Chicago Children’s Museum Tinkering Lab
As a Maker Corps intern at the Chicago Children’s Museum my work was dedicated to the creation and facilitation of programming that occurred within the museum’s Tinkering Lab. The Tinkering Lab is a makerspace designed for children 10 and under wherein they can tinker with tools and materials such as hammers and nails, textiles, and saws. In addition to helping museum guests navigate the Tinkering Lab space I was also responsible for the development of drop-in programming to offer more specialized hands-on experiences for the guests.
Below is a list of the various drop-in programs that were developed during my time at the museum
Aerial Arts
Museum guests constructed their own paper airplanes and were able to test their aerodynamic performance! We designed a “wind tunnel” test apparatus so that the center of gravity on the airplanes could be adjusted as well as other characteristics like the lift and drag generated from a paper airplane’s tail fins. Another test apparatus was built for guests to test their paper airplanes with a motorized paper airplane launcher – this enabled all guests regardless of age/skill to be able to see their paper airplanes fly through the air!
Cardboard Creations
Museum guests construct and play with the simple construction materials of cardboard and brass brad fasteners. Using special cardboard hole punch tools that I designed guests of all ages are able to successfully and safely punch holes into the cardboard in order to build whatever their imagination can come up with.
Doodlebots
Museum guests create their own drawing robots using nothing more than basic craft supplies, markers, and vibrating motors conveniently found in electric toothbrushes. By attaching markers as the legs of the robot and turning on a vibrating motor the robots come to life as they begin to dance around the table leaving works of art behind.
Float Your Boat
Museum guests construct small watercraft using very limited supplies of only clay, aluminum foil, and popsicle sticks. The objective in this activity is to build a boat that can hold as much weight as possible (in the form of metal washers) before taking on water and sinking to the bottom of the tanks. Supplies are scarce but fun is not!
Squishy Circuits
Museum guests construct simple electrical circuits with LEDs, buzzers, and switches using specialized play-dough as the “wires” in each circuit. With one dough being conductive and one dough being an insulator guests can construct a variety of circuits with different shapes and configurations that are only limited by their imagination.
The Art of Take Apart
Museum guests breakdown and tear apart old electronics to learn about how they are built and what can be found inside of them. From cameras to talking stuffed animals, old electronic e-waste is given one final purpose to help educate guests as they dismantle them one piece at a time and explore the intricacies of their construction.
