ABSTRACT
Pre-Homo Sapiens and Homo Sapiens have been tinkering and making ever since they have been on this planet. Weapon makers must have tinkered with tool-making in order to make arrowheads and cave painters must have experimented with methods of creating pigments and lighting in order to paint in caves. Explained by both Constructivism (Jean Piaget) and Constructionism (Seymour Papert), tinkering is a way that inventors, scientists, and children play with materials prior to more formal experimentation and construction. Many famous scientists and inventors, including Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Richard Feynman, had strong backgrounds in tinkering both as children and as adults. Most scientists and inventors credit their home lab and family inspiration, rather than school, for such interests. To encourage creativity, inventiveness, and interest in science in all children, this chapter recommends that schools provide opportunities for children to tinker with materials in conjunction with engaging in formal STEM projects. Many suggested recommendations for tinkering inspirations and materials are available through the Maker Movement and the Exploratorium Tinkering Studio. The chapter ends with examples from a teacher who incorporated tinkering into her classroom.
