Summer Week 6: Automata Toys!

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Create a charming hand-operated mechanical toy! Does your child have an engineering mindset? Always crafting things out of paper? Making 3-D objects? Before the invention of motors and microchips, toys were powered by cranks, gears, and other methods. We will design, cut, paint, and assemble a self-automated toy made mostly from paper and cardboard....blowing their minds... by following a set of basic steps. Once they learn what techniques to use, your young designer can use this skill on their own to engineer bent wires so they control paper shapes and more! This 2-day workshop will immerse the kids in the fascinating concepts of combining art and mechanics to create "art-o-motion"! Depending on the skillset of the students, they can paint, add copper tooling, rivet, and embellish their work as much as they would like to add permanence. A second project can be completed making kinetic sculpture if they would like and time allows. We really want the kids to enjoy the process and paint a beautiful piece of art while at the same time creating a working mechanical item! This is all a part of our belief in "process art"...so the student will dictate how much they focus on each portion of their project during the process - depending on their interests - and no two projects will be exactly alike!