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Decal depicting a cartoon boy riding a Snurfer
Exploring invention and innovation through stories, activities, and research.
Learn more!

Is it a kids’ toy? Is it sports equipment? An early decal for Sherman Poppen’s Snurfer, late 1960s, AC 1159-0000012. Sherman Poppen Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. © Smithsonian Institution

Explore

Behind every invention, there is a story. Discover those stories here.

 

Newsprint ad for the “Snow Surfer,” retailing at $5.77. Text reads, in part, “Enjy the fun of skiing, tobogganing, and sledding all rolled into one with this exciting new sport.”
Blog

Sherman Poppen’s Snurfer

A look at the slippery slope of commercializing an invention.

A toy mouse in a yellow, wedge-shaped car
Blog

The Power of a Challenge

Some famous inventions have come about because of a competition. What will you invent if challenged?

Cover for book Not a Box showing a line drawing of a rabbit standing next to a box
Blog

My Favorite Invention Books

We’ve filled the Spark!Lab Thinking Spot with children’s books that promote inventive creativity.

Study

Scholars and students, join us in studying our passion: invention! Apply for a fellowship, travel grant, or internship. Explore our collections. Consult our research reports and best practices for documenting and collecting inventors’ materials. And check out our Lemelson Center/MIT Press book series.

Archival intern Elizabeth Garber
Research Opportunities

Lemelson Center Archival Internship

Lemelson Center Archival Interns work on invention-related collections at the National Museum of American History Archives Center.

Montage of book covers published in the Lemelson Center Studies series
Lemelson Center Books

Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation

Books in the interdisciplinary Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series explore the history of invention and innovation and the work of inventors and the technologies they create.

Detail of Handprints on Hubble book cover, showing astronaut Kathy Sullivan looking out the window of the space shuttle.
Lemelson Center Books

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention

In the newest book in the Lemelson Center series with MIT Press, the first American woman to walk in space recounts her experiences as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope.

Try

Get hands-on with the history and the process of invention! Try all sorts of ways to get creative!

Three-quarters profile view of a free-standing stereoscope. It has curved ornamental metal legs and a carved upright support. A stereograph is in place in the holder.
DO Try This at Home!

D.I.Y. Victorian Virtual Reality

Make your own stereoscope and experience the nineteenth-century predecessor to today’s virtual reality technology.

A young girl works on the Invent a Skate Park activity
Spark!Lab

Current Spark!Lab Activities

Draper Spark!Lab visitors can enjoy inventing while exploring the history and process of invention.

An adult man is working with a young girl on an activity in SparkLab
Spark!Lab

About Spark!Lab

Draper Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors.

Surprise me!

Events

In the news

  • Sep 03, 2019

    Smithsonian Institution Career Opportunity: Spark!Lab Facilitator (PART-TIME), Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation

  • Nov 08, 2018

    Spacewar! Creators Honored at Smithsonian “Innovative Lives” Event

  • Nov 08, 2018

    Spacewar! Creators Honored at Smithsonian “Innovative Lives” Event

  • Sep 14, 2018

    Lemelson Center Moves Women Inventors to the Front in New Display

On view

Visit the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation

The Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation features:

  • Places of Invention, an exhibition that explores what can happen when the right mix of inventive people, untapped resources, and inspiring surroundings come together.
  • Draper Spark!Lab, our hands-on invention workshop for children and families.
  • Inventive Minds, a changing gallery that highlights the Lemelson Center’s work on documenting inventors.

Location and Hours:

The Lemelson Center and the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation are located at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

  • Draper Spark!Lab is open daily (except Tuesdays and Dec. 24 and 25) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Places of Invention and Inventive Minds are open daily (except Dec. 25) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Click for visiting information. Hours are subject to change for holidays, inclement weather, and urgent maintenance issues. Please check the museum calendar for updates.

Learn more about our exhibitions

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Tweets by @SI_Invention

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