Ramps!
Every once and a while we decide to totally transform MAKESHOP to meet the needs of a specific activity. For the past couple of months we had been brainstorming some way to play around with ramps and “Rube Goldberg Machines” in our space. Around the end of December we were given a donation of hundreds of cardboard tubes. We took…
Making a Collaborative Quilt
Over the last couple weeks, MAKESHOP began a quilting project. Everyone is invited to create a 5×5 inch square to add to our collaborative quilt. It has been a fun opportunity to learn all kinds of sewing techniques: from learning to thread a needle to operating a sewing machine. The response has been amazing; it looks like it’s going to…
Physics in Motion
A couple of weeks ago we let our visitors explore ramps on a very large scale. We cleared out a large space in MAKESHOP and let adults and kids explore with cardboard tubes, tape and ping pong balls. Photos don’t really do this activity justice. Below are several videos highlighting some of the more interesting creations during our ramp experiment….
Maker Meet Up
MAKESHOP is an exhibit at the Museum. It is primarily a space for visitors to use. But it is used for other things too. The space is often used as a meeting place for educators and community leaders here in Pittsburgh. These meetings are a great way for people from various schools and organizations to share ideas and plan for…
A Weaving Workshop
A couple of weeks ago a group of Kindergarteners and their Eighth Grade Buddies visited the Museum to explore the process of weaving. They were furthering their exploration of the history of Native Americans by learning some of the culture’s creative processes. The Eighth Graders and Pre-K students built their own cardboard looms and practiced weaving with pieces of yarn….
Making a Magnet Wall
What can you do with a thousand flat refrigerator magnets? That was the question I had when we received a donation of old magnets. They were part of an advertising campaign from 2005 for a local theme park. Sometimes it simply the shear number of a certain material that helps us develop an activity in MAKESHOP. I thought it would…
DIY RPG (an original MAKESHOP strategy game)
At our last Youth Maker Night we gave the kids the opportunity to create their own board game using pieces and parts from existing games (chess pieces, dice, paper money, etc.). One boy in particular decided to take this activity to a whole other level. He developed a role playing strategy game using chess pieces and postit notes. The materials were…
Allen’s Car
Here is a great example of how a visitor can really come prepared to MAKESHOP. Allen visits the Museum a lot and although there are lots of things to play with at the Museum he sometimes brings his own toys as well. During this particular visit his toys completely inspired him to create something in MAKSHOP. He wanted to make…
Mobile MAKESHOP: Building Circuit Blocks
When I visited the Children’s Museum of the Ohio Valley for my first site visit there was a day camp at the Museum full of kids from the same school. The kids were used to doing crafts and using materials like glue and tape. I decided to build a bunch of circuit blocks with these kids. I got out most of…
MAKESHOP MAKEover Edition 2: Millvale Community Library
Mobile MAKESHOP is a program that hopes to expand our ideas and teaching practices to outside sites and community partners. One of those partners is the recently opened Millvale Community Library. This space was built from the ground up by the residents of Millvale, a small suburb of Pittsburgh. The library is incredible and is a great community space for…