My father called himself a tinker because as an engineer who was a metallurgist and a ceramicist he often applied new uses to the metals he worked with. A bar of aluminum became a tool for cooling coffee just the right amount and slices of copper piping were hammered into rings for his daughters. His habit of saving scraps of wood, leather, wire, and old bicycle tires meant there were always materials when we needed them to make a large rubber band, patch a leak in bucket, make a wire armature form for a clay sculpture or practice wood carving. 

I’ve just signed up for a massive online open course (MOOC) offered by the Exploratorium through Coursera, called “Tinkering Fundamentals: A Constructionist Approach to STEM Learning.”

Here’s a bit of the course description: “Working with learning scientists, we have identified a set of design principles and indicators of learning that can help you to integrate tinkering activities into your elementary and middle school science programs. This course will focus on key design elements of high quality science-rich tinkering activities, facilitation strategies, and environmental organization. Selected tinkering activities will be centered around circuits for this course. We will review the ways in which tinkering supports science learning through providing opportunities to deepen engagement, intentionality, innovation, collaboration, and understanding.”

I’m not planning on introducing circuits in my preschool teaching where tinkering usually happens when a child begins creating with classroom materials such as sticks, boxes, tape and paper, and more tape. The course focuses on elementary and middle school programs and I hope to learn how tinkering fits into science education (and vice versa), strategies that can improve my teaching, and have fun. 

Calder’s Circus at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art

Pages on Pinterest, including early childhood educator Jenny Kabel’s “ECE Tinkering,” share views of tinkering. Some tinkering posts remind me of images of Alexander Calder’s workshop. His beloved Cirque Calder was one result of his vision and tinkering. Is his work too complicated to inspire preschoolers?  Watch the Whitney Museum of Modern Art’s video, “Conserving Calder’s Circus” for close-ups of his work in action.

What does “tinkering” mean in your early childhood setting? Museum educators share thoughtful responses to the question, “Do you think the current surge of making and tinkering spaces in science centers and museums is a temporary fad, or are they here to stay?” posed by The Association of Science-Technology Centers in their newsletter and a blog post. How can documenting and discussion help children learn science concepts through open-ended and child-led tinkering? What are shared tinkering and science education goals in your teaching? How does the National Science Teachers Association’s position statement on Early Childhood Education inform the tinkering in your program?