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What does it mean that from now on we have to think with our hands? That we take out our brain and put it in our hands?". "No!". "Have you all brought your heads?". "Yes!". "Your hands?". "Also". "And the material?". "Not that, you have it!". With this avalanche of energy, the educators start the Creactivity workshop at CosmoCaixa. Today, a dozen boys and girls have an appointment at the museum with their imagination. What are they going to do? Create, have fun, learn and, last but not least, improvise.
It is an activity inspired by the Tinkering methodology of the Exploratorium in San Francisco (USA), which invites children over seven years old to venture into the field of creativity by tinkering with different objects and materials. A unique opportunity to put into practice the art of thinking and creating with their hands in four differentiated areas: mechanics, wind, light and electricity. "Here, creation happens through experimentation in a playful environment where children are not pressured to achieve any goal other than those they set for themselves. What they do is play and, without realizing it, they end up creating something that combines science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics," says one of the educators, Martí Burruel.
It is impossible not to be infected by the enthusiasm that the little ones exude when the educators tell them that for the next two hours they can become authentic inventors. Between screens and keyboards to make stop motion movies, cylinders that spit air, batteries that generate electricity, and tubes and gears, the boys and girls let their hands be guided by the power of intuition. The results are varied: Arnau is building a marble run, Júlia is trying to make objects fly, and Sara is creating a movie in which a vengeful wild boar eats a snake. They are finding uses for different objects and materials that they didn't know before, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of all the knowledge they will take home with them today.
As Martí points out, "creating from experimentation means creating from trial and error and, therefore, learning from your mistakes and the feedback your teachers give you." Halfway through the activity, Arnau realizes that his circuit made of rubber bands and sticks needs extra reinforcements to withstand the movement of the marbles. Júlia, for her part, concludes that, to fly, objects must be light and possess aerodynamic elements. Both correct the errors and, then, comes the best part of the process: realizing that they are capable of making real and improving the ideas that are born from their heads and the world around them.
"This methodology helps them understand that it is necessary to work as a team and know how to manage failures and, above all, it helps them become aware that they too can create. They gain self-confidence," says Martí, speaking of an empowerment that, at the end of the workshop, can be felt in the atmosphere. Ignited by the motivation that their creations have awakened, the best part is that, when the activity ends, Creactivity has only just begun. Because their heads will not detach from their bodies, they will take their hands with them and will be able to find similar materials beyond the walls of CosmoCaixa. Arnau says he will make another marble circuit with kitchen paper rolls; Sara, that she will use her mobile camera to create more stop motion films. Some even begin to imagine all they would do if, when they grew up, they were lucky enough to be inventors. "I would make robots that help elderly people." "And I, a machine that turns dirt into things to eat; that way no one would go hungry." Another wants to build "a robot that cleans all the trash we leave on the street." And the most important thing of all is that behind each of these proposals there are nothing but good intentions. As they themselves say, the idea is "to create inventions that take care of the world."
Text: Alba Losada Photography: Anna Pla-Narbona
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