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Tinkering Tuesday

The Museum’s Tinkering Tuesday program encourages children to do what they do best – let their curiosity take over! Explore the world of engineering by building machines and creating processes, and then explore what happens when you make changes or do things differently. Programming takes place approximately every other Tuesday from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. at announced locations in the Museum. Photo courtesy of Anixter

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September 3, September 17: Construction and Tools

Put your construction hats on and tinker with child-safe tools in this engineering activity.

October 1, October 15, October 29: Engineering a Tool

Design and construct a tool or machine to retrieve an object that’s gotten stuck out of your reach.

November 12, November 26: Strike Up the Band

Tap, clang, pluck, and combine materials to discover the different sounds you can make with your own constructed instrument.

December 10: Ice Cream in A Bag

Discover how salt can lower the temperature of ice to make this cold, sweet treat.
 

Lesson Plans:

  • A-Maze-Ing Magnets Lesson: Build a maze and test it out using a magnet to move your car through its twists & turns.
  • Buoy, Oh Buoyancy! Lesson: Put your engineer caps on and help us test different materials to design a boat that stays afloat.
  • Graphite Circuits Lesson: Circuits don’t have to be hard wired. You can draw your own! Use pencils to explore how you create a circuit to power a light.
  • Paper Bridges Lesson: Help get our animal friends across the rivers safely by constructing paper bridges and testing the strength of your design.
  • Scribble Bots Lesson: Construct a vibrating scribble machine and watch it bounce, spin, and bump on paper making a unique colorful design.