The Tinkering Workshop: Explore, Invent & Build with Everyday Materials; 100 Hands-On STEAM Projects

Ages 8 to 12

A makerspace educator inspires kids to be creative with 100 inventive tinkering projects that illustrate the principles of science, encourage experimentation and discovery, and sharpen STEAM skills.

Gather some basic tools and supplies from a hardware store, garage, basement, woodshop, or recycling bin. Now get ready to tinker, explore, and engineer with screws, bendy wire, metal washers, plastic pipes, dowels, electronics, LED lights, and more! Makerspace educator Ryan Jenkins inspires kids aged 8 to 12 to look at familiar supplies in new and unexpected ways, to think with their hands, troubleshoot tricky constructions, and sharpen their problem-solving skills. Kids are invited to imagine how to use the supplies on hand with projects, such as building Flexible Forts with cardboard and screws, making Art Robots with hobby motors, constructing a Water Factory with plastic pipes, balancing Sky Trams on strings, and engineering Surprising Switches with wire and foil. As they build, they'll learn about balance, center of gravity, comparative measuring, electricity, and more. Engaging photography jump-starts hours of curiosity and creativity. Start with a string, PVC pipe, cardboard ramp, or flexible tube—and see where it leads!

About the Author

Ryan Jenkins is the co-founder of Wonderful Idea Co., a design studio that creates resources to support STEAM education and the development of 21st century skills. He’s a leader in the field of making and tinkering education and partners with children’s museums, schools, universities, professional organizations, companies, and funders. He’s a former tinkerer and educator at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and developed summer curriculum for kids at the Tinkering School that blended large scale construction with learner-centric investigations of electronics, robotics, and programming. He has written for Make Magazine and is a regular contributor to the Tinkering Studio Blog at the Exploratorium. He lives in California.