Tinkering School empowers children to use real tools to solve real problems, fostering confidence and creativity through large-scale, camper-designed projects.
Tinkering School offers an immersive, hands-on maker experience where campers engage in building and making projects from raw materials. Participants are encouraged to develop projects through exploration and experimentation, fostering skills such as creativity, communication, and collaboration. Campers use real tools, including power drills, hand saws, and carpentry clamps, to tackle large-scale, open-ended projects that they design themselves. The program emphasizes learning through doing, embracing mistakes as part of the learning process, and working together to create ambitious constructions. Past projects have included a 25ft tall dancing marionette, a NASA-style space mission, and a human-sized foosball table. The focus is on the process of discovery and the experience of building, rather than a predetermined outcome.
A typical day involves morning tool training and safety instruction, followed by dedicated build sessions where campers work on their group projects. There's also time for lunch and unstructured play at a nearby park. Afternoons continue with project work and design sessions, culminating in a Friday showcase and project disassembly.
This camp is ideal for students who love to work with their hands, are curious, enjoy problem-solving, and thrive in a collaborative, open-ended learning environment.
Multiple Locations (e.g., Fort Mason, Headlands Center for the Arts)
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