Creature Laboratory

On Saturday and Sunday, kids (and adults!) got a chance to create with recycled materials, inspired by the Mechanical Menagerie ramp box exhibit. Here’s what they made – and some details about their process:

A boy made a jellyfish with his mom and dad. The jellyfish caught 2 fish and a seahorse in its long yellow legs!

One girl decided not to make a creature, but a school. She used a large cup for the building and a bottle cap and coffee cup lid for a playground. She added pipe cleaners to the roof of her school as the finishing touch… balloons! But as she waited for her brother to finish working, she kept having more great ideas. In the end, she added a house and “trash can” to her school. She created a whole neighborhood!

Another boy spent almost an hour in the Creature Laboratory. First, he made a stack of cups. He explained that he was learning “speed stacking” in gym class, that he worked with a partner to stack and unstack cups as fast as they could while racing other teams. Over time, he added to his creation and in the end had an awesome cup structure.

A mom made this giraffe!

A squirrel and tree

This program is yet another example of how much kids enjoy open-ended activities and the opportunity to explore and “mess around” with interesting materials. Thanks to Experience Coordinator Liz Leahey for taking these photos and collecting stories of the kids’ process and creations!

Look for more kids’ creations in future posts.