We started out right away on the first morning with participants working individually to make scribbling machines. It seemed appropriate to be making our own art while surrounded by incredible murals on the walls and ceiling.

In the initial introduction to the workshop, we told the group to expect moments of frustration…

but also moments of joy and excitement.

Each person came up with interesting solutions to problems that they observed in their contraptions. Enrico spent a lot of time trying to get the weight and balance just right and ended up adding washers to various parts of his scribbling machine.

At the end of the activity we lined up all the contraptions on the side of the room, on a beautiful old wooden bench of course, and saw how each person came up with something completely different. The collection of creations looks delightfully odd and quirky in such an exalted setting.

In the afternoon we split into two groups for toy take apart and circuit boards. These two activities are both ways of looking at learning about electrical connections, circuits, and switches. While the circuit boards allows learners to test their own assumptions about electricity, toy take apart gives a sense of freedom and permission to go beyond the everyday surface of things. After forty-five minutes of working on one activity the groups switched places and started working at the other table.

We ended the day with a discussion about what we had done that day and how it related to the idea of tinkering (a word that as of yet has no Italian translation). We talked about moments of play and moments of learning and thought about how these activities allow you to start working with your hands immediately. We we’re impressed with the group’s deep thoughts and questions that came out of the conversations.

We finished the first day tired but very excited about the next two days of construction and discussion!

We set up a small cozy “living room” with a cabinet of curiosities and a table, as a small space in which to tinker with circuits and have quieter conversations about some of the stuff we have been doing and plan on doing in the future.

Nicole’s coat hangers chandelier was quite the hit!

It was very nice to have a quieter place where people could site down and spend some time tinkering with Circuit Boards, which is really best enjoyed with a little more contemplative attitude than the Faire is typically known for…

In our main Tinkering Studio space, we dedicated all of Saturday to taking things apart. First it was toys.

In the second half we dismantled old tools, like radios…

… hairdryers…

…drills…

…not even blenders were safe!

There were also two new activities that we tried for the first time during our Open MAKE season, and we revisited at the Faire.

Large scale stop motion animation was a huge (literally…) success!

We made some cardboard props to jump start the creative process.

And also had a prop-making station for visitors who had a specific vision and wanted to make their own animation aids.

Of course, Maker Faire is no longer complete without a visit from Jacob and his dad, having a blast at our regular animation station.

Another new activity was DropZone, where kids got to make contraption that would flutter down from a great height as slow as possible. You load your creation into a bucket that has a release mechanism once it reaches the ceiling…

And wait for it to come down!

Sunday was entirely dedicated to balancing, another activity that we debuted during Open MAKE.

Once again we made a balancing tree for visitors to test and display their contraptions.

Of course, Wind Tubes is an old favorite that is always mobbed with people.
  

Once again, the Faire was endlessly inspiring, joyous, and a little bit crazy. We almost turned off the sun!

Ryan came back from his trip to China with a bunch of these toy tops he found. When spun, they make light patterns, project a laser beam around them, and play a very loud and annoying song. So annoying, in fact, that we felt compelled to take one apart to find out what made it all happen, and above all, what kind of switch would turn the whole affair on when it spun. Things quickly descended into silliness. Just another Wednesday afternoon in the learning studio, I guess…

We started by laying out some of our Circuit Boards parts, and ask our participants to start making simple connections to “make things go.”

Pretty quickly things started becoming complex, circuits more complicated, switches and potentiometers were thrown in the mix. We didn’t let this part go on too long, but we did introduce the idea that you can make a switch with two simple pieces of tinfoil.

Then we introduced a few mechanical stuffed toys for each pair of participants to dissect. In a bit of theatrical flair, we also provided surgical gloves, scalpels, and eye protection for all participants…

We often say that the reason why we do our workshops is to talk about them. By this we mean that the final group discussion in which we reflect on several aspect of what we just did, is an integral part of the activity, and in fact the most important one. This group was very acute in their observation, and in relating what they gained from the activity to their work and the philosophy behind how they design games, so I’ll let them speak for themselves.

“It puts things in perspective, I have a 2 year old and you buy all this stuff and never strip it apart. I bought one of these circuit exploration toys and didn’t get around to playing with it, but this drives it home a little more because it’s real stuff.”

“It is kind of distressing the percentage of the functionality that is embedded in a little back box, which you can’t understand how it works. 90% of the thing’s functionality is in there, and the rest is a few simple mechanical parts that take the bulk of the toy. You can get familiar with the mechanical parts, but you’re still only 10% in.”

“It was surprising how much of an emotional reaction I had to you guys cutting up Elmo. When you start cutting it open you project a small creature onto it, and when it starts kicking its legs you feel bad.”

“You guys’ innards were very similar to ours, but you had a bear, we had an elk, etc. Just like we make different video games with the same inner engine.”

“It’s interesting to see how these gears provide an illusion of life, and that’s what we do too. For us they’re numbers instead of gears, but our job is make sure there are no parts sticking out that kill the illusion.”

“I was watching everybody cutting up their toys, and at some point it stopped being a toy and it became just a collection of parts. It’s interesting to see how little you have to do to make something look alive.”

“It was interesting playing with electricity because I don’t do that in my job, but really a computer is just two wires going into a black box. So I’m going to go home and play with electricity more.”

“I loved the laughing, hearing everybody enjoying themselves, and people who don’t normally interact with each other. A shared emotional experience makes it much more memorable. It makes failing okay, because you can go ‘I’m just playing!’.”

“It was nice that we were sitting very close to each other, it was the reason we were able to laugh and bond together, it was very very important. It would have been different if we had been working in separate rooms and shared what we did later.”

We’ll continue the workshop in two weeks. Meanwhile, please enjoy the rest of the slideshow!

Patient seems very receptive to treatment.

Surgery begins.  I am trying to find the mechanism that makes this particular Mickey dance and play the “I Want Candy” song.

You can see the mechanism has been removed, I had to sacrifice one of his feet though…

When the switch is pushed, that round disc is pushed up and down while swaying from side to side.  That is what made Mickey dance.

It is all powered by a little hobby motor.  The same one we use at the Science Centre to build electric cars.

I even busted open the mechanism.

Best part?  They let me KEEP HIM!!  Here he is in his handy travel bag.  How should I explain THIS to Customs?

Michelle – we loved your enthusiasm with this activity.  Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, and we hope your trip through Customs went well!

We find that people quickly lose their inhibitions about what they might know or not know about circuits when they are busy skinning a giggling Elmo…

Removal of the head is often a slightly gruesome first step…

Skinless chicken is still alive and kicking!

A fully de-skinned Elmo: interestingly, it’s still recognizably red.

The variety and ingenuity of mechanisms inside of common toys is quite staggering. Ideas start to percolate…

Meanwhile, the second half of the group approached circuits from a slightly different perspective, through what we consider more along the lines of a “classroom activity”: Circuit Boards.

Here, the initial goal is simply to connect basic components to a power source to make them go, but as participants progress and their questions become more sophisticated, more refined tools are added into the mix.

Often, the first “snag” to contend with is the switch: a seemingly simple device, that nonetheless challenges people to really conceptualize how a circuit works, in order to use one effectively.

A potentiometer, like the ones that you might find in a dimmer switch at home, can reverse the direction of resistance depending on how it’s hooked up to the circuit.

Aiona and Matt decided to see how many batteries they could hook up in a row, and how bright they could make a light bulb glow. Needless to say, this photo was snapped moments before they blew it out!

Hands-on activities force participants to revisit their “textbook” knowledge and reconcile it with the way the real world works. Here, a participant compares a schematic of a parallel circuit with the way it actually worked when you had to hook real wires onto real lightbulbs.

Others get more philosophical in their thinking, and wonder how electricity works at a very deep conceptual level.

Delightful surprises are always around the corner. For example: what happens if you hook up a hand-cranked generator to a power source?

As our last activity of the day, all participants tried to make their own home-made switch. We had many examples that we collected or made over the years for inspiration and problem-solving. Here, Dara is examining a pressure-sensitive foot switch.

This weird-looking switch was salvaged from a washing machine, and is responsive to air or water pressure.

Trying to use magnets and a metal chain to make a tension-sensitive switch.

Betty and Kay figured out how to make a switch that would continuously ring a bell when a staff member at their school, who is in a wheelchair, pulls up to the door, until someone opens the door for him. It was loud!