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I like to learn. That’s an art and a science.
Katherine Johnson

NASA research mathematician critical to the success of U.S. crewed spaceflight

supported by

hands on components

On any given day we offer a variety of ways that you can explore, interweave and repurpose to create, learn and try something new. Visiting indie crafters, hackers and inventors stop by too. Some of the things you may encounter in MAKESHOP® include:

  • Woodworking
  • Circuitry
  • Textile processes such as sewing and weaving
  • Stop-motion animation
  • Take Apart with recycled toys, electrical systems and small appliances

the art

a mother and three young boys completing circuits in a workshop setting
makeshop

tips for before and after your visit

play with real stuff

Use real tools and materials in MAKESHOP. Try out a sewing machine, work with wood or tinker with electronics. Work together to find inventive ways of using materials and tools and learn new skills.

focus on the process

The learning and fun is in the effort that goes into making, not necessarily what the product looks like when you are done. What are you learning through the process? What challenges did you face? Look back on the steps of your process. Reflect on your work and what you learned.

try something new

Have you visited MAKESHOP before? Think of some new ways of expanding what you learned during your last visit. Our Teaching Artists are wonderful resources. Ask them to help you learn a more advanced method or to introduce a material that will deepen your understanding

Use real tools and materials in MAKESHOP. Try out a sewing machine, work with wood or tinker with electronics. Work together to find inventive ways of using materials and tools and learn new skills.

The learning and fun is in the effort that goes into making, not necessarily what the product looks like when you are done. What are you learning through the process? What challenges did you face? Look back on the steps of your process. Reflect on your work and what you learned.

Have you visited MAKESHOP before? Think of some new ways of expanding what you learned during your last visit. Our Teaching Artists are wonderful resources. Ask them to help you learn a more advanced method or to introduce a material that will deepen your understanding

3_CMP Makeshop (1)

design matters

  • MAKESHOP was created in 2012 with the goal of exploring open-ended, tinkering-style programs, with greater facilitation, in a dedicated maker space.
  • The space is designed as a real workshop — unpolished, accessible and functional — and was built using wood and metal with exposed fasteners and structure to tell the story of how things are made.
  • We repurpose all sorts of material here, including cardboard, plastic food containers, fabric, scrap lumber and broken toys. They take on a new and different life with the help of tools and your imagination.
  • Visitor and staff projects are displayed throughout MAKESHOP to inspire ideas and creativity.

partners

MAKESHOP® is a partnership of Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE).