Maker Skill Trees are printable templates that can guide and track hands-on skill progression. Color in the boxes as you go and get inspired to try new things. This repository is always growing and aims to include a large variety of skills, see full list below. Everyone's journey is different and you can interpret the goals flexibly. Not everything needs to be completed. Print your own in A4 or A3 size. This project is collaborative and aims to refine and grow these resources through community involvement.
Each skill tree has 73 skill or experience hexagonal tiles, ordered in a spectrum of basic skills at the bottom to more advanced skills at the top. This includes 5 set your own goal tiles for you to tailor to your own interests. Under the templates section, there's also a smaller Mini Skill Tree template with only 40 tiles. Maker Skill Trees are released under the Creative Commons Licence, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 . You are free to share, adapt, remix or transform the printables or templates for non-commercial purposes. However, you must do so by giving credit to Steph Piper / Maker Queen (or leaving the credit at the bottom of the page) and if you release a remix it must be under the same licence. I'm looking at releasing a book with all these compiled when all trees are complete.
Open Educational Resource (OER) – CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Header font used: Hansief
Other fonts used:
Templates include Adobe Illustrator and PDF files.
Print out your chosen template or use the template digitally. Start at the base and color in the boxes of anything you've already done. Use the template to visualise your current skills and identify any skill gaps. You may wish to use the below coloring convention to tailor the tree to your own journey, and there are sticker templates available (under templates folder) if you wish to make goal replacement stickers on a vinyl cutter. Think of the tiles as suggestions that can be changed based on your priorities and ability.
You can now make your own skill tree templates with the web app designed by the talented @schme16. It's now a lot easier to make your own templates for personal use or adding to the repository.
How to use:
It's encouraged to customize these base skill trees around your own interests and goals. You may edit these PDFs to suit or use tile stickers to cover the boxes on a printed template. You can cut your own tile stickers with a vinyl cutter using the Tile Stickers Template SVG (in the templates folder).
I'm working on a book with an expansive range of skill trees, plus great tools to track your progress, earn achievement badges and calculate your life XP score across all areas. Get notified when the book is available.
✅ Automotive
☐ Blacksmithing
✅ Boating & Fishing
☐ Ceramics
✅ Crafting
✅ Crochet
✅ Dance
✅ Embroidery
✅ House Building
☐ Jewelry Making
✅ Knitting
✅ Metalworking
✅ Moulding and Casting
✅ Music
✅ Photography / Videography
✅ Reading & Writing
✅ Renovation & Repair
✅ Sewing
✅ Visual Arts
✅ Woodworking
✅ 3D Modelling ✅ French Translation
✅ 3D Printing ✅ French Translation
☐ AI & Machine Learning
✅ Amateur Radio
✅ CNC & CAM
✅ Coding ✅ Mini Coding Tree
✅ Computing
✅ Dev Boards
✅ Electronics
✅ Embedded Systems
✅ Game Dev
☐ Gaming
✅ IT Security
✅ Laser Cutting ✅ French Translation
✅ Linux
✅ PCB Design
✅ Mobile App Dev
☐ Research Skills
✅ Robotics
✅ Website Building
✅ Adventure
☐ Animal Care
☐ Backyard Science
✅ Baking
✅ Civics & Community
✅ Cleaning
✅ Cooking
☐ Drinks
✅ Entrepreneurship
☐ Environmentalist
🟧 Finance (50% Done - In Progress)
☐ Fermenting & Preservation
✅ Gardening
✅ Language
☐ Life Admin
☐ Self Care
✅ Sports & Fitness
✅ Survivalist
✅ Travel
☐ Volunteering
✅ STEAM Skills
✅ Explore a Makerspace
✅ Makerspace w/ 3D Printer, 3D scanner, Vinyl Cutter and Electronics Bench
✅ Makerspace w/ 3D Printer, 3D scanner, Vinyl Cutter, Laser Cutter and Electronics Bench
✅ 3D Printing and 3D Modelling (Now split to individual areas)
✅ Roller Derby
✅ Dungeons and Dragons
✅ Comic Artist
✅ Cocktails
✅ Kubernetes
✅ Scratch
🟧 Astronomy (50% Done - In Progress)
☐ Tabletop Games
☐ Video Games
☐ Leatherworking
☐ Bushcraft
☐ Foraging
☐ Biology Experiments
☐ Vintage Computing
☐ Social Skills
☐ Climbing
☐ Weaving
☐ Cooking Skills: National Cuisines
☐ Mushroom Cultivation
☐ Insect Breeding
☐ Urban Gardening
☐ School Summer Camp Planning
☐ School Event Organization
☐ Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (https://www.aitsl.edu.au/standards/graduate)
☐ Minecraft (See open issue #19 to submit ideas)
☐ Juggling
☐ Mechanical Aptitude - Simple systems (Gearing, levers, pullies) up to complex machines
Got a suggestion for a new skill tree, or feedback on an existing tree? Use the suggestion box form. None of the info in these was compiled by AI, but rather through working with experts. These trees are currently not final and I'm actively seeking feedback and peer review to polish and refine the content.
Interested in helping put one of these together? Or even something that's not on the list? Send through your draft and I can put it in the template, or we can do a brainstorm hour to fill it in. If you're an expert and help me put something together a skill tree for the repository, or can assist in translating the sheets into different languages I'd love to hear from you. Let me know if you're interested, email: steph@makerqueen.com.au
Use the template pack in the files, including PNG / PDF and AI files to fill in with your software of choice. If you've filled it in, I'm happy to polish it with custom icons and release it in this repository.
My aim with the skill trees is:
With a total of 73 skill tiles, there's a lot of boxes to fill in! To help prompt ideas, I usually include the following:
If you've spotted something that could be improved in a Skill Tree, I'd love to send you a holographic rare contributor sticker in the mail to say thanks. We've each got our own great unique experiences and perspectives in our skill areas and I'd love to draw on our collective knowledge to polish these skill trees into their best versions. Bug Feedback form: https://forms.office.com/r/eemK9VhJFm
Were these made with AI?
No, these were made in collaboration with experts or using my own expertise, without any AI usage. You can see the author credits at the base of each tree. Every expert has different experiences and I'm hoping to build a community on here and get many experts to proofread and peer review these trees to polish them into their best versions.
Will you keep the 'Skill Trees' name when they aren't really traditional skill trees?
While these templates are skill tree inspired, I'm working on some new name ideas, potentially 'Skill Trackers' or something else. Any suggestions appreciated!
Get skill tree poster digital downloads on my website for free or on the MakerQueen Shop if you wish to support the project.
Watch my talk on the Skill Trees Project
Hackaday Article - Maker Skill Trees Help You Level Up Your Craft
Adafruit Blog - The Maker Skill Trees Project
Skill Tree Web App by the talented @amalmathewtech