Clik here to view.
What do you want to make today?
I held a soldering iron for the first time in my life a few weeks ago. It was exciting and frustrating at the same time. Trying to melt a bead of solder to connect two parts proved more difficult than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Girls Get Science (and Invention)
On Saturday, March 23, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a special evening program called “Girls Get Science,” which was sponsored by The Great Adventure Lab and took place at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does Play Matter?
What Did You Play With?The idea that play can shape the way a child thinks and learns is common in American history. In 17th and 18th century colonial society, toys, and games were recognized as vital...
View ArticleRecognize the Unusual
Learn from the InventorsOne day in 1965, as DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek was trying to dissolve a substance called a polymer, something strange happened. Instead of a clear molasses-like solution,...
View ArticleInvention at Play Family Guide
This (PDF) booklet highlights inventors who started out as great players and who recall a strong link between their play and inventing, encourages adults to create an enriching play/inventing...
View ArticleInvention at Play Educators' Manual
The Invention at Play exhibit (2002–2012) departs from the traditional representation of inventors as extraordinary geniuses who are not “like us” to celebrate the creative skills and processes that...
View ArticleBooks to Encourage Inventive Thinking
507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices by Henry T. BrownArt Cars: The Artists, the Obsession, the Craft by Harrod Blank and Janice Eaton KilbyThe Art of the Patent by Kevin PrinceAwesome...
View ArticleCreating a Nation of Innovators
"We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world," President Obama told us in his recent State of the Union address. If we are to "win the future," he said, we must encourage...
View ArticleA Toolkit for Developing Innovators
In Spark!Lab, kids, families, and groups can engage in the invention process, develop their own ideas, and solve problems in individual and unique ways. Since establishing the lab in 2008, our staff...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Because Everyone Is Inventive
Last summer, Spark!Lab hosted three interns to work on family learning and access projects. I wanted them to work with the staff and volunteers to prototype creative ways we could better support the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stand Up for Innovation!
Sir Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. What does the group have in common, other than being particularly famous? They all used standing desks while working!...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Curiosity and Invention
In a recent Harris Poll of US workers, only some 22 percent described themselves as curious at work, while 66 percent reported facing barriers to asking more questions, and a meager 12 percent of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Legacy of Dr. InBae Yoon
On January 31, the Lemelson Center in collaboration with Cricket Media launched its 7th annual invention competition. Not only does it offer students the opportunity to develop important skills like...
View Article
