Tinkering Tenets from San Francisco's Exploratorium

If ever there was a mecca of STEAM activities it would be the Exploratorium in SanFrancisco. For decades it has been a leading institution for people of all ages to explore the mysteries and discover the answers to "how" "why" "what" questions in the natural world.

They have come out with a new book that the Duxbury Free Library now owns, The Art of Tinkering, by Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich.

Here are their tenets:

1. Merge science, art & technology: "...when you mix them together, you get a veritable tinkering trifecta in which technological tools and scientific principles let you express your own artistic vision...." 
2. Create rather than consume: this says it all.
3. Revisit & Iterate on Your Ideas.
4. Use familiar materials in unfamiliar ways
5. Express ideas via construction
6. Prototype rapidly: "When you have a new idea, it's incredibly helpful get it out of your brain as soon as possible - to sketch a design or build a working model...."
7. Embrace your tools
8. Be comfortable not knowing
9. Go ahead, get stuck: "...When you tinker, you're going to mess up. you're going to get frustrated, fail, and maybe even break a thing or two. We call this getting stuck, and believe it or not, it's a very good thing. Failure tells you what you don't know, frustration is making sense of that failure in the moment, and taking action leads to a new way of knowing...."
10. Seek real-world examples everywhere
11. Reinvent old technologies (and discover new ones, too)
12. Try a little "Snarkasm": We like to jokoe aronud while we tinker, and we call our particular brand of well-meaning wit and unprecious playfulness "snarkasm. A little humor helps...."
13. Balance autonomy with collaboration
14. Put yourself in messy, noisy, sometimes dangerous situations:"...the dangerous aspects of tinkering is a powerful motivator - it forces you to slow down and pay close attention to what you're doing. A little caution goes a long way."

Check out the book at your local library!