Design Squad: Design Thinking Workshops

Decatur Makers will be hosting NY Hall of Science and GBH Boston‘s Design Squad Maker, a program that engages children and their caregivers in the engineering design process in museums, maker spaces, and at home. Together, families will come up with problems that they want to solve, brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, and test them to see how they work. Families will experience the same steps that engineers use to solve real-world problems!

We will be hosting free workshops, open to the public:

• Click here for registration for Oct 30 from 10 – 11:30am
• Click here for registration for Nov 18 from 5 – 6:30
• Click here for registration for Dec 5 from 2 – 3:30

You can also check our Events Calendar for registration information for the upcoming events!

Our new family workshops are geared towards kids ages 8–11 and their caregivers. Each workshop presents a design challenge related to a specific theme—creating an invention to help animals to designing something that can make life at home easier or more fun. 

The workshop themes include:

• School
• Animals
• Clothing
• Home

These resources are part of the Design Squad Maker project, an ongoing partnership between GBH Boston and NYSCI. The two institutions are working together to create resources that help children and their caregivers work on hands-on design projects in museums, maker spaces, and at home. Participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback, which will help inform improvements and revisions to the program materials.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1811457. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

In these workshops, families will:

• Learn about the design process
• Solve real-world problems
• Build a prototype using everyday materials

This workshop is recommended for ages 8 and older. Families should plan to spend up to 90 minutes working on their projects. As part of the workshop, families will also test out a new app that walks them through the steps of the design process, helps document their projects, and provides activities to do at home. Not required, but if possible, families can bring a device for their child to use, such as a smartphone or tablet. We welcome your feedback about the workshop and app during your visit!

School Theme

Is there something about your experiences at school that you would change? What would it be? What could you create to make your time at school better? Use your imagination to design something new in the maker space during the Design Squad Days workshop series! In this workshop, you’ll learn the steps of the design process while designing and creating something to improve your school day.

Animals Theme

Do you have a pet or know someone who does? Do you like animals? How could you create a better way to care for a pet or help other animals? Use your imagination to design something new in the maker space during the Design Squad Days workshop series! In this workshop, you’ll learn the steps of the design process while designing and creating something to help our furry friends.

Home Theme

What kinds of things do you do at home? What things are difficult to do at home? How can you make time spent at home easier or more fun? Use your imagination to design something new in the maker space during the Design Squad Days workshop series! In this workshop, you’ll learn the steps of the design process while designing and creating something to improve your home life.

Clothing Theme

Clothing is more than just a fashion statement. Do you own any clothes that have a certain purpose or solve a specific problem? Use your imagination to design something new in the maker space during the Design Squad Days workshop series! In this workshop, you’ll learn the steps of the design process while designing and creating clothing that is functional and fashionable.

 

Keep an eye on our Events Calendar and MeetUp Calendar to see when we post our workshops!