When we think of tinkering, we think of casually fiddling, dabbling, puttering around with something.
While some may not think much of the spontaneous play, it turns out that it actually helps unleash creativity as well as encourages innovative thinking. When children tinker, it helps them experiment with materials, understand how things are made and fosters problem solving skills.
Imagination Station on Tuesday debuted the new “Toledo Tinkers: Through a Child's Eyes” gallery exhibit that celebrates the past, present, and future of tinkering, an effort that has been three years in the making.
“We're so excited to feature this new exhibit about Toledo Tinkers here inside Imagination Station,” said Imagination Station's chief education officer, Sloan Eberly Mann. “It celebrates a creativity of our Toledo community past, present, and future.
“And the hope is when folks come in here and they see the exhibit, they'll get inspired to tinker and explore and make for themselves,” she said, adding the hope for feelings of empowerment upon seeing kids’ creations alongside local artists and famous names like DeVilbiss.
Toledo Tinkers works to reach children in marginalized communities, engaging them in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) subjects.
The exhibit is serves to empower young people to create rather than consume as they prepare to be the future leaders and problem solvers of tomorrow, organizers said.
The exhibit houses a hands-on learning lab stocked with items that foster tinkering, providing children and adults alike opportunities to explore materials, build, and take things apart, all of which helps them imagine new, inventive ideas and possibilities.
Upon entering the new exhibit, tinkerers will be welcomed by a mural designed and painted by local artists Artists Yusuf Lateef and Julia Labay, who expressed gratefulness for being commissioned to offer their freedom of expression.
“If we look at ourselves and consider our greatest potential, I think what you will find is that's where your talent lies and that's where your name is,” Mr. Lateef said. “And these spaces offer opportunities for people to explore what that is.
“And if you are to fulfill your full, true potential, you have to tinker, you have to explore, you have to always try and find your name,” he said.
The mural aims to inspire anyone who visits Imagination Station, Ms. Mann said.
Toledo Tinkers began in 2021 with the introduction of the mobile Tinkering Van which enabled Imagination Station to take tinkering on the road to engage youth and their family members in hands-on STEAM learning right in their neighborhood.
“I do the outreach tinkering bringing circuitry, coding, fabrication, and engineering,” said Deicie Sawyer, community engagement coordinator. “A lot of outreach tinkering is combined with our indoors.”
“We want all ages to look at this exhibit and feel like they can be a maker too,” Ms. Mann said. “We want it to embody the spirit of creativity and innovation in our community: past, present, and future.”
First Published December 6, 2023, 1:48 a.m.
