We have been experimenting with ways of collecting and exploring interesting sounds. One of the first attempts at tackling this activity idea was to dust off our collection of piezo microphones, and try out a number of different ways of capturing captivating sounds from everyday or unexpected objects.

A piezo microphone is also knows as a contact mic, and will amplify tiny movements and vibrations of any surface it is in contact with—hence the name. We have been thinking about it as a “magnifying glass for your ears.”

As often is the case, before trying an activity, especially a new one, with the public, we like to immerse ourselves in it in the Learning Studio. So we mounted a few piezo mics on sticks, connected them to portable amplifiers and donned large headphones, and went on a sound harvesting “safari.”

One of the first things we noticed was how immersive it is to listen to highly amplified sounds, especially with headphones on. We became floating listening vessels focused on our own experiences to the point of isolation, occasionally looking up to find, to our mild surprise, that there were other people in the room. We were all having very immersive experiences but no way of sharing them with others, you'd look up grinning because you had just discovered a delightfully unexpected sound from something really tiny, only to realize nobody else can hear what you can.

Amy tried modifying her mic and interact with it by blowing on appendages.

Meg tried squeezing air out of packing bubbles, and others tried listening to their own heartbeat, experimenting with metal bowls with different size balls in them, etc.

We also tried recording the sounds in a prototype version of Scratch that allows for more sophisticated sound manipulation than the currently available version. We had initially imagined that we would spend little time exploring sounds and digitally manipulating them, and the majority of time actually building some kind of project using those sounds. An initial idea was to have several colored dots on the screen, each of which could be assigned a sound, and then interact with those either with the mouse or with another sprite, triggering sounds in rhythmical ways.

Somewhat surprisingly we discovered that the initial part, the sound harvesting and exploration, was rich enough and complex enough to hold our attention for the whole duration of the prototyping session. There was much to discover and get lost in when looking for sounds, and no clear stopping point. Some people set little challenges for themselves, like making a long non-repeating sound for example. Others spent a long time with the sound editor in Scratch experimenting with slowing down or speeding up, adding echo, and distorting it.

We’ll keep experimenting and trying to find a good balance between exploration and construction. Meanwhile an early test in the Tinkering Studio revealed itself successful! Kids stayed a long time and were very interested in this new “set of ears” that the piezo mics provided them with.

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This project was made possible through the generous support from the LEGO Foundation and the Simons Foundation.

Meet Benji. He's a 12 year old history buff, with a particular affection for wars. Mostly American Revolution, but also other stuff, Civil War and the like. He's been into it for a long time, in fact it turns out that Deanna was his counselor when he was six, and remembers him asking her for a face painting about the war of 1812.

He brought his own ziploc back full of plastic soldiers from home with the intention of making a war reenactment movie on the stop-motion animation station. He has a YouTube channel devoted to his war stuff and wanted a neat addition to it, although he has made those kind of movies at home before.

When he saw the Light Play setup, though, he decided to pivot his plan and make light and shadow versions of his war reenactments instead. He has also brought some Keva blocks that he used to set up a stage, and slowly started building a tableaux of characters.

His arrangements were very intentionals, here's a snippet of him talking about his creation:

“What I am attempting to do here is to create a kind of cross zone between this light right here and then this light here with the climax in the middle.” I think it's clear that there is an aesthetic intentionality at play that serves to highlight the drama of the narrative being deployed. One of the possible directions we discussed about Light Play considered it being used for stage lighting, and I think this gets close to that kind of use.

Later he created a completely different arrangement depicting another battle, this time adding motion with a rotating platform, and using the lights to create a clear separation between the blue side and the red side, signifying the two factions at war.

Marble Machines is one of the core tinkering experiences that we offer in the Tinkering Studio. It initially started in a formal school setting, but has been used in museums, libraries, and in home and afterschool settings. One of the amazing things about this activity is that it is incredibly versatile, it just “works.” We have found it to be a perfect introductory activity to tinkering as a practice for learners, and a great training ground for facilitators to develop their chops and personal style, precisely because the design of the activity is so strong.

However, it does require a fair investment to collect the materials and build the boards, tracks, bumpers, etc., as well as collecting decorative materials, funnels, bells, and other things that enrich the activity. On the plus side, if you are planning to do this activity more than once, you can use these things forever. We’ve been using our current set for 15 years!

On the other hand, if you’re not planning to facilitate this experience in a repeated way, the investment of time and money may be too large. In that case we suggest you take tinkering to heart and get scrappy about finding alternative materials. 

Hoping to provide some ideas for creative Marble Machines, we have made a Pinterest page of some of our favorite ideas we’ve seen over the years. Here are some particularly low-barrier highlights:

Good ole' cardboard—tubes and tongue depressors makes for great experimentation and organic forms. Hot glue is easier than tape for this type of construction, but both are doable.

Gutter pieces attached to the backyard fence.

This is as simple as it gets: ramps and tubes using natural shelves and height differentials! There are commercially available solutions as well—small to large sets, indoor to outdoor.

Imagination Playground: large foam pieces can be configured to work as ball runs. One could also use pool noodles cut lengthwise to create large and flexible ball runs!

This photo was taken several years ago at Inventure Place -- we liked that they used real clamps and elements you could find at a hardware store. The structure reminded us of giant ring stands.

And finally something from my childhood: there is a time-honored tradition in Italy of building marble runs on the beach out of sand! With some practice you can build elaborate runs that twist, turn, and incorporate bridges and tunnels as well.

Enjoy this process and think creatively about the materials you choose. Ideally you will also be thinking systematically—what are the materials that you can use to build a marble machine that can be used over and over again—that is, one that is tinkerable). We’ve seen some lovely examples of marble machines that are glued together, but when they’re done… they’re done. How can you create a set of materials that is more flexible, can be used in many configurations again and again, and reused and repurposed for other projects that are imagined down the road? We have come up with one solution that works for us, we’re curious to see what yours might be!

Last month the Tinkering Studio team traveled to Billund, Denmark to participate in the LEGO Foundation’s Partners Meeting. Over two days educators, funders, and leaders from all over the world came together to discuss Learning through Play, which is the focus of LEGO Foundation’s work.

The video above gives a good overview of what we did. The Tinkering Studio set up and hosted three concurrent workshops, to directly engage participants in playful learning experiences and provide them with materials-rich explorations of scientific phenomena. We facilitated Marble Machines, the LEGO-powered version of Scribbling Machines we have been calling Art Machines, and a new iteration of Light Play that we have been prototyping for the last few months that adds programming and computation to our analog version.

This last activity, tentatively called Digital Light Play, has been a collaboration between the Tinkering Studio, MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten group, LEGO Foundation, and Reggio Children. LLK developed a version of Scratch Junior that is able to control three color-changing LED lights, a slow-moving motor, and take input from a couple of sensors—all through a custom made board.

The app is still in its very early prototype stage, but the main idea is to create sequences of commands that can combine light effects, movement, feedback from the vignette, and even sound and music to explore further dimensions: sequential scenes, narrative, stage lighting, puppetry, and perhaps even large scale immersive installations.

We’ll share more about Digital Light Play in future blog posts. For now, enjoy the video and a little teaser about our developments!