Welcome to Design Squad Maker, a program that engages children and their caregivers in the engineering design process. Together, you’ll come up with problems that you want to solve, brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, and test them to see how they work. Experience the same steps that engineers use to solve real-world problems!

This family workshop is geared toward kids ages 8–11 and their caregivers.

The theme of the workshop will be Rindge Ave. Who uses Rindge Ave and in what ways? What community hubs are on Rindge Ave? How could we improve the experience or Rindge Ave, or something located on Rindge Ave, for its inhabitants, humans, plants, and animals alike?

Use your imagination to design something new in the maker space during the Design Squad Maker workshop series! In these workshops, you’ll learn steps in the design process while designing and creating solutions for Rindge Ave.

In this workshop, you will:

-Learn about the design process

-Solve real-world problems

-Build a prototype using everyday materials

Visitors should plan to spend up to 90 minutes working on their projects. As part of the workshop, visitors will also use an app that walks families through the steps of the design process, helps document their projects, and provides activities to do at home. It’s not required but if possible, please bring a device for your child to use, such as a smartphone or tablet.

These resources are part of the Design Squad Maker project, a partnership between GBH Boston and NYSCI. These two institutions worked together to create resources that help children and their caregivers work on hands-on design projects in museums, in maker spaces, and at home. 

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.