This summer, Tinkering School Day Camp launched a second location for younger folks (Junior Day Camp). It's an experiment where we have limited the age range of the Tinkerers and also limited their access to building materials and tools.
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Our big important goals at Tinkering School are about collaboration, problem-solving, curiosity and perseverance. Fabrication is just the medium through which we explore those goals. Team problem-solving is the end, fabrication is the means.
But, sometimes it's worth thinking about the means. What, exactly, would we like kids to take away from their time at Tinkering School, with respect to fabrication? Here are some thoughts:
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For Heavy Lifting week I was excited about building a Claw Machine! Claw machines were a big part of my childhood and I realized, while walking down memory lane, that they contain some interesting problems that would be hard to think about, but easy to build. There would be simple, sliding movement, but in three dimensions. I figured out the gist of how classic claw machines worked, so that our team could have a good understanding of what parts we’d need to build, and was ready to tinker out the details with the kids as we came to them.
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BLOOD BUBBLE: Intentionally-macabre name for the three-dimensional space around every tool where, if a body part should wander in, there is a greater probability of injury. Notable blood bubbles include:
Full-arm radius around anyone using a knife or hand saw. The area forward of a spinning drill bit. The manufacturer-marked areas on the chop saw.
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WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?
It was the last of 8 weeks of Tinkering School Summer Day Camp. As an experiment, we decided to do a service project. We partnered with Urban Sprouts (an organization that focuses on creating healthy schools and communities through garden based education) to help them create a giant shed and planters.
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I learned our motto by week 2 of summer camp and embraced it ever since then: “Failure is data collection.” It takes a lot of stubbornness and determination to finish a project. I learned the highlights and pitfalls of operating from a visual versus a structural perspective. It was a challenging project, but I am glad we tied it. Honestly, it was wonderful to look at myself and the kids at the end of the day and just know how happy we were to just get messy.
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We asked the folks who run Tinkering Schools, "What are three awesome things worth sharing with other folks who build with kids?"
Their replies are below!
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On the last day of camp this summer, I found myself frantically threading rope and tying knots to finish the project (part of an obstacle course), while the tinkerers played in the park. At that moment, I had to wonder: Is it OK that I’m helping this much?
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It was a 5-day camp with 36 kids, held in the mayo factory. The theme of the week was "Monster City". The big projects were a pretty-huge-sized replica of the spire of the Chrysler Building (for King Kong to climb), a 40'x40' city made of cardboard and a moving, rolling Godzilla Monster (to destroy the Cardboard City at the end of the week.
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Picture this: it's Monday morning at Tinkering School. Seven-year-old Niko is about to practice using the power drill. He has his hands full with a drill, a battery and a bucket of screws.
Niko asks a collaborator, "Where are the drill bits?"
At this moment, the collaborator has two options:
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When kids walk in to Tinkering School, they know that they are going to build. They don't know what they're going to build. Unlike lots of workshops, we do not reveal the project to kids or parents ahead of time. Until the day of a workshop, after Safety Training, the project remains a surprise. We've found that this has a few advantages..
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Tinkering School is not about tools. It's about helping kids increase their confidence and abilities as problem-solvers. It's about tackling tough problems and making new friends. It's about experiences--not objects.
That said, tools are an essential part of those experiences. Kids experiences of using the tools should be as fluid and frictionless as possible. (A plugged-in chop saw with a sharp blade on a clean, clear cutting table is a tool. An unplugged chopsaw with a dull-blade stashed under a messy table is a series of Very Tedious Problems).
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Tinkering School is not about the tools. That said, here are some hard-won truths about tools and materials.
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Engaged, enthusiastic collaborators (a.k.a. "adults") are the foundation of a great Tinkering School experience.Every kid, to some degree, mirrors the collaborators. Kids get stoked on a project when they see collaborators stoked on a project. Kids enjoy tough, open-ended problems when they see collaborators enjoy tough, open-ended problems. Kids treat people with consideration and warmth when they see collaborators treat people with consideration and warmth.
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