55 playful experiments that encourage tinkering, curiosity, and creative thinking—hands-on activities that explore art, science, and more.
The creator of the highly popular creativity site for kids, Tinkerlab.com, now delivers dozens of engaging, kid-tested, and easy-to-implement projects that will help parents and teachers bring out the natural tinkerer in every kid—even babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
The creative experiments shared in this book foster curiosity, promote creative and critical thinking, and encourage tinkering—mindsets that are important to children growing up in a world that values independent thinking.
In addition to offering a host of activities that parents and teachers can put to use right away, this book also includes a buffet of recipes (magic potions, different kinds of play dough, silly putty, and homemade butter) and a detailed list of materials to include in the art pantry.
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9781611800654
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Shambhala
Publication Date: 06-10-2014
Pages: 224
Product Dimensions: 7.00(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.60(d)
About the Author
RACHELLE DOORLEY is an arts educator, community builder, and founder of the popular creativity blog Tinkerlab. She studied costume design at the University of California, Los Angeles, and worked on Hollywood films before finding her true calling as an arts educator. After teaching art in Los Angeles schools, Rachelle earned a master’s in arts education from Harvard, and then oversaw docent and education programs at the San Jose Museum of Art. Rachelle lives with her husband and her two curious daughters in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, where she leads workshops on visual thinking and hands-on creativity. Rachelle believes in finding fun and meaningful ways to make every day creative, and can often be found experimenting in her sketchbook, taking her kids on adventures, and asking lots of open-ended questions. Rachelle enjoys chai tea, hand-drawn letters, train travel, hikes in the woods, artist studios, and ocean air.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Prepare 1. Creating Your Tinkerlab Tips for Clearing Children’s Clutter by Jillian Maxim What Nursery Schools Can Teach Us about Creative Invitations: An Interview with Nancy Howe 2. Tools for Tinkering 3. Ten Tinkerlab Habits of Mind
Experience 4. Design Oh No, That’s Not Creative! by Jessica Hoffmann Davis Experience #1: Circle Games Experience #2: Peel and Stick Experience #3: Glue, Glue, Glue Experience #4: Mark Outside the Box Experience #5: Watercolor Exploration Experience #6: Yes, You Can Paint on That! Experience #7: Monoprints Experience #8: Bubble Prints Experience #9: Drawing Games Experience #10: Draw What You See Experience #11: Art Dice Experience #12: Paint Experiments Experience #13: Paste Paper 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by Elliot Eisner Experience #14: Marbleized Paper with Paint and Oil Experience #15: Plexiglas Painting Experience #16: Foam Plate Relief Prints Experience #17: Collage Painting Finding Your Five-Year-Old Self in the Art Museum by Margie Maynard
5. Build The Value of Loose Parts: An Interview with Susan Harris MacKay Project #1: Gumdrop Structures Project #2: Hanging Structures Project #3: Straw Rockets Project #4: Marble Runs: Ramps and Gravity Project #5: Paper Houses Project #6: Scrap Building Project #7: Ropes and Pulleys Project #8: CD Spinner Project #9: Does It Float? Project #10: Pounding Nails Project #11: Take Things Apart Project #12: Drawing Machine Project #13: DIY Robot DIY Kids: Building Tomorrow’s Innovators through Hands-on Making by Grace Hawthorne
6. Concoct Yes, and . . . How to Improvise with Children: An Interview with Dan Klein Experiment #1: Potion Station Experiment #2: Goop Experiment #3: Marker Explosions Experiment #4: Make Your Own (Semiedible) Paint Experiment #5: Slime Experiment #6: Ice and Salt Exploration Experiment #7: Ice Cream in a Jar: An Edible Investigation Experiment #8: Frozen Carbon Dioxide Experiment #9: Yeast and Sugar Expansion Experiment #10: Naked Egg Experiment Experiment #11: G-Ma’s Butter: An Edible Investigation Experiment #12: Lemon Invisible Ink Experiment #13: Glittery Egg Geodes Experiment #14: Natural Dyes Experiment #15: Kitchen Challenge: An Edible Investigation Concoctions in a Michelin-Starred Kitchen: An Interview with Bruno Chemel
7. Discover How to Set Up a Discovery Area that Honors the Child: An Interview with Parul Chandra Exploration #1: Playdough Building Exploration #2: Cloud Dough Exploration #3: Pounding Flowers Exploration #4: Scavenger Hunts Exploration #5: DIY Light Box Exploration #6: Photograms Exploration #7: Ephemeral Installation Exploration #8: Shadow Investigations Exploration #9: DIY Lava Lamp Exploration #10: Mystery Bag The Benefits of Basic Materials by Jennifer Winters
Acknowledgments The Busy Parent’s Planner References About the Contributors About the Author