This activity invites K–5 students, in both English and Spanish, to explore the phenomena of rolling objects down a ramp and investigate the question, “What happens to a roller when you change the ...

Cut the sides of the small cup into four equal parts. Remove the base to create four curved pieces that will be the blades of the wind generator. Use hot glue to attach two craft sticks together at ...

Can you smell time? Your dog can. On a very basic level, so can you: When you crack the lid on that old quart of milk, tentatively sniff and—peeyouu!—promptly dump that foul stuff down the sink, you ...

We have been prototyping a new automata activity called “Cranky Contraptions” using simple materials such as wooden blocks, wire, and foamies. Now that it’s been about a month that we have been ...

-Sportscaster Joe Garagiola describing the first documented appearance of a "stadium wave" at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on October 15, 1981. Consider the stadium wave: a spontaneous group behavior ...

In 2021, the LEGO Foundation started a community of practice called the LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network (PLMN). A shared commitment to playful learning binds our 22 member institutions together: ...

Like a lot of people right now, my workspace looks a little different. I prototype on the kitchen table instead of in the Tinkering Studio, and I’ve essentially stopped ever taking out the recycling ...

Happy National DNA Day, which commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953. Published sixty-four years ago in the journal ...

We've been laser engraving on wood and plastics and they have been great when we make signs/signage in the Tinkering Studio. Lately I've been experimenting with filling some paint in engraving so that ...

What do plants know about numbers? A certain spiral pattern commonly seen in sunflowers, pinecones, and many species of cacti contains some surprising numerical properties. In this brisk talk, Paul ...

Bring a drawing to life in just two pages! Animated videos are usually created by showing thousands of images very rapidly — which means they take a LONG time to make. But you can make a scene or ...

On February 16 the Exploratorium will be hosting "In My Solitude:The Detrimental Effects of Solitary Confinement on the Brain," a panel discussion about the legal and neurological issues surrounding ...