This
book! Oh my! It is informative, inspiring, interesting, and gorgeous -- a winner on so many fronts. When lovely
Rachelle Doorley's new book,
Tinkerlab: A Hands-On guide For Little Inventors, landed in my book bag, I found myself drawn (pun!) to the pages during the very few small pockets of time I have these days. It whispered to me, asking to be perused. It is
that good.
Since my specialty is words and pictures, I was drawn to the
Drawing Games chapter where Rachelle offers fun, creative tinkering opportunities for those who love to draw. The activities in that chapter (as well as in the book in its entirety) lend themselves beautifully to classroom and homeschool experimentation. My kids and I happily gave them all a whirl.
One of my daughter's favorites is the group activity called
Exquisite Corpse For Kids, where each player adds a body section to a creature without knowing what the other parts of the creature look like. We found ourselves around the table with some special family members, and my oldest decided to teach everyone how to play. It was a wonderful multigenerational connection opportunity because everyone was laughing, and also because we found ourselves admiring our work. Like, seriously admiring! We were all so impressed with our joint creations. I'm quite fond of Mr. Blue Face Polka Dots with Webbed Feet (above) made by my husband, Aunt, and daughter.
Doesn't it look like this guy with pink wings laid an egg? Ha! Remember, my daughter did
not look at the other panels when she drew the bottom panel.
Everyone signed their names to their panels.
This tinkering was fun, fun, fun!
We've decided that the Connect The Dots tinkering activity is perfect for office room waits, restaurant table time, and airplane travel. My daughter turned my dots (above) into The Lady in the Green Dress (below).
And, we loved all of the other drawing invitations too. They are so thoughtfully creative and engaging.
Thanks for writing a book that invites both children and adults to be creative explorers,
Rachelle. We can't wait for our next
Tinkerlab adventure.
