“Makers and builders and doers—of all ages and backgrounds—have pushed our country forward, developing creative solutions to important challenges and proving that ordinary Americans are capable of achieving the extraordinary when they have access to the resources they need.” —President Obama, National Week of Making Proclamation.
National Week of Making kicks off Friday, June 17 at Thinkery! Tinker, explore, experiment and celebrate with special maker activities all week long.
Building on President Obama’s Nation of Makers initiative—a commitment to equip Americans with the necessary software, tools and technologies to promote advancement and enable change—National Week of Making is a countrywide celebration of the maker movement.
America has always been a nation of memorable makers and notable tinkerers—home to sensational successes, fantastic failures and everything in between. National Week of Making celebrates our country’s continued commitment to innovation, ingenuity and creativity. It’s about broadening opportunities for making across the nation. It’s about providing resources that influence and inspire future generations. It’s about cultivating an insatiable curiosity about all that is possible.
Join us at Thinkery as we champion DIY culture and celebrate how making and tinkering can help us learn more about ourselves, our community and the world around us. We’re inviting local makers into the museum to share how a passion for exploring and experimenting can lead to fun new inventions, exciting discoveries, and interesting successes and failures.
At Thinkery, we’re helping build a #NationOfMakers. Celebrate this special week with your child—take a look at our #WeekOfMaking activity schedule!
Friday, June 17 – Music
Explore sound and noise by approaching familiar materials in unfamiliar ways. Activities include MaKey MaKey music in Kitchen Lab, breadboard theremins in Space 8 and Noise Makers for ages 0–3.
Saturday, June 18 – Robotics
Rockin’ robotics all day long! Special programming includes Ozobots, a cardboard build, and Dash and Dot for Early Learners.
Sunday, June 19 – Mechanics
Let’s figure out how to make things go! Examine linkages, construct cardboard automata in Space 8 and build ramps in Move! Studio.
Monday, June 20 – Fabric Art
Experiment with different types of fabric art and fabrication techniques with our gallery programs and community partners. Don’t miss felting in Innovators’ Workshop, sewing in Space 8, exploring fabrics under microscopes in Kitchen Lab and a community weave in Let’s Grow.
Tuesday, June 21 – Papercraft
How can paper be used in so many different ways? Investigate different methods of papercraft, including origami, low-poly masks in Space 8, making paper in Kitchen Lab, coffee filter art in Let’s Grow and pop-up cards in Innovators’ Workshop.
Wednesday, June 22 – Take Aparts
What can we learn when we break into the things we use every day? Activities include taking apart electronics in Space 8, food deconstruction in Kitchen Lab and a Franken-Toy build in Let’s Grow.