Summer Camp (June 17-22) is filled up and ready to rock.  We have been doing some more detailed planning of projects and preparing for a truly amazing summer.  Stay tuned for staff bios!  We are so excited to introduce you to the rag-tag crew of misfits and makers that make us exceptional!

A new Tinkering space/exhibit at Chicago Children’s Museum has been on our minds non-stop.  We have been working on concept development and had a great turn out to the Tinkering Summit (on April 24).  Everyone shared “tinkering memories” from their childhood, which has enlightened the process and reinforced the work we have done thus far. The exhibit is scheduled to open in early 2013.

We will be building for a day in July at beautiful park in Milwakee for the S.E.N.G. Conference.  Love taking Tinkering School on the road!

Mini-Maker Faire Chicago Northside   On the 21st of April we took to the field (in front of Carl Schurz high school) and launched all kinds of fruits and vegetables to the delight of a tremendously enthusiastic crowd.  We look forward to more of the same at a Maker Faire (we have heard wind of) taking place in  Evanston in early August.

Will also be at Chicago Children’s Museum every Saturday in August for  . . . . . .
Meet a Maker, Be a Maker!
Every afternoon, join local artists, hobbyists, musicians, tinkerers, and kids to celebrate the joy of making! Every day will feature a different activity, from creating a mini-book to assembling a tasty snack with a chef!

Oh I am sure I left some stuff out (mostly ideas, events, activities that haven’t been fully figured out), but that is the bulk of it!  You can always check back in on the TSC blog or on our Facebook page to see the latest and greatest.

(Oh Yeah, and I get to go to San Fracisco to check out Brightworks and the Exploritorium the second week in May.  I was hoping  to see the  Adventure Playground in Berkely as well, but alas they are only open on weekends. Guess I’ll have to plan antoher trip, schucks.  But at any rate, I am bursting at the seams to share our tinkering exhibit planning and get overly inspired by all the good stuff happening in the Bay area.)

Can’t wait to see you all this summer!  It promises to be massive fun!

-When we present narrow learning objectives, we receive narrow results.

-If we really want students to learn we must allow them the (physical, mental and emotional) space to do so.

-The real goal/project is to allow children to build their ability to think, problem solve, and persevere.  When an educator focuses on creating the physical and mental space for people to ENGAGE the results are often astounding.

-The project approach has been in practice for the entirety of humanity.

-We learn by doing and seeing it done.

Gever said something to the effect. . . . We are not trying to teach them anything in particular. . . .

-The most important things children learn in an open ended building project are unknowable.  When we study pedagogy, do research, and try to quantify an experience it is difficult not to miss a bulk of that which is most crucial.  We can readily see a child picking up a skill (i.e. how to use a hammer), but what is at the heart of the matter, will in many ways remain hidden.

THINK, MAKE, TINKER

design, engineer, innovate

innovate, build, re-build

play, create, test

ideate, construct, dismantle

explore, shape, re-shape

This series of actions (in any combination, form or pattern) consistently produces a process that allows an individual to hone their ability to problem solve and persevere.

(Often when I think of a project I just start preparing.  I don’t know exactly what I am preparing for, but it gets my gears moving.  I am letting the idea marinate.   When I actually begin applying tools to materials, I often still don’t exactly have a plan, but am further becoming saturated with the project.  (This is only my style, I am sure there are as many styles as there are tinkerers.) Once I have something, anything made, I instantly start to change it, let it take new life.  Even this article I am currently working on began as something entirely different. )

The location is  about 70 miles North East of St. Louis,  where the director of Tinkering School Chicago, Dustin, grew up.

Camp will be in session June 17th through the 22nd.

Click here to apply now! (Registration has ended.)  Please contact Dustin directly to let him know you are interested in Tinkering School Chicago’s programs. dustin@tinkeringschool.com

(Also click the “apply now” link for more detailed information about this offering)

When I was moving my family to a new home two weeks ago, I reached a breaking point.  I was attempting to get my enormous, 104 year old, piano out of my apartment, and at the peak of frustration my wife said “just take it apart, it will be easy to move then.”   She was right!  Not only would it be easy to move, but it would be incredibly cool to take apart the ancient instrument- see how it was built and explore its inner workings.  But alas, I just couldn’t do it, I love my piano.

The idea stuck with me, though.  I dreamt about taking apart a piano, day and night, for the next week.   When I searched craigslist for a “free piano”, I found the most amazing old player piano, better than I ever could have imagined.  Almost too good, I had to hesitate at the idea of taking apart such a beautiful machine.

When I got the piano I started to realize that it was a hundred year tinker.  It was built in 1911, turned into a player piano in the 1926, and modified into an electric player (probably) in the 1960′s.  The player mechanisms all worked but it didn’t really play music, which was pretty ideal.  If it had played the music close to how it was intended I may have had to abandon, but it just had just enough cobwebs and flaws.  In order to ever get the piano back into full working order it had to be fully taken apart.  Yes!

What we found inside the piano was just plain wonderful.

There are a sereis of five bellows (partially seen on the far right of the photo above) that spin gears and shafts.  These in turn rotate the piano roll.

Before we took it apart, we were already astounded by the craftsmanship and inventiveness of the readily visible systems.  As we dug deeper there was more and more to amaze.

This whole top system came off in one big piece.  When it came off it revealed 88 tubes corresponding to the 88 keys of a piano.  Each tube was connected to a tiny slot that read the music.  Where ever there is a hole in the paper, air was sucked into a bellow, which eventually activated the hammer.

I could go on and on. . . . . .  there were one million interesting parts and pieces in this piano.  I could write for a whole day, exploring the tinker someone maneuvered to make the thing electric.  I originally just wanted to take apart a regular piano.  The inner workings of what happens when a piano key is pressed down is absolutely gorgeous.

I still have a fully intact piano.  Who wants to take it apart with me?

I will share more photos, thoughts and ideas soon.  Let me know what interest you about all this crazy beauty!

My boisterous laughing could be heard all over the museum yesterday morning.  I was thrilled to have set up a unique tinkering experience for Chicago Children’s Museum’s guests.  We couldn’t believe the ingenious systems we found.  The computer mouse was particularly phenomenal.

Ingenious systems!

Ben loved checking out the unique materials that have been donated!

The inside of this radio was particularly interesting!

We also built a big beautiful chain reaction/Rube Goldberg style machine.  Join us next Saturday (9/24) from 10-12 at Chicago Children’s Museum when we do it all again.

Tinkering School Chicago is thrilled to announce an exciting new partnership with the Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM).  The last two Saturdays in September we will be building “some kind of wacky machine” with the help of CCM’s guests.   This build is designed for people of all ages and abilities and will fully embrace the power of play.

• When-  Saturday September 17 and 24 from 10 a.m.-Noon
• Where- Chicago Children’s Museum 700 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611

This build is free with the price of admission into Chicago Children’s Museum.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Tinkering School Chicago is excited to announce two one-week sessions of day camp this July.

• Session 1:  July 11-15 for ages 8-11
• Session 2:  July 18-22 for ages 12+

Announcing our Space

After a long and thorough search we found the perfect space for Tinkering School Chicago.  The Innovation Center at UIC has all the ingredients (creativity, flexibility, a love of tinkering and big high ceilings) to make this summer truly amazing!

1240 W Harrison St Chicago, IL 60607.

http://www.uic.edu/depts/innovationcenter/

Applying Now (and soon)

Please click this application link for further details about enrollment.
Deadline: Although the application dead-line has passed, we are still looking for a few more campers to make this summer amazing.  Please contact Dustin as soon as possible for availability.

All the Best,

Dustin Thacker

P.S. (a note from Josh, the former director)
This camp is in fantastic hands with Dustin at the helm. He has big plans for the future of Tinkering School Chicago, and the experience needed to make this summer amazing. I have been invited out to San Francisco to work with Gever Tulley on a new project. It is A k-12 school called Brightworks. We are re-imaging what a school is and can be. Cheers! and have a great summer.

Learn more about Dustin here.

I want to say Thank You. Interest and applications are rolling in from all over the country and from as far away as England and France. I am entirely blown away, charmed, delighted and honored.

The Big News

After weeks of searching and many long discussions, I thought I had secured Tinkering School Chicago’s new home. A beautiful wooded campus just north of the city. But, in just the last week, our potential hosts rescinded their offer.

This was the last of over one hundred back-up plans and officially leaves us unable to be an overnight camp this year.

Moving Forward

This is not the end of Tinkering School Chicago. I am now in a full-time pursuit of a space to host our camp as a day camp.

Until we secure such a space I recommend, regrettably, that you pursue other summer activities for your family. I’d hate to lose any one of our amazing tinkerers to another camp, but even more maddening is to keep such a wonderful group of people dangling in anticipation.

Seeking a Co-Director

To make a tinkering summer day camp a reality I need help. Tinkering School Chicago is now officially recruiting a co-director. It takes a special someone with a ton of hutzpah, organizational follow through, and a deep love of working with children. If you know this person, or are this person, let me know.

A Fun Project

While we sort out the future of Tinkering School Chicago, might I suggest buying some twine and heading to the nearest beach with drift wood, or forest with felled branches. There you can startle yourself with the power of lashing and make something amazing. Think big. Make something taller than yourself, climb it, and enjoy the view. Read up on good technique here.

All my very best,
Josh

We could use your help.

School built by the community is part of the community. Your insight and your contacts will help craft an amazing summer for 120 tinkerers.

Minimal requirements

• 1500 sq feet total
• 2 bathrooms
• showers
• access to the outdoors
• electricity
• will rent to us for 10 weeks of summer
• We aim to fit 15 tinkerers and 5 adult collaborators every week for 9 weeks

Honestly, we can build the rest. But just incase you’re wondering,

Ideal requirements

• 1500 sq feet or more for indoor project space alone
• 2 bathrooms
• showers
• beds and sleeping space already installed.
• commercial kitchen so the camp can cook its own meals
• on the lake or near a very substantial park
• near an empty lot (for when we build go-carts or other home-brew vehicles)
• will rent to us for 10 weeks of summer

If we turned this into a day-camp we’d have a space in a week, easy. If we located this camp far west in the suburbs we could have a space in 2 weeks. But Tinkering School Chicago aims to be create the best and most meaningful experience we possibly can. We want this summer and it lessons to last a lifetime. To achieve that end, we are completely committed to being an overnight camp and working as hard as we can to locate inside or near the city of chicago.

Locating in or near Chicago grants access. For the tinkerers this means greater access to a community of makers and craftsmen, some of the finest museums in the world, cooler supplies, a big blue lake to put out home-made boats in and a million other things. For the camp this means we can better reach out to tinkerers of every socioeconomic status. Access means an even more grand adventure.

For an understanding of our commitment to overnight and the city of Chicago, check out The Magic of Overnight Camp

Cheers!

Overnight summer camp is different. For one full week children get to temporarily re-make themselves. Far away from the expectations of family and long time friends children can decide who they want to be and how they want to present themselves.

Their role as “the smart kid” or “class clown” or “jock” or “nerd” or anything else is not predetermined by past experience. Mix that freedom with incredibly high expectations of creativity and maturity from the camp and it’s collaborators and children change and grow in ways that will surprise and delight.

Take a child away from technology (TV, computer, cell phones, video games) and give them tools (hammers, saws, drills) and time to think (seriously aided by a lack of technological distractions) and children will startle themselves with what they can achieve.

Ask anyone who attended an overnight camp in their youth. I’d bet you are hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t look back fondly and talk of what an important experience it was for them.

In fact. The magic and importance of camp is so hard to explain, Chicago’s own This American Life spent a whole episode trying to do so.

Cheers!