Each week, after tours travel through and depart from our invention factory, Inventionland tour guide Sam can’t say enough about how groups experience the mix of education and entertainment that consists of 16 uniquely themed sets from Inventalot Castle to Pirate Ship Discovery and more.

“They were in awe of the whole place,” said Sam regarding reactions from gifted students from Mount Union Area School District, who toured through Inventionland last week. Mount Union Area School District English as a Second Language (ESL) and Gifted Services Teacher Anita Young agreed.

When it came to her students’ and her initial impression of Inventionland, Young mentioned they were left in “Awe!”

“As an adult, you stop and think to yourself, ‘Is this really someone’s work place?’ My students had visited the website and had an idea of what Inventionland looked like, but upon seeing it, they saw a giant playground. They knew they were work spaces, but they could not believe how detailed everything was,” said Young.

With an increasing force behind STEM and STEAM initiatives in today’s classrooms, Inventionland is proud that our unique environment can inspire and increase students’ power of observation, making them realize that they, too, can work in a place like this, no matter their background or career goals.

“My students were surprised at the endless possibilities of careers that [prepare people to] work at Inventionland. They were under the impression that they had to be an engineer only to work at a place like Inventionland; however, they learned otherwise,” said Young. “I think my students will be much more driven to participate in STEM/STEAM activities.”

When it comes to STEM/STEAM, Reynoldsburg City Schools’ Courtney Heppner (Director of Innovation) and Tommie Timmons (Innovation Lab Coordinator) are no strangers, but still a tour through Inventionland last week hopefully sparked further inspiration.

Inventionland offers courses, training and resources for teaching 21^st Century Skills. Students from the Colonial School have already experienced our real-world approach to inventing and innovation in a pilot program taught at their school this year.  Visiting our invention factory was a highlight of the week.

Also inspired last week were two large groups of North Hills Middle School students who also toured around Inventionland’s unique space.

Keep up with the Inventionland blog to see more happenings at our invention factory, ask us about teaching innovation in your school, or schedule a tour today!

Copyright Inventionland, 2016

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Through their “Tour Your Future”  tours that are presented by Valspar, middle school and high school girls ages 11-17 are given the opportunity to discover and explore their love for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and to learn more about the available career options that they can pursue in these specific areas.

On Thursday, October 15, CanTEEN, a group of extremely bright young girls, arrived at the doors of our 61,000 square foot creative design facility eager to learn. Behind those doors was a group of innovative women from Inventionland who were equally eager to teach this group.

When both of these groups came together, it turned out to be a wonderful day that was filled with creativity, innovation and curiosity.

“CanTEEN was a great experience. It was awesome to meet the girls and show them our creative workplace. There was a wide variety of interests in the group. We talked to future engineers, scientists and leaders,” said Sarah, Industrial Designer.

Through their conversations during the day, Sarah noted that the lines of communication were open to share with the girls a glimpse into our team of innovative women at Inventionland’s backgrounds.

“We shared information about our backgrounds, how important teamwork is in a creative environment, and things to keep in mind when job hunting and going through school,” said Sarah.

Though it may seem like a daunting task for young girls to consider a traditionally male-dominated career, Sarah and her co-workers wanted to show this group that workplaces are not just full of all stereotypes and used Inventionland as an example.

“I know this group has a bright future in front of them,” she said.

Here are some great snapshots from CanTEEN’s visit:

So, from Beijing, China, to a project of Carnegie Science Center’s Chevron Center for STEM Education and Career Development, CanTEEN, the doors of our invention factory are always open for creative minds to tour our creative space!

Copyright Inventionland, 2015

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A Santa Barbara, California-based company by the name of Mission Street Manufacturing has invented a 3D printer that is geared toward school children. This latest and greatest invention is called the Printeer and is so child-friendly that the ins and outs of this printer can be learned in about 30 seconds.

The mission of this invention is to make the world of 3D printing accessible to kids, in order to let them creatively express themselves with a boost from emerging technology.

This colorful new invention is designed to appeal to kids with its fun, brightly-colored parts that are safely displayed behind clear Perspex panels.

To play with the Printeer, all that a kid needs is an iPad and the ability to draw, in order to help them create their plastic masterpieces!

For those of you who are well-versed in 3D printing, this invention doesn’t include CAD programs or other intermediary tools. In fact, the machinery itself is child-friendly due to its easily-removable platform and, as we mentioned before, the transparent shell that shows how all the parts work together.

At Inventionland, we fully support STEM education, or the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That’s why an invention like the Printeer is near and dear to our hearts, because at the core of this invention is helping educate young minds on the basics of design and engineering!

Copyright Inventionland 2014

Sources:

https://mashable.com/2014/06/17/3d-printer-kids/

https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/16/printeer/

https://www.engadget.com/2014/06/16/printeer-3d-printer/

Media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxvMD9w6Sg

The post Check out this Kid-friendly Invention! appeared first on Inventionland.