From our record-breaking Spark After Dark event to the cutest costume parade for our Little Thinkers Preschool, October was a busy and exciting month at Thinkery! Check out these top 5 moments at Thinkery this October.
1. Little Thinkers Preschoolers celebrate Halloween
The superheroes, princesses, unicorns, and dragons of our Little Thinkers Preschool all enjoyed Halloween at Thinkery! Our Little Thinkers, all in costume, trick-or-treated throughout our admin offices and then participated in the cutest costume parade outside of Thinkery for their family and friends.
Little Thinkers Preschool is a research-focused, play-based, STEAM preschool, serving children ages 3 and 4. We are currently accepting registrations at the most unique learning environment in Austin!
2. STEAM Week: Spooktacular October was a howling good time
For Thinkery’s first-ever STEAM Week, we celebrated all things STEAM from a spooky perspective. Visitors enjoyed a creepy, crawly week of Halloween fun with decorated galleries, spooky story times, and silly Spark Shop activities. Volunteer groups — Women in Bio, Texas Pre-Dental Society, and American Institute of Architects — hosted chilling activities, including vomiting pumpkins, monster teeth cleaning, and building habitats for Austin bats.
Special thanks to Wells Fargo for supporting our Spooktacular October STEAM Week!
3. Sparking joyful learning at Spark After Dark
Spark After Dark was truly an evening of wonder! Over 500 members of our Thinkery community came out to play, learn, and give. And together, we raised more than $275,000 to ensure ALL children and families can access our inspirational, play-based learning programs through the Open Door Initiative. Because of the generosity of our Thinkery friends, thousands of our community’s future creative problem solvers will be able to experience joyful learning, maybe for the first time, but if we have anything to do with it, certainly not their last!
4. Shining a spotlight on Native American heritage
Every month, Thinkery celebrates a different aspect of the rich diversity that makes our community such a fantastic place to live, play, and learn. In October, we learned more about and celebrated Native American heritage. It was truly an amazing event, filled with fried bread, corn husk dolls, animals, and fantastic dances! Don’t miss our next FREE spotlight event on Disabilities Awareness on Sunday, November 13 from 3 – 5 PM.
5. Boys and Girls Club of the Austin Area students learn and explore at Thinkery
Boys and Girls Club of the Austin Area students explored, learned, and had a blast at Thinkery at their first C.R.E.A.T.E. field trip of the year! A Collaboration with NI and Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area, the C.R.E.A.T.E program is designed to inspire and prepare a diverse pipeline of future engineers through after-school engineering education, youth development programming, and family engagement. Students participate in hands-on, interactive engineering design experiences that culminate in a field trip to Thinkery. Their families also receive a free yearlong membership to Thinkery, so that they can learn and play together! Programs like C.R.E.A.T.E. are part of our work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to experience joyful learning.
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