Newsletter 6/19/25

Pom-Pom Power

‘Have you ever made a pom-pom?’ I ask this all the time. And because pom-poms are cute and kitschy, it’s not surprising that my question is often met with a giggle or a raised eyebrow when I, a middle-aged maker, bring it up in the context of empowering creativity and strengthening equity in Creative/Maker Spaces (CMS).

It’s precisely because pom-poms are cute, familiar, and easy to make that they become a powerful first step toward nurturing creativity and equity.

Making pom-poms helps uplift all voices through authentic expression and a visible, active presence in your CMS.

Every Creative/Maker Space I’ve worked with was built to foster an innovative environment where a wide range of interdisciplinary community members collaborate and invent solutions to big challenges. Yet many people lack confidence in their design or hands-on making abilities—sometimes because life has kept them from making, or worse, because they’ve been intentionally prevented from participating.

To welcome everyone, a CMS must first prioritize Diverse Representation: ensuring everyone has an equal, authentic voice and a visible, active presence. From there, this Community of Belonging lays the groundwork, establishing infrastructure and initiatives that foster mutual respect and shared purpose. Like a dinner party among good friends, this safe environment fosters an Unrestricted Ideas Culture, where people are free to discuss ideas and collectively embrace creative thinking. This leads to Collaborative Conceptual Thinking, driving the co-creation of transformative, transdisciplinary solutions that explore complex questions through new concepts and hands-on prototypes. Finally, your CMS community will support Authentic Intellectual Exploration, discovering applications for these insights that create real value by addressing global challenges.

To kickstart all of the above,

you need a project that removes mental and societal barriers by encouraging self-belief through a growth mindset.

That’s where the little pom-pom steps in as an unexpected hero, promoting three profound cultural actions:

Empowerment through Creation: Supporting individuals to design and create something meaningful, rebuilding trust in their inherent creative and making abilities.


Personal Expression: Letting people express themselves through the design choices they make—colors, textures, forms—so they see their identity reflected in a small artifact.


Community Connection: Engaging participants in a shared experience creates a personal connection with the CMS through group participation.

In an earlier post, Yes, You Are Too a Designer!, I discuss how everyone is a designer, because choosing what to wear each morning involves analyzing needs, defining criteria, ideating options, considering function and aesthetics, critiquing, and selecting items. The styles and colors you pick are everyday acts of self-expression, tied to identity, memory, and intention—they’re declarations of who you are and who you’d like to become. A vibrant scarf might embolden you for a new challenge; a soft knit sweater might comfort you on a rough day. This ongoing, personal composition is shaped by culture, emotion, and experience.

Similarly, selecting yarn for a pom-pom invites self-reflection. Muted grays might evoke introspection, while bright oranges convey optimism. Thick, chunky strands convey boldness; fine, whispery fibers suggest subtlety. These choices mirror the instincts we follow when styling ourselves: they reveal our feelings, values, and how we wish to be seen. In crafting a pom-pom “avatar,” you externalize inner qualities, encouraging yourself to notice and articulate what matters most. Designing a pom-pom parallels the language of fashion but offers a fresh intimacy: a small, handmade proof that anyone, regardless of background, can make something beautiful and meaningful in just minutes.

Then, this simple craft extends beyond the individual. By sharing pom-pom making with a group, you facilitate collective exploration. Participants take the first steps into making something personal by hand, side by side, encouraging reflection and inviting imaginative risk-taking in a supportive atmosphere.

Often, I suggest CMSs provide a substrate, such as a cloth mesh, so that participants can tie their pom-pom onto it. Literally and conceptually connecting a piece of themselves to the community transforms these little artifacts into shared touchstones around which participants gather and reflect. This process is more than symbolic: it’s radical hospitality in action—an invitation to explore differences through making, creating conditions for collective learning and transformation.

When folks come back later and see their pom-pom next to hundreds of others, many exclaim, “That’s mine!” or “That’s me!”—proud statements of belonging.

Let’s pause for a quick tutorial on making a pom-pom. (Feel free to adapt materials for accessibility: for instance, pre-cut lengths, braille instructions, or a QR code with links to information for folks with a range of abilities.)

Materials: Yarn in various colors/textures, scissors (or safety scissors for younger participants), and a simple pom-pom maker or DIY cardboard template.
Setup: Lay out yarn in bowls or baskets so folks can easily explore color and texture.
Time: Allow approximately 5–10 minutes per person to learn, wrap, tie, and trim, then attach onto the substrate. If in a group, save time for discussion and reflection.

My first Pom-Pom project: The Weissman Foundry, 2018

This pom-pom project is fantastic for growing self-confidence, self-awareness, and community-building, as its delightful absurdity—the pom-pom—becomes a surprisingly powerful tool for mapping the emotional and ideological topography of creative communities.

What’s cool is that this pom-pom project can take a powerful next step. What began as an individual's playful, creative empowerment, with a few tweaks, can reveal itself to be a data-rich, community-building, and meaning-making practice. Through a structured, collaborative process—rooted in crafting, conversation, and color—participants physically manifest abstract ideas like equity, belonging, and power into personal handmade artifacts.

As an example, I’ll use the Boston area: BU CRAFT Equity in Making Meetings for Collective Visioning and Action—a networking meeting that brought together leaders from twenty makerspaces to define and advance equity and inter-institutional collaboration.

Boston University CRAFT Meeting, The Earl Center for Learning and Innovation, 2.12.2025

Step 1: Individual Ideation “Post-it note” idea iteration session.
Each person wrote words on Post-it notes representing “Equity” in their space, considering how equity is reflected currently.

Step 2: Theme Synthesis
As a group, we synthesized ideas into like-kind clusters. Such as:

Step 3: Naming Themes
We assigned a single-word title to each cluster and analyzed and distilled it into clear themes. In this case, the CRAFT group identified these themes:

  • Multiplicity and Reciprocity

  • Relationality

  • Access and Support

  • Power

  • Skills and Infrastructure

  • Community

Step 4: Color Assignment
We then matched each theme to a yarn color:

  • BLUE = Multiplicity and Reciprocity

  • PINK = Relationality

  • ORANGE = Access and Support

  • PURPLE = Power

  • BURGUNDY = Skills and Infrastructure

  • PEACH = Community

Step 5: Pompom Creation
Participants then choose one or more of the assigned yarns to wrap into their pom-pom to represent how strongly they strive for each equity theme:

  • Mildly striving: ~50 wraps.

  • Moderately striving: ~100 wraps.

  • Profoundly striving: ~150 wraps.

During the making, we all noticed how

winding yarn became a ritual of personal self-reflection, humorous ice-breaking, and a confident declaration.

The result: a beautiful landscape of diverse pom-poms that shared a collective visual language while encoding personal commitment and aspiration.

Examples of Pom-poms and data from BU CRAFT, The Earl Center for Learning and Innovation, 2.12.2025

Step 6: Photograph & AI Analysis
We then photographed each pom-pom and filtered the images through an AI prompt to categorize yarn colors by quantity, generating an “Equitable Culture Profile” for each CMS.
Note: Ensure you clarify consent for images, consider alternative manual categorization methods, and be aware of potential AI bias.

Step 7: Group Pairing for Deeper Dialogue
Finally, we used the “Equitable Culture Profiles” to form small groups of three that balance the six equity themes across the triad. Each became a microcosm of exchange and support, as participants could now learn from one another. This relational weaving mirrors the process of pom-pom making itself and fosters unexpected dialogue, fresh perspectives, and authentic connections.

Step 8: Reflection & Next Steps
After discussions, participants reflected on what had surprised them and how they might adjust their practices in their CMS. In the future, share stakeholder feedback (surveys, open conversations) to inform follow-up initiatives and offer resources and toolkits to support ongoing equity work.

In its colorful contradictions, the pom-pom becomes a profoundly generative medium, bridging the interpersonal and intercultural, the playful and the political. Through yarn and intention, communities begin to see and feel shared commitments come alive—one loop at a time.

In my next post, later this summer, I’m excited to share a “recipe” of ideas, easy actions, and simple objects to spark a small but powerful creative act, such as a customized pom-pom project, for your maker or creative space. I understand that introducing a new hands-on activity can raise questions about materials, timing, and meaningful connections. In my next post, I’ll guide you through each step—from sourcing or improvising materials to framing the activity’s purpose and facilitating reflection on themes such as belonging and collaboration. You’ll gain adaptable strategies to fit diverse contexts, tips for inclusive engagement, and ideas for extending the experience beyond its initial scope. My goal is to empower your CMS to confidently create and iterate, transforming a humble craft into a catalyst for community and insight. Follow along by signing up for the TCSP newsletter.