ChangeMaker Lab Featured in "The Tinkering Workshop"
Ryan Jenkins is the co-founder of Wonderful Idea Co., a design studio focused on STEAM education. He’s a former educator and tinkerer at The Exploratorium and Tinkering School in San Francisco and has prototyped projects at Maker Faires, science museums, schools and libraries around the world. Ryan is coming out with a new book, The Tinkering Workshop, that gives tinkerers an invitation to start messing around with everyday materials, get inspired by a collection of artists and explore ideas related to art, science and technology.
This playful guide provides many starting points for helping learners develop a tinkering mindset and build personally meaningful projects. The inclusion of Live Oak’s ChangeMaker Lab in this book highlights our constructivist approach to education, where learning happens through exploration and guided by our students' observations and curiosities about the world. You can pre-order the book now and it will be available everywhere on October 15.
On the 15th of October (the book birthday of The Tinkering Workshop), Ryan will lead a special workshop for students in the ChangeMaker Lab and then broadcast a virtual launch party from the space for kids, caregivers, educators and tinkerers around the country. You are all invited to sign up for the online event here.
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On the 15th of October (the book birthday of The Tinkering Workshop), Ryan will lead a special workshop for students in the ChangeMaker Lab and then broadcast a virtual launch party from the space for kids, caregivers, educators and tinkerers around the country. You are all invited to sign up for the online event here.
Here’s a short excerpt of the book that gives some advice for making your own tinkering station featuring the ChangeMaker Lab as an inspiring makerspace:
Make a Tinkering Station
Tinkering can happen anywhere— on a kitchen table, spread out on the floor in your room, even outside in a park. If you have space in your room, garage, or basement, you can set up a more permanent tinkering station.
Table: Set up a table or other sturdy surface to tinker on. Be sure it doesn’t shake or wobble and that it’s big enough to fit your projects and materials.
Shelves: Stock tinkering supplies on shelves beside or below your tinkering table. Use bins or containers that are see-through, if possible, so that you can easily grab the right material.
Extras: Add whatever else you might want to keep you feeling energized and focused in your tinkering space. Perhaps a little green plant, a water bottle, a portable speaker, or your favorite snacks?
Creative Makerspaces
The best way to design your own workspace is to get inspiration from other tinkerers. Here are
ideas from tinkerers Lianna Kali of the ChangeMaker Lab, artist Nicole Catrett, and Kenn Munk
and Annabelle Nielsen of A Secret Club. What ideas can you take from each of these
makerspaces?
Label Bins: Material bins at the ChangeMaker Lab are organized and labeled by type,
and you can see what’s inside. A step stool helps kids reach the higher shelves. Past
projects are displayed on the top shelf above the materials.
Sawhorse Workbench: Nicole made this workbench for her daughter out of an old
cutting board that’s screwed to a wooden sawhorse.
Sewing Stuff: A Secret Club has a cupboard for sewing-related materials and tools.
Excerpted from The Tinkering Workshop © by Ryan Jenkins. Used with permission from Storey Publishing. Workshop photos © Storey Publishing, ©Nicole Catrett, © Live Oak School, and © A secret club. Profile photo © scienceintermedia | Sebastian Funk
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