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We launched a year ago with tinkering clubs for young kids in our community center.  The focus is on leveraging design thinking, engineering, technology and art to create projects that are fun, interactive and reflect the personalities of the creators. 

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• Many of our tinkering & creative tech classes have a theme or a prompt (past themes have included a carnival, modes of transportation, holiday windows).

• Students build prototypes using recyclable materials (primarily cardboard) and then add electronic components and sensors to make their creations come alive. We use microcontrollers to control the electronics and learn to write code for the microcontroller. 

• We also use modern fabrication tools like laser cutters and 3D printers to add functional and design elements for our projects.

• We don’t rely on kits (e.g. LEGO, Vex Robotics etc.) for our curriculum…because we like the creativity and learning that emerges from open-ended prompts and using the resources available at our disposal.

• Students work on their projects over several sessions.  They think about how end-users will interact with their project, what functionality to include and how the project will reflect their own personality.  Often, they will come up with ideas on how everyone’s project relates to each other to form a story. 

• Students learn skills like electronics and coding in an intuitive way because it is part of the project and necessary to make their project functional.

• They also learn soft skills like communication and collaboration while using shared tools and teaching/helping others on their projects.