Skip to main content
  • Main menu
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Home
  • Try
    • Explore
    • Study
    • About
    • Multimedia
  • Spark!Lab
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • Spark!Lab: A Year in Review

Spark!Lab: A Year in Review

December 31, 2015 by Tricia Edwards
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print

As 2015 draws to a close, year-in-review lists flood the news. We read about the year’s most notable people, best books, biggest stories (and scandals), and even the coolest inventions. As I do my own reflecting on the year that’s passed, Spark!Lab features prominently. It was a big year for the “home base” at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), as well as for the Spark!Lab National Network. Collectively, we served more than 325,000 visitors, created dozens of hands-on activities, introduced new programs, and engaged our visitors in the history and process of invention in fun and meaningful ways. Here’s the year in review, Spark!Lab style:

…And we’re back

Opening day.jpg

Spark!Lab full of visitors on opening day

Spark!Lab NMAH on opening day; photo by Chris Gauthier.

After a three-year closure for a major renovation at NMAH, Spark!Lab reopened on July 1. Occupying nearly 2,000 square feet on the museum’s first floor, Spark!Lab provides opportunities for children ages six to 12 and their families to participate in hands-on activities, explore objects from the national collections, and of course, invent! Incorporating history, science, engineering, and art, Spark!Lab illustrates the invention process while appealing to varied learning styles, ages, and abilities, and allows visitors to practice 21st century skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Activities change every few months, so there’s always something new to explore and invent.

Happy Birthday to us

Reno overview Mitchell Allen.jpg

Spark!Lab Reno features a local inventors case to connect invention to the local community; photo by Mitchell Allen

Spark!Lab Reno features a local inventors case to connect invention to the local community; photo by Mitchell Allen.

We celebrated the fourth birthday of the Spark!Lab National Network with our first Network site at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. Since 2011, the staff has found innovative ways to connect Spark!Lab to the rest of the museum, and make its activities relevant to the local community. This year, they introduced activities to get visitors creating flexible structures, crafting birdhouses from recyclable materials, and inventing with gears. These activities are now available for other members of the National Network to use in their own Spark!Labs.

The Last Frontier

In March, we opened our fourth Spark!Lab National Network site at the Anchorage Museum. They have found creative and meaningful ways to connect Spark!Lab to Alaskan innovation. The staff has also experimented with Spark!Lab programs designed for specific audiences, from toddlers to teens to millennials.  

KCMO x 2

As part of our commitment to the Network sites, we make regular visits to each museum to conduct training, brainstorm activity ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and work with staff to create a Spark!Lab experience that reflects each museum’s interests and expertise. We visited the Kansas City Spark!Lab at Science City at Union Station in April and December, and were inspired by the ways they’re engaging community groups in Spark!Lab, both as visitors and facilitators.   

Alaska Aces.jpg

Members of the Alaska Aces hockey team build a soundscape during Spark!Nite, a Spark!Lab event for adults; photo courtesy of the Anchorage Museum

Members of the Alaska Aces hockey team build a soundscape during Spark!Nite, a Spark!Lab event for adults; photo courtesy of the Anchorage Museum.

Tough Girls.jpg

Members of the Tough Girls, a robotics club at a local high school, facilitated activities in Spark!Lab; photo courtesy of Science City at Union Station

Members of the Tough Girls, a robotics club at a local high school, facilitated activities in Spark!Lab; photo courtesy of Science City at Union Station.

Back to the Berkshires

In September, we returned to the Berkshire Museum for our first visit since their 2014 opening. To engage Spark!Lab’s many repeat visitors, the staff features fresh content each month, highlighting historic and contemporary inventors and invention news stories.

Motor City, here we come

This fall, we also confirmed the opening of our fifth National Network site at the Michigan Science Center! As an institution that works to “inspire curious minds,” MiSci will be a great addition to the Network. Spark!Lab Detroit opens next spring.

On the Road

Innoskate.JPG

Visitors to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville, SC participated in the Spark!Lab Invent A Skateboard activity; photo by Tim Pula

Visitors to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville, SC participated in the Spark!Lab Invent A Skateboard activity; photo by Tim Pula.

Beyond the National Network, this year offered us many opportunities to introduce the Spark!Lab educational approach and some of our hands-on activities to educators, museum professionals, community leaders, kids, and parents around the world.   

Teamwork

Supporting all of this work (and more) is the Spark!Lab NMAH team of staff and volunteers, who work both on and off the floor to create a welcoming environment for our visitors. They develop activities, pose invention challenges, ask questions, foster collaboration, help with frustration, and celebrate successes big and small with our visitors. Behind the scenes, they prep materials, manage the supply inventory, repair broken items, and keep Spark!Lab clean and safe. Together, our staff and volunteers have created a place where creativity flourishes and where everyone can be inventive.

Tags

  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 33%)
  • Spark!Lab Network (Relevance: 10%)

Related Stories

School children make musical instruments out of craft supplies at Spark!Lab in Ukraine.
Spark!Lab Network

Spark!Lab National Network Established

The success of Spark!Lab led the Lemelson Center to establish the Spark!Lab National Network, an active community of museum professionals who foster inventive creativity in families in their own neighborhoods.

Spark!Lab

Roll Out the Old . . . Bring in the Sound!

As we ready Spark!Lab for its next theme, Things that Make Sound, I interviewed Interpretive Exhibits Coordinator Tim Pula about the process of developing new activities.

A group of children participate in a Spark!Lab activity on opening day
Spark!Lab

Why Do It?

Why do I love my job? I do it so that visitors, regardless of their path, can develop skills that drive them to be successful in their lives.

Spark!Lab

Spark!Lab, Looking Back and Moving Forward

2014 was a giant year for Spark!Lab that saw our staff spread our message across the United States and around the world. This year should be equally—if not more!—exciting.

VIEW 2727 Matching Results

Found 2727 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.2071873854052%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.7473414008067%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4341767510084%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0803080308031%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5540887422076%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.5837917125046%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3370003667033%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.4103410341034%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.367803447011%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8503850385039%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.4470113678034%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.5203520352035%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.3736707004034%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 5.977264393106%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
❯
Go to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History website

About Menu

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Explore
    • Blog
    • Invention Stories
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Study
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Try
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • About
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • News
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
    • Donate
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • Surprise Me
  • Search
  • Open Drawer
Copyright 2023, Smithsonian Institution, All Rights Reserved
  • DONATE
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print