Tinkering Resources

Reggio Emilia books and constructive toys
Learning Materials Workshop

Project Websites and Communities

Howtoons – Comic strip stories to inspire building, designing, engineering and inventing.
Geek Dad – Blog at Wired.com and books by several authors about doing projects with kids.
Instructables – A DIY online community
Make Magazine – A print and online magazine for inventors and tinkerers of all ages
Makers in Education site
Makers Faire – See and share inventions across the US
Young Makers– Connecting youth with adult mentors

Videos

Tinkering School – 4 minute TED Talk by Gever Tully showcasing learning by tinkering
Tinkering as a mode of knowledge production in a Digital Age – John Seeley Brown
Makerbot CEO on Colbert Report
Editor of Make Magazine on Colbert Report

Programming/building materials

MicroWorlds EX -A modern multimedia version of the Logo programming language, with robotics control with an optional robotics version
Scratch – Free programming language for simple storytelling and games. Graphic interface. Materials and videos for educators and classrooms. Scratch works with many of the building kits below.
ScratchED web site – for educators who teach with Scratch
Arduino – Open source electronics prototyping platform and robotics controller for interactive projects.
Lilypad Arduino – or http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardLilyPad A special Arduino board for projects using textiles and wearable electronics.
GoGo Board -Open source hardware platform for programable projects using sensors and robotics. Works with MicroWorlds and Scratch.
Pico Cricket – A programmable tiny robotics construction kit that can make things spin, light up, and play music.
Sugru – Air-curing rubber used to repair and affix things.
Tinkercad – Kid-friendly, free and Web-based CAD program that may be used with 3D printers.
Inkscape – An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. This is useful for CAD and 3D printing tasks.

Places to purchase parts and supplies

Sparkfun -Online supply house for hobbyist electronics
Adafruit – Online supplier of “Unique and Fun DIY Electronics and Kits”
Digikey – Extensive collection of electronic components
Electronics Goldmine – Source of inexpensive components such as buckets of LEDs

3D Printing and Fabrication

Makerbot – Materials, tools, blogs and community forums about 3d fabrication.
Thingiverse – Share digital designs with the world.
Fab Central – MIT Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) clearinghouse for global projects, tools, events, etc. using 3d fabrication.
High-Low Tech group at MIT – Engages diverse audiences in designing and building their own technologies and develops tools that democratize engineering.

Blogs and websites

Sylvia Martinez at the Generation YES blog
Gary Stager’s blog
Toy-A-Day Blog Fun toys to inspire and delight
Edison Muckers– All about Edison and inventing
Tinkering School – Summer and after-school programs started by Gever Tully
Tinkering Studio – Experiments, projects, blogs, and events from the Exploratorium Museum in San Franciso
Learning Technology Center – Exploring design and informal science learning at the Science Museum of Minnesota
NYC Resistor – a hacker collective located in Brooklyn, NY to share, learn, and make things
TechShop– Menlo Park, CA shared workshop space for California tinkerers
The Constructivist Consortium
Constructing Modern Knowledge – summer institute for educators
Gary Stager’s LEGO robotics resources
Reggio Children – The international resource for educators interested in the Reggio Emilia approach –
MIT Media Lab Lifelong Kindergarten Group
DailyPapert.com – Daily wisdom from the father of educational computing
Planet Papert – a collection of articles, papers and videos by Dr. Seymour Papert
Free-range Kids – common sense advise about parenting

Other sites of interest:

Please add your recommendations in the comments below!