Puppet Prototype
Each month, our staff picks a programmatic theme for MAKESHOP that helps us to decide on what activities to provide. Our theme in MAKESHOP for the month of February is puppets. We decided to explore different ways to make puppets by reimagining recycled materials, sewing finger puppets and cloth puppets, building marionettes and playing with shadows puppets. As always, we will integrate digital…
Kai’s Invention
Kai is a regular visitor of the Museum. He is the kind of visitor who really enjoys tinkering with anything and everything. On this particular day, we were experimenting with making light-up cards using copper tape and LEDs. Kai was very interested in exploring what could be done with the copper tape and a piece of paper. He already had…
Masks!
Our theme for the month of October is identity. We’ve decided to explore this theme by creating masks and costumes. A mask is a great way to change your persona. We’ve spent the past couple of days experimenting with different materials and designs. As usual, we invite our visitors to share in this prototyping process. You can learn a lot…
MAKESHOP Superhero Gadgets
We get our fair share of crime-fighting gadgets here in the ‘shop. Grappling hooks come and go in waves, and lightsabers are always popular. We’ve seen Iron Man-style repulsers, and plenty of Batman-inspired costume pieces. There’s a foam samurai getup on one of the dress forms, and I myself am guilty of making a magazine-paper broadsword and plate armor combo. Usability is a huge…
Playing with Gears
I was asked by a fellow teacher to create something that facilitates the exploration of gears. Gears can be tricky for children to understand, so I thought it was a great challenge! After an extremely informal brainstorming session with Christian, I came up with this activity. I have to thank Christian for passing by during the day and suggesting that…
Prototyping New Programs
The MAKESHOP staff likes to prototype our programming. Sometimes this step can be the most fun part of developing new activities for our visitors. Our theme for the month of September is “Books and Bags.” We set out at the end of August to figure the best ways for visitors to create these two things. Along with the best ways…
Music in the MAKESHOP
Our theme for the month of August is sound and music. We have been encouraging visitors to create musical instruments, but the staff has been having a blast creating some instruments of our own. A family came in a couple of days ago and wanted to try and make a pair of harps. I have never made a harp before,…
Making Use of a Record Player
We needed something that spins for our kaleidoscope workshops. I was planning on making something like a big spinning wheel, but by coincidence, an employee from another department dropped off an old record player. It was a great coincidence! I own a record player and I use it to play music. I never thought I’d be using a record player…
Three Days in the MAKESHOP
What can you do with a ton of newspaper? We weren’t entirely sure. Someone suggested we do “rolled newspaper projects.” That quickly blossomed into a ” giant newspaper sculpture!” So over the span of a week, we let visitors add to our collaborative sculpture. This was a really fun activity to do. What was even more fun was filming the…
Making Messes
It seems that no matter who I work with, whether it’s with a fellow educator or a little kid, my work spaces end up looking like the above two pictures. Sometimes having a mess can help you be a little more creative. -Kevin