiative. Its success depends upon the extraordinary effort of a dedicated team of globally distributed collaborators: Ilaria La Manna of Studio 5 (representing Italy and Qatar), Jimena Califa of Fab Lat Kids (representing Argentina and Finland), Rico Kanthatham of Skylab Workshop (representing the US, Thailand, and Japan), Kato Masakazu of FabNinjaKids (representing Japan), Alex Garcia of ESAP Lab (representing Brazil), and Martin Oloo of Fab Lab Winam (representing Kenya). Working across many time zones and transcending the barriers of geography, language, and culture, this all-star team commits to leading at least one international education event each year, celebrating the children of the world.

This year, the team’s commitment was super-sized. At FAB24 Mexico, Global Kids decided to lead 15 separate children-centric activities during the entire week of the conference. This included two days of workshops in a hybrid learning environment at the Fab Festival, bringing local children together to craft a variety of global cultural artifacts from laser-cut materials and also assembling an international group on Zoom for the demonstration of a digitally controlled piñata. Then, for the five days of the Fab Lab Conference & Symposium, the team ran two parallel youth education tracks, one for younger learners and another for teens. Participants explored the full spectrum of STEAM education—spanning digital video, music, virtual reality, robotics, coding, AI, microscopy, motion mechanics, textiles, and biomaterials—and at the end of the week, they were charged with presenting their results to a panel of digital fabrication experts in a judged competition.

And, of course, we can’t neglect to mention the team’s stellar FABercise performance, leading an auditorium filled with “kids” of all ages through two rounds of the Baby Shark Dance—which also included a live AI interaction, filming audience members and turning them into sharks on screen. That was an educational experience for all involved!

We’d also be remiss not to express our deepest gratitude to the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation, whose gracious support made it possible for 65 young people—as well as four members of the Global Kids team—from different parts of the world to attend the FABx conference and experience these transformative learning opportunities in person this year. Given the volunteer-based structure of the initiative, this type of partnership is essential to the growth and continued success of Global Kids. The team is ever on the lookout for like-minded people and organizations that are able and willing to offer support of any kind for their endeavors. For example, they collaborated with STEMpedia for FAB24, designing a brilliant workshop on music and AI that ended in a festive digital Mariachi concert. Support may come in the form of corporate funding, nonprofit partnerships, or even international government sponsorship of Global Kids as cultural ambassadors. And the team certainly welcomes the help of community members everywhere who wish to share their time, expertise, and cultural practices with the young innovators of the world.

Anyone interested in supporting this important work may join the Global Kids Discord channel to connect directly with the community.

We enthusiastically applaud Team Global Kids and the incredible amount of energy that they put into providing children everywhere the chance to learn, experiment, innovate, collaborate, and make a real difference in the world—both in their own communities and at a global scale. This educational program for youth is an admirable demonstration of leveraging digital technologies to teach fundamental skills while simultaneously promoting cultural exchange and bridging gaps around the world. That is the essence of the Fab Foundation’s mission, and it is the glue that binds the international Fab Lab Network. Bravo!