Past Prompts & Resources

Facilitated by PK @ UW

Activity Prompt: Take a magazine and combine it with OctoStudio to create something magical.

Following the Tinkering Studio’s Hack a Magazine prompt: What treasures, stories, and surprises are hiding in the pages of magazines? Take a magazine and combine it with OctoStudio to create something magical. Embed your device inside a magazine to bring static pages to life.

Useful Materials:

• Magazine or Newspaper

• Scissors or Xacto Blade

• Tablet with Octostudio

Shared resources:

• Intro Slides

• Sample Code

Facilitated by David Wells

Activity Prompt: Use your materials to create a way for your figure to get from Here to There. Your figure is “Here” and you need to get it “There.”

Activities and discussions inspired in part by Navigating Ambiguity: Creating Opportunity in a World of Unknowns, by Andrea Small & Kelly Schmutte.

Facilitated by Rebecca @ UW

Activity Prompt: Create a single sheet "How-to" zine.

Useful Materials:

• Paper 

• Scissors 

• Favorite pen

• Other options: 

• Masking tape 

• Washi tape 

• Patterned paper 

• Skinny markers

• Papermate flair

• Glue stick

Shared resources:

Background

• What is a Zine?

• Print and Resist (Madison Zine Fest)

Tutorials / Zine Types

• How to Zine Template (Madison Bubbler)

• Zine Facilitation Guide (Madison Bubbler)

• According Fold Zines

• Accordion Book 2

• Turkish Map Fold Zines

Example Zines

• What Equity Means to Me & Now What Professional Learning Zines

• Small Science Collective

• Archive.org Zines

Facilitated by Lisa @ Wayne RESA

Activity Prompt: Create something with tubes that is:

• something that represents your favorite vacation destination

• a familiar landmark from your state or community

• a scene from your favorite story/picture book

Shared resources:

• Creative Connections and Pizza Savers

• Moving Toys with Toilet Paper Tubes

• 51 Things to Do Make With Cardboard Tubes

• I Am Not a Toilet Paper Roll

Facilitated by Mari @ Fermilab

Activity Prompt: Design an alternative cover for your current favorite book, album, or movie.

Shared resources:

•  Educational resources from Canva

• Design principles and tutorials from Canva- 

• #CanvaTipsAndTricks (Instagram account needed)

• Canva Education Account Info

• Templates from ODeck / Madison Public Library 

• Canva Founder Melanie Perkins Interview

Facilitated by Peter @ UW-Madison

Activity Prompt: This activity is meant to be a tinkering activity where we might learn more about how we can use zip ties:

• Make something that is ambitious.

• Make something that is useful.

• Make something that consists mostly of zip-ties. 

Shared resources:

• Zip Tie Guy

• Cable Tie Heart Instructable

• Zip Tie Ball Instructable

• City Ecology, Sui Park

• Art Space: Zip Ties

Facilitated by PK @ UW-Madison

Activity Prompt: What can you create with only 10 Scratch Blocks?

10 Blocks is an introduction to Scratch programming activity from the HGSE Creative Computing Lab. We tried the activity, and talk a little bit about what makes a good (intro) activity or prompt to a new topic. Find the activity in the Creative Computing Curriculum.

Facilitated by Peter Wardrip @ UW-Madison

Activity Prompt: What can you create with only 10 Scratch Blocks?

Weaving is a simple, accessible activity that can use very complicated & specialized tools or just cardboard and yarn. It can be treated as a traditional craft/artform, or can be taken in non-traditional ways. At in person club locations, we had the opportunity to try out Hello! Looms laser cut looms created by UW-Madison Design Studies professor Marianne Fairbanks.

Facilitated by PK @ UW-Madison

Activity Prompt: Let’s explore a new, accessible coding tool by exploring movement, symmetry, and reflection.

We used the pattern exploration resources from the Exploratorium as a jumping off point to use the new mobile/tablet programming tool Octostudio. In person hubs had mirror material they could use to create kaleidoscopes to use with their code.

Facilitated by Rebecca Millerjohn @ The Bubbler

Activity Prompt: Create a boat that is wind powered.

Carve or construct small foam boats from recycled materials, styrofoam or pool noodles. Use dowels or screwers to create masts and sails. (You may have to provide your own wind!) Add ballast (weight) through decoration or adding pennies and see if you can get your boat to float or sail in a pool or rain gutter course. You can see pictures of boats in action on The Bubbler's Maker Kit Database.

Facilitated by Bill & Tori @ Betty Brinn

Activity Prompt: How can we make art with motion? How can we make art making machines?

Bill & Tori gave us a tour of their prototyping space at Betty Brinn, where they were exploring using salad spinners to make spin art, motors to move brushes, and black light to make it more seasonal. They invited us into their prototyping process and we explored making art with magnets, marbles, salad spinners, and more.

Facilitated by Mari Oates @ Fermilab

Activity Prompt: How can we use textiles to tell a story? 

Facilitated by David Wells
Activity Prompt: Create a one-line drawing and then build it with wire.

Suggested Materials:

Wire : Depending on age and project you can use 16 gauge wire or higher. The higher gauge the thinner the wire.

2 pairs of pliers: Any pliers will work but ideally Needle Nose and Small Locking vice pliers work best. Have different sizes depending on your participants.

Wire snips/cutters

Paper / writing utensil

Gloves (aren’t necessary but might be good to have on hand) 

Extension: Use dowels, string, and flashlights for shadow play.

Facilitated by Bill Pariso & Tori Pagel at Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Prompt: Can we make something float that also moves on its own? Can we make floating sculptures?

Facilitated by Peter Kirschmann @ UW-Madison

Prompt: What stories, images, and characters do you see in the shadows?

• Shadow Remix from The Exploratorium

• Sketch Pad App (Web based graphics tool)

• Artist Inspiration: Vincent Bal, It Might Be an Apple by Shinsuke Yoshitake

Facilitated by Mari Oates @ Fermilab

Prompt: Let's write some code that does something unexpected!

• 50 Years of Kids Coding Google Doodle

• Scratcher Video Profiles

• Scratch Ideas Page

• Scratch 10 Blocks Challenge

• Diverse CS Stories: Jerry Lawson, Roberta Williams, Never Alone Game, God of War Side Quest

Facilitated by Abby Krueger @ Building for Kids Children's Museum

Prompt: What are some different vehicles or objects that move using air? 

• Wind Powered Cardboard Car

• Wind Powered Lego Car Activity

• Artist Inspiration: Theo Jansen's Strandbeests

Facilitated by Bill Pariso @ Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Prompt: What is your alter ego? If you were to become a superhero what would it be and what would your superpower be?

• Cardboard Construction Facilitation Guide from the Bubbler

• Cardboard Automata from the Exploratorium

• Cutting Tools: Canary Cutters & Makedo Safe Cutter

• Movies & Videos: Caine's Arcade, Be Kind Rewind Montage, Dave Made a Maze