A young girl and her grandfather work together to create a musical marble run called a soundscape out of wooden blocks and sound-making elements. A team of third-graders uses motion and sound sensors, along with K’nex, to invent an alarm to protect a precious object. Middle schoolers turn buckets, cardboard tubes, and PVC pipes into a percussion sculpture, create their own beat, and compose a rap.
This is a typical day at the Draper Spark!Lab, the flagship educational initiative of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Located at the National Museum of American History, Spark!Lab is a hands-on workspace where kids, families, and groups can engage in the invention process, develop their own ideas, and solve problems in individual and unique ways.
Visitors reinvent the skateboard using familiar and new materials. Credit: Chris Gauthier. Photos courtesy of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
Since establishing the lab in 2008, our staff has worked with more than a million young people and experimented with different ways to support their ability to innovate. Along with the Center’s scholarly research, these experiences have taught us a lot about what can foster — and hinder — innovative thinking and have helped us develop a toolkit of strategies for nurturing creativity. Here are four key lessons we’ve learned and practical tips for applying them to other learning environments.
Lesson 1: Physical space is important.
By understanding what inventors value in their work environments, we developed Spark!Lab to embody many of the same qualities.
- The space can be easily modified and rearranged to accommodate different types of activity. Nearly everything is on wheels, giving us the freedom to continually experiment, innovate, and change.
- Supplies are organized in easy-to-reach, open storage containers so visitors can access whatever they need without assistance or permission. While there are specific supplies for each activity, visitors are free to borrow from other activities and use materials from anywhere in the room.
- The space allows for both individual and group work. Activity stations are designed to support collaboration, while an area called the Thinking Spot offers a quieter experience where children can read, draw, or invent independently.
Spark!Lab was built for invention, but there are ways to adapt an existing space to inspire creativity.
- Put tables on wheels. If that isn’t practical, try folding tables or lightweight furniture that is easy to move. Avoid built-in elements that don’t allow for change.
- Use clear, stackable bins and open shelving to organize supplies. Label everything so materials are easy to find.
- Designate space for both “creative collisions” and solo work.
Lesson 2: Materials matter.
We use a lot of basic materials: tape, cardboard, LEGOs, wooden blocks. But we also mix in less familiar items, such as parts of machines we’ve taken apart and things we custom design and 3D-print. Providing familiar materials that children know and understand ensures they can find an entry point to the activity. Adding in the unfamiliar introduces them to new materials, broadening their knowledge and expertise while also re-contextualizing the familiar. This combination of the known and the new can lead to innovative and sometimes surprising solutions.
- Think of ways to mix up what children know and expect. Combine high- and low-tech materials, for example, or include things you’re not certain how they will use.
- Modify familiar items to make them new. Cutting up balloons, for example, can shift a child’s thinking from “How can I use a balloon in my invention?,” which might result in a predictable outcome, to “How can this stretchy material make my invention better?”
Lesson 3: Problems that have multiple solutions provide wider opportunities for innovation.
We have developed and tested hundreds of activities in Spark!Lab and know activities that pose open-ended challenges result in broader creativity and innovation. By using flexible prompts that allow for different interpretations, children can define their own goals, create prototypes, and test and tweak designs to bring their own ideas — rather than ones we envision for them — to life. Because there are so many ways to approach the challenge, there isn’t an expectation of what the final product will look like or what is a right or wrong solution.
- When posing a problem or challenge, frame it in a way that allows for many solutions. “Invent something that flies,” for example, allows children to explore anything from birds to hot air balloons to rockets to planes in a way that “design an airplane” does not.
- Consider developing a scenario. “You must deliver food to a faraway island.” Follow that with an open-ended challenge, such as “Invent a way to transport it safely to the island.”
Lesson 4: Collaboration is key.
Inventors talk about the importance of collaborating with colleagues and how working with others can fill in knowledge or skill gaps. This plays out in Spark!Lab, too, where many of the most elaborate and sophisticated inventions are the result of many people working together.
- Place an activity in an area with 360-degree access so that many people can comfortably participate.
- Use large-scale materials that are easier to manipulate and maneuver if you have a partner.
- Pose a complex problem or challenge that needs diverse ideas and skills to solve.
A visitor tests her High Wire Driver invention. Credit: Chris Gauthier
A generation ago, technical skills and knowledge were considered the primary determinants for career success. Today, leaders in all business sectors note the critical role that 21st century skills — creativity, critical thinking, flexibility, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving — also play in the workplace.
The need for innovators is everywhere, so whether kids grow up to be inventors, teachers, doctors, or government leaders, they will need to think and work creatively. Applying strategies like those used in Spark!Lab can help children develop creative-thinking abilities, practice flexible thinking, hone problem-solving skills, and apply academic knowledge to practical tasks. By offering young learners opportunities to develop these skills today, we can help them to become creative, resilient thinkers and prepare them to be the innovators of tomorrow.
