This activity combines exploring local places with digital mapping using OpenStreetMap, a free, collaborative mapping platform. Participants share the story of their neighborhood through a physical map, add photos and QR codes to highlight different spots, and uncover places missing on digital maps through collaboration. It blends hands-on creativity with digital tools to bring the community’s story to life.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.

OpenStreetMap

Activity Goals

• Learn how to map your neighborhood.
• Use OpenStreetMap (OSM) to edit maps together.
• Share stories about local places.
• Link real places to digital information using QR codes.
• Work in groups and have fun exploring your community.

Activity Resources

mapping-your-neighborhood-story-with-openstreetmap

Mapping Your Neighborhood Story with OpenStreetMap This activity combines exploring local places with digital mapping using OpenStreetMap, a free, collaborative mapping platform. Participants share the story of their neighborhood through a physical map, add photos and QR codes to highlight differ...

Google Docs

mapping-the-story-of-a-neighborhood-activity.MOV

Google Docs

Materials

• Large printed map from OpenStreetMap (about 20" x 30").
• Upcycled materials like cardboard, bottle caps, and LEGO.
• Red pin markers (made with software or by hand).
• Small printed photos of neighborhood places.
• QR code tools: QRCode Monkey and QRpedia.
• Scissors, glue, tape, and markers.

Age Groups

• Ages 8 and above

Facilitation Tips

• Discuss how maps were used in the past and how they help us today, for example, by tracking animal migrations or studying climate change. Show how modern mapping techniques help us see and understand more about our world, from space to the ocean floor. Use this National Geographic resource.
• Let kids work together and share what they know about maps from games and travel.
• Talk about why OpenStreetMap is different from Google Maps, why it’s useful for learning and community projects, and how to use it to add missing places. Use this Teach OSM resource.

Mapping the Stories of Our Planet

“Hasn’t the world already been mapped?” Not true! Especially if you ask National Geographic cartographer Debbie Gibbons. We are constantly finding new places and exploring new territory. What we map is constantly changing. You can map populations, transportation systems, forest coverage, and more. W…

Inspiring Inventors

Arun Ganesh — Learn how Arun Ganesh is changing how India is mapped.

From Bus Routes to Flooded Streets, This Man Has Been Making Free Maps for Citizens for Over 10 Years

Little wonder he is called the ‘Map Man of India’!

Sanchari PalThe Better India

Anaximander of Miletus — Discover how the ancient Greek philosopher took the first step in mapping the world over 2500 years ago: Read more here Britannica.

Inspiring Examples

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, collaborative, open-source mapping platform that allows anyone to create, edit, and share maps.  It is built and constantly updated by a global community of volunteers from all over the world who work together to add places like streets, parks, and buildings to make the map more accurate. It's like a big community project where everyone can share what they know about their neighborhoods, and anyone can use the map for free!

Contributors

Alex Leigh and Team4Tech

Team4Tech - Team4Tech

Committed to corporate social impact in education? See how Team4Tech’s nonprofit impact accelerator programs and skilled volunteers can help!

Team4Tech

Kathputli is a traditional Rajasthani puppet art form known for its storytelling through intricate puppetry. This activity will blend this ancient form with modern creative coding through Octo Studio, a creative platform that allows users to design digital stories and animations.

Kathputli (puppetry) - Wikipedia

Contributors to Wikimedia projectsWikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Project Overview ‹ OctoStudio – MIT Media Lab

OctoStudio is a free coding app available at octostudio.orgOctoStudio transforms how young people use mobile phones and tablets, enabling them to create t…

MIT Media Lab

Activity Goals

• To blend the traditional Rajasthani Kathputli puppet art with creative coding skills for crafting digital stories and animations.
• Introduce simple concepts like sequencing and logic through an unplugged coding activity.
• Familiarize participants with the basics of the Octo Studio application and how coding can bring puppetry to life in a digital setting.
• To teach how to combine filmmaking techniques and coding to craft stories.
• Integrate visual coding concepts using physical objects and flowcharts for better comprehension.

Activity Resources

• Activity and facilitation guide
• Demo video

creating-kathputli-stories-with-octo-studio

Creating Kathputli Stories with Octo Studio Kathputli is a traditional Rajasthani puppet art form known for its storytelling through intricate puppetry. This activity will blend this ancient form with modern creative coding through Octo Studio, a creative platform that allows users to des...

Google Docs

creating-kathputli-stories-with-octo-studio.MOV

Google Docs

Materials

• Paper, sketch pens, scissors, and ruler to design coding blocks
• Octo Studio app installed on a mobile device

Age Groups

• Ages 8 and above

Facilitation Tips

• Begin with a discussion about participants’ experiences with puppet shows. Introduce Kathputli’s history using videos/images.
• Draw parallels between puppetry and coding: puppeteers control puppets with strings, while coders control digital puppets with code.
• Encourage participants to brainstorm story ideas based on folk tales or personal experiences.
• Help participants to use physical objects to represent coding logic. Discuss how these physical representations can translate into Octo Studio’s digital blocks.
• Support troubleshooting by discussing what each character is supposed to do and exploring available Octo Studio blocks.
• Encourage participants to present their projects and give each other feedback. Reflect on:
• How coding brought Kathputli storytelling to life.
• Combining technology and tradition.
• Exploring creative possibilities in Octo Studio.

Inspiring Inventors

Octo Studio was developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the MIT Media Lab, the same team that created Scratch, a globally popular coding language for kids.

Group Overview ‹ Lifelong Kindergarten – MIT Media Lab

Engaging people in creative learning experiences

MIT Media Lab

Inspiring Examples

• Exploratorium's exploration with Octo Studio
• Puppet - the art of happiness
• Flowchart representation for Snake and Ladder game
• Mind mapping of empathy

Contributors

• Kani Sengottuvel and Team4Tech

Team4Tech - Team4Tech

Committed to corporate social impact in education? See how Team4Tech’s nonprofit impact accelerator programs and skilled volunteers can help!

Team4Tech

This guide outlines some getting started ideas, items required, and the making process of a messaging station that can be designed with materials available around your house, and with elements from Homemade Circuits activity.

Learning Goals

• To get a sneak peek into how people communicated before the invention of the telephone and computers
• To learn the patterns of Morse Code to communicate with each other.
• To learn to make and use simple circuits.
• Develop communication, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.

Activity Resources

messaging-station-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

messaging-station-facilitator-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

messaging-station-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Household Objects
• Connecting Wires
• Aluminium Foil
• Cloth Clips
• Iron Nail
• Cardboard
• Graphite Pencil
• Light Bulb
• Cutter

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 10 years & up. Adult supervision is required.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and activity guide and discuss with students:
  • What is morse code? Where did it originate?
  • How were messages transmitted electrically before telephones and emails?
  • Have they ever seen a rotary landline phone? How do they think landlines work?
  • How did pigeons transmit messages during World War 1 and 2?
  • How can you transmit one message in the form of another?
  • How will you design your message station similar to or different from the one in the activity guide?
• Share some ideas for alternative materials to use if students do not have the materials we used: aluminum foil and tape to connect multiple batteries, buzzers in place of the light bulb, etc.
• Encourage participants to decorate their messaging station as they like, try to connect their stations using long wires, and place them in separate rooms with the help of a partner.
• Ask participants to share the process of making their messaging station and how they interact with it.
• Finally, ask them to share the message transmitted!

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring Inventors

Samuel Morse was an American inventor who developed Morse Code, an electronic communication method used in the 19th and 20th century. This method is essentially a code language composed of dots and dashes to denote alphabets and numbers. A telegraph machine converts the code into electrical signals and sends them across a wire to their destination.

Inspiring Examples

Contributors

Nikil Augustine (Tinkering Intern, Unstructured Studio)

This guide outlines some getting started ideas, materials required, and the process of making 3-dimensional portraits with things found in our surroundings.

Learning Goals

• To be able to perceive everyday usage things in a new light, in new functionality.
• To capture different facial expressions through the materials to unleash one’s creativity and allow them to express visually.
• To learn how to create similarities and visual hierarchies.

Activity Resources

fun-portraits-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

fun-portraits-facilitator-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

fun-portraits-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Black or white cloth for backdrop
• Random things from house

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with the help from a demo video and discuss with participants:
  • Whose portrait does the art represent?
  • What will you use as the background for the face?
  • What materials will you use to make facial expressions?
  • Whose portrait will you make? Will you make a self-portrait?
  • Would you be able to animate the eyes, nose and lips in the portrait?
  • How will you do so?
• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format and demo video.
• You could encourage participants to collect as many small things of different materials, shapes, colors. They can also try a face portrait with just one color.
• Ask participants to share what they learned, their making process and a narrative around the portrait they made.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring artists

Hanoch Piven is a mixed media artist from Israel. He is well known for his celebrity caricatures made using common day-to-day objects. He has conducted educational workshops around it with children and adults all over the world. This activity itself is inspired by and based on Piven's work. Learn more about Piven on his website.

Credits: Rico Shen, CC BY-SA 3.0 >

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Nikita Gandhi (Tinker fellow, Unstructured Studio)

Let's make circuit elements with objects found around the household. This guide outlines some getting started ideas, items required, and the making process of circuit elements that can be designed with materials available around your house.

Learning Goals

• To understand the concept of basic electrical circuits in a fun and playful manner.
• To be able to develop low-cost and reusable electrical components.

Activity Resources

homemade-circuits-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

homemade-circuits-facilitator-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

homemade-circuits-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Household Objects
• Connecting Wires
• Aluminium Foil
• Cloth Clips
• Iron Nail
• Cardboard
• Graphite Pencil
• Light Bulb
• Cutter

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 10 years & up. Adult supervision is required.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and discuss with students:
  • What are circuits? How does current flow in a circuit?
  • How would you design a circuit to help you solve a problem in your day-to-day life? What materials will you use?
  • Will you make a secret lamp to be used at night that can be dimmed, or a series of lights to decorate something?
  • How does a battery work?
  • Can the lights and fans in your house be represented with circuits you learned?
• Share basic tips and help troubleshoot children in case their circuit does not work:
  • Check all the connections, make sure everything is connected correctly.
  • Use a higher voltage battery or try multiple and different types of batteries.
  • Experiment with different types of bulbs to see what works best.
  • In the case of LEDs, the current's direction matters. The (+)ve terminal of the LED should be connected to the (-)ve terminal of the battery and the (-) terminal of the LED should be connected to the (-)ve terminal of the bulb.
  • Ensure there are no short circuits or battery terminals directly connected for too long as it will ruin the battery.
  • The number of batteries required will depend on the type of bulb.
  • Share some ideas for alternative materials to introduce the activity: use aluminum foil and tape to connect multiple batteries, twist aluminum foil to create connections, replace the light bulb with buzzers, use graphite lead from mechanical pencils as wires, etc.
• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format and demo video. Encourage participants to decorate their circuit elements as they like and create unique circuits by combining multiple components.
• Ask participants to share their process of making the circuits and how they interact with them.
• Inspire participants by sharing real-life examples from around us, work of local and international artists work; who are into electronics and circuits.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring artists

Sridhar Das is an 80-year-old Light Artist from Chandannagar, a small town 40 km from West Bengal. He has developed dazzling illuminations using traditional bulbs and LEDs and made 2D  / 3D models and sculptures that have been used in festival celebrations both locally and internationally. Watch here for more.

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Nikil Augustine (Tinkering Intern, Unstructured Studio)

Let's design an interactive maze of multiple types and paths using materials available around us. This guide outlines some getting started ideas, materials required, and the making process of an interactive maze.

Learning Goals

• Developing visual and design skills including hand-eye coordination and spatial recognition.
• Developing cognitive skills particularly mathematical logic skills among others such as decision making, creative problem solving and creative thinking.
• Building patience and persistence.

Activity Resources

designing-your-own-maze-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

designing-your-own-maze-facilitator-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

designing-your-own-maze-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Cardboard box (or discarded delivery cartons)
• Cooked Rice
• Thermocol
• Coloured Paint
• Household Objects (e.g., bottle caps, sanitizer bottles, foil balls, empty toothpaste tubes, soap boxes, discarded pieces of wire, matchboxes, ice cream sticks)
• Cutter
• Stationary
• Glue
• Marbles

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and discuss with participants:
  • What is a maze, and what are the various kinds you know of?
  • Are there any real-life objects around you that remind you of a maze?
  • How will you design your maze different from the one in the activity guide? What materials will you use?
  • Will you draw an animal or make an object like a car or a truck? Will you make a three-dimensional maze?
  • What objects will you use to explore the path of the maze? What will you use in case a glass marble isn't available?
  • Have you been in a situation where you felt you were in a maze? What did you do to solve it?
• During an ongoing activity, you could ask participants to share:
  • Could you make a maze big enough to fit a more significant object like a football?
  • Could you slow down the movement of the marble inside the maze? If yes, then how will you do that?
  • If you put a small animal inside a maze, do you think they would be able to solve it?
  • In the process of making and solving a maze, what are some skills that you learned?
  • Could you make a maze so that it can be rearranged?
• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format and demo video. Encourage participants to decorate their maze as they like and try to make their own unique path.
• Ask participants to share their process of making the maze and how they interact with it.
• Finally ask them to share their maze!

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring artists

Adrian Fisher, Maze Designer, United Kingdom. Watch here for more.

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Nikil Augustine (Tinkering Intern, Unstructured Studio)

Let's make a balancing sculpture using random things that are lying around in the house. This activity guide introduces a few explorations with different materials, trying different models to understand weight, balance and its relation to gravity intuitively, and hopefully helps ignite the adventurous nature in you!

Learning Goals

• Understand balancing, stability, weights, and surfaces of different objects.
• Explore the center of mass and center of gravity of objects and how balancing depends on them (9th standard Physics students can directly connect with these two principles).

Activity Resources

balancing-sculpture-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

balancing-sculptures-facilitator-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

balancing-sculpture-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Scissors
• Few sticks
• Threads
• Random things from around the house

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Introduce the activity with help from demo videos and engage participants in discussion by asking following questions:
• What factors are helping make a successful balancing sculpture in the demo video?
• What happens when you increase or decrease the length of the wire in the demo video?
• Where have you seen a balancing sculpture like this in real life?
• What are the different objects that you will explore for balancing, other than the one shown in the demo video?

Some more ideas to explore are to try with stones, pebbles, empty boxes, cartons, beads of different shapes and sizes. Before you start building the sculpture, explore the weights of the objects by keeping them on your palms. Trying to balance each small object at the tip of your finger can also be fun to start with. You can make various sculptures with the same set of things by balancing them, stacking, tying, or hanging.

• Inspire participants by sharing local and international artists' work, who are into balancing sculptures or art. See below for examples.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring artists

Mansi Singh Panwar is a Bhavai dance artist, a popular folk dance genre performed in Rajasthan and western India. She has been performing this dance since the age of 6 that she learned from her mother. In this dance, she balances up to 22 earthen pots on her head, performs on the edge of the sword, on the rim of a metal plate, and more. She can perform balancing for up to 1 hour. Mansi says balancing comes with a lot of practice and patience. She has performed in 10+ countries outside India. Watch here for more.

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Nikita Gandhi (Tinker fellow, Unstructured Studio)

Let's make a loom and use it to weave a mat from things around us. This activity guide introduces the basic concept of weaving and sheds light on how handloom clothing and textiles are made.

Learning Goals

• Getting familiar with the process of making a loom and understanding how it works
• Exploring a wide variety of weaving techniques, patterns, materials and woven objects
• Developing and expressing creative ideas

Activity Resources

weaving-loom-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

weaving-loom-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Waste cardboard - 8 or 11 inch
• Thick threads available at home
• Ruler to measure
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Paper
• Strips of old cloths

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and encourage students to look around in their home or nature and share:

• What examples can you find of weaving around you? (e.g., the nest woven by birds, a fruit basket in the kitchen)
• What are the materials used in weaving?
• What are the materials used to make warp and weft? (e.g., birds use hay, leaves, twigs, and many things around them)
• What can become a frame for weaving (e.g., cloth hanger, an old photo frame)
• What can become a warp and weft for that frame? (e.g., old t-shirt strip, saree)

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring Artists

Coming soon!

Inspiring Examples

Contributors

Nikita Gandhi (Tinker fellow, Unstructured Studio)

Let's make a light story box that shines an image through and also animate shadows! This activity guide introduces an interactive slide projector that can not only help in narrating stories but make the stories come to life.

This activity is aimed at visualizing the story of how Covid-19 affected the life of a child by projecting their story drawings made on transparent slides using a light box to the wall and bringing the story to life by animating objects.

Learning Goals

1. Understand how light passes through different materials - transparent, translucent, opaque, colored etc.
2. Learn how to use shadows and reflection to create effects. Correlate this with real-life scenarios of light manipulation - such as a projector in movie theater.
3. Creative storytelling by drawing a story on slides and explaining it.

Activity Resources

light-story-box-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

light-story-box-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

light-story-box-facilitation-guide.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

Materials Required

• Cardboard box
• Transparent sheets
• Hard wire
• Double sided transparent tape
• Cutter
• Stapler
• Colored markers

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and discuss with students:
  • What are shadows? How do they work?
  • Upon rotating the lever, how do the objects move up and down?
  • How are the drawings being projected on the wall?
  • Could you use something else (e.g., strings tied to your fingers) to animate objects?
  • Would all colors be projected on the wall?
  • Could the slides be linked together and pulled to work as a film projector?
• Share with children that if a smartphone isn't available, they can use any light source and make the cut out in the cardboard accordingly.
• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format and demo video. Encourage participants to decorate their light story box as they like and integrate as many interactive elements as possible.
• As children share their stories, suggest what part of it could be made interactive.
• Ask participants to share their process of making the story slides, how they interact with their story elements.
• Finally, ask them to share their story!

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring artists

Ravan Chhaya Natya Sansad is a group of artists from Odisha, India, that perform the story of Lord Rama in the art form called Raavan Chayya - a shadow play art form native to Odisha. Puppets used in Ravana Chhaya are made of deerskin, range from 6 inches to 2 feet in height, and are mounted on bamboo poles. “A complete performance requires as many as 700 puppets with multiple puppets being used to depict a diversity of moods for individual characters” - Swadesi.com Watch a performance here or click here for more info.

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Nikil Augustine (Tinkering Intern, Unstructured Studio)

Let's make an interactive machine that can fit a human's head and perform an interesting action. This activity guide introduces a robotic head made from cardboard that uses a pulley-styled wiper system to clean the screen, a robot-like task that human eyes can't do!

Learning Goals

• Understand concepts of pulleys, forces and weights and other mechanical and moving parts
• Use imaginative play to build things that interact with the human body and tell a story around it

Activity Resources

robo-head-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

robo-head-demo-video-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

robo-head-facilitation-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

Materials Required

• Cardboard box
• Icecream sticks
• Fevicol
• Cloth piece
• Board pins
• Strong thread
• Thick transparent plastic sheet

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Demonstrate the activity with help from the demo video and discuss with students:
  • What is a robot? What do robots do?
  • What material are the two blue-colored circles shown on the front of the mask made of? What is their role in the project?
  • Where else have you seen a similar mechanism like the pulley-styled wipers before? Could you share how and why the wipers move the way they do?
  • Depending on the grades students are in, you can discuss with them: what are pulleys, what are the different kinds of pulley systems, what are pulleys used for, etc.?
• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format, demo video, and voice notes. Encourage participants to make their Robo head different from the one in the activity guide and try making it as interactive as possible.
• You can share some ideas for how they can make their machine interactive- you can put a fan on the top that rotates with the wind, a loudspeaker that amplifies your voice, or emits light.
• Ask participants to share their process of making the Robo head, what materials they used, and how they can interact with it.
• Inspire participants by sharing real-life examples from around us, work of local and international artists working on creating mechanisms from cardboard and household materials

Note: Browse through the following resource on the topic of pulleys.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring Artists

Jorvon “Odd Jayy” Moss is a self-taught tinkerer from Los Angeles, USA. He develops small robots that interact with your body, sit on your shoulders and head.  To see more of Odd Jay’s creations, click here.

Inspiring Examples

Contributors

Suchakra Sharma, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Srishti Sethi, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Let's explore how everyday objects can help make sound and music. This activity introduces making a musical instrument using a set of Kitchen utensils filled with water. It is inspired by Jal Tarang, an ancient and traditional instrument used in Indian classical music.

Learning Goals

• Understand the relationship of sound produced in musical instruments and the type/shape of materials used.
• Develop a practical understanding of harmonics, resonance, and musical tones with everyday materials.
• Experiment with different materials to produce creative rhythms and melodies.

Activity Resources

music-from-everyday-objects-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

music-from-everyday-objects-demo-video-1-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

music-from-everyday-objects-demo-video-2.mp4

Google Drive - Video

music-from-everyday-objects-facilitation-tips-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

For more ideas, explore:

• Arvind Gupta's toys with simple sounds
• DIY musical instruments

Materials Required

• A set of glasses or bowls (ideally,  made of porcelain as it produces a clear, metallic sound when struck). Alternatives:  containers made of steel, copper or any other material that creates sound when struck.
• A coloring agent (optional)
• Wooden sticks
• Water

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 8 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Before introducing the activity, discuss with participants:
  • From which objects around you can you make a sound? To what does the resulting sound resemble?
  • How are sounds created?
  • What is an echo? And, what types of objects cause an echo?
  • What makes a sound louder or softer?
  • What will happen when you try playing a musical instrument in space?
  • What music means to you? Ask participants about a musical instrument that they have played or listened to?
  • How do musical instruments make sounds?

You can find answers to most questions in the following "how are sounds created" resource.

• Introduce the activity using the guide in a PDF Format, demo video 1 (with Jal Tarang activity), and voice note. You could encourage participants to make an instrument using the same principle as of Jal Tarang. Encourage them to experiment with containers of different sizes and shapes, various quantities of water, other liquids, and explore alternatives for wooden sticks. You could ask them to share:
  • How does the music change?
  • Why does each of the glass make a different musical sound?

• Share with them demo video two and encourage them to make music from objects around them. They could also use their music as the background music in the project’s video documentation.

• Inspire participants by sharing local and international artists' work, who make/play music with instruments they have made from materials around them:
  • Michael, known for producing 155 different kinds of sounds from everyday objects.
  • Linsey Pollak, an instrument maker.
  • Millind Tulankar, a Jal Tarang artist.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring Artists

Milind Tulankar is an Indian Jal-tarang player. A Jal-tarang is an ancient Indian instrument comprised of china bowls filled with different levels of water, which are struck by means of two cane sticks. To learn more about Milind and Jal-tarang click here.

Inspiring Examples

Contributors

Suchakra Sharma, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Srishti Sethi, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Let's explore how everyday objects can help make ink. This activity guide introduces making ink using flowers and leaves and its use for a painting.

Activity Resources

ink-from-everyday-objects-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

ink-from-everyday-objects-facilitation-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

ink-from-everyday-objects-demo-video-1-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Flowers and leaves
• Lemon juice
• Salt
• Baking soda

Age Groups

This activity is suitable for ages 10 years & up. We recommend children under the age of 12 to use Kitchen appliances as required in this activity under adult supervision.

Facilitation Tips

• Before introducing the activity, discuss with participants:
  • What is color?
  • Which everyday objects around them give colors?
  • What gives everyday objects different colors?
  • What is ink? How is it different from color?
  • What is the content of ink?
  • How many types of ink exist?
  • How will they use colors from everyday objects to make ink?
  • How will they use these colors & ink?

• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format, demo video, and voice note. You could encourage participants to make ink using everyday objects and use it for their artwork.
• Encourage participants to use the process shown in the video only as a reference and use other natural or human-made materials to produce ink such as turmeric, coffee, tea, soot, soil, fruits & vegetables, etc.
• Ask participants to share their process of making colors and ink, what materials they used, and how they changed the original color from an object in a certain way.
• Inspire participants to tinker with ink and colors by sharing some examples, such as the below artworks that use natural pigments made by Nikita Gandhi, a self-taught artist, and educator.

Inspiring artist

Nikita Gandhi is a self-taught artist and educator from India. She develops artworks using natural pigments and everyday sustainable materials. She has been interested in learning by doing activities for children throughout her career. She has worked at several schools and NGOs and taught children to make toys from things around us and junk. At her last job at Marudam school, she worked with children exclusively, exploring Arvind Gupta toys and Sudarshan Khanna's toy-making book.

Inspiring examples

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Contributors

Nikita Gandhi, Self-taught Artist and Educator

Srishti Sethi, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

This activity introduces making a paper circuit that describes our surroundings and activities. An example used in this guide is of a greeting card with a camera design that lights up with help from a simple circuit.

Learning goals

• To learn to make and use simple circuits.
• Develop communication, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.

Activity Resources

paper-circuits-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

paper-circuits-facilitation-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

paper-circuits-demo-video-1.m4v

Google Drive - Video

paper-circuits-demo-video-2-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

Materials Required

• Cardboard papers
• Aluminium foil (alternatives: copper tape, aluminium wires)
• LEDs
• 3V batteries
• A pair of scissors
• Adhesive tape
• Glue

Age Groups

This activity is suitable or recommended for ages 10 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Before introducing the activity, demonstrate 2-3 simple and complex paper circuits. Ask questions while showing:
  • What is a circuit and what can you do with it?
  • How does the circuit in the display will work, or the light in it will glow?
  • How many types of circuits have you seen around you?
  • Where have you seen a similar circuit like the one shown in the project?
  • Where else have you seen LEDs and batteries used in this circuit?

• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format, demo video, and voice note.  You could encourage participants to make something using a paper circuit that describes a surrounding or an activity. It could portray an event or festival students like, their favorite artifacts at home or in school they attend, etc.
• Encourage participants to use the paper circuit shown in the video only as a reference and personalize their creations.
• Explain the workflow briefly for a series and parallel circuit. Talk about everyday examples (e.g., house wiring, Diwali/Eid lights, etc.) where a series and a parallel circuit are in action.

• Motivate participants to try complex iterations on their project and personalize it even further by sharing demo video 2 (of a paper circuit home). As a  follow-up, ask if they can relate the demo video's circuit to a one they have seen in their home.

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring inventors

Jie Qi is an artist, educator, educator, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Chibitronics, a US-based company, and developer of circuit stickers for children to be able to learn electronics interactively and express their creativity through making playful electrical circuits.

Inspiring examples

Contributors

Mihir Pathak, Learning Facilitator (Unstructured Studio)

Suchakra Sharma, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Credits

• Based on the Tinkering Studio’s Paper Circuits Activity Guide.

Learn how to make a simple machine that can animate a scene or objects using basic motions generated using a simple crank.

Activity Resources

vichitra-yantra-activity-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

vichitra-yantra-demo-video-1.mp4

Google Drive - Video

vichitra-yantra-demo-video-2-english.mp4

Google Drive - Video

vichitra-yantra-facilitation-guide-english.pdf

Google Drive - PDF

Learning Goals

1. Understand how the crank mechanism works. Correlate it with similar motions that one can see in daily life (eg. manual sugarcane juicer)
2. Learn how to combine different motions generated by the crank to create animated objects and create stories around them
3. Understand how rotary motion can be converted to linear motion and the other way round.

Materials Required

• Cardboard
• Stiff wire ( e.g., aluminium)
• Nail or any pointed object for making holes
• Pliers
• Glue

Age Groups

This activity is suitable or recommended for ages 10 years & up.

Facilitation Tips

• Before introducing the activity, ask participants, "What is motion?", "What are the different types of motion you are familiar with?". Show them a picture of objects that exhibit different motion types, such as a clock, bicycle, and ask if they could share similar examples.

vichitra-yantra-voice-note-1-english.m4a

Google Drive - Audio

• Introduce the activity using the activity guide in a PDF format, demo video, and voice note.  You could encourage participants to make around a type of motion they shared in response to the question above.

vichitra-yantra-voice-note-2-english.m4a

Google Drive - Audio

• Encourage participants to use the builds shown in the video only as a reference and personalize their creations.

vichitra-yantra-voice-note-3-english.m4a

Google Drive - Audio

• Ask participants to share in a group a similar machine-like "vichitra yantra" they have seen and imagine how they would use it or build upon further. Then ask, what would you change in the motion so that the machine becomes useful to you?

vichitra-yantra-voice-note-4-english.m4a

Google Drive - Audio

• Ask children to personalize this contraption. Can they use it to animate objects that tell a story? Can they connect one yantra to other elements and cause motion in one to be translated to another? Show them demo video 2 for an example of extending the contraption further.
• Encourage participants to create new forms of motion and combine knowledge of motion they see in daily lives with this yantra.

vichitra-yantra-voice-note-5-english.m4a

Google Drive - Audio

Browse through the facilitator guide for tips and tricks to engage participants in maker activities in a virtual or physical learning space.

Inspiring Artists

Blair Somerville is an artist based out of New Zealand. His life's work has been an art showcase called The Lost Gypsy where he has developed numerous, unique and wonderful handcrafted contraptions using similar crank mechanisms among others. Blair says, his creations are “weird and wonderful wind-up, water-driven gadgets and gizmos made from found objects — shells, toys, coins, wood, watches, wire and more”. You can know more about his work by visiting the gallery here.

Inspiring Examples

Contributors

Mihir Pathak, Learning Facilitator (Unstructured Studio)

Suchakra Sharma, Co-Designer (Unstructured Studio)

Credits

• Based on the Tinkering Studio’s Cranky Contraptions Activity Guide.