Digital fabrication and making with children: Scrutinizing adult actor’s strategies and challenges in mediating young people’s activities

Abstract Cultivating children’s Maker mindset by facilitating their involvement in Makerspaces is recognized by researchers around the world as a topic worth investigating. Previous studies have revealed several different roles for the adults involved; however, there is little elaboration on the characteristics and strategies associated with these roles. This study focuses on digital fabrication and Making activities with children aged (K12). It presents the results of interview data collected from nine adult actors analysed using nexus analytic concepts of interaction order and historical body as sensitizing devices. The results reveal the diverse strategies the adult actors employed as the mediators of children’s learning, independent of their formal roles, when engaged with children. The study identifies numerous challenges the adult actors faced. Overall, it shows significant variety in the mediation of children’s digital fabrication and Making activities, shaped by adult actors with different histories and backgrounds and within different contexts. The study includes the implications for the research and practice of digital fabrication and Making with children.