Canal boats tell the story of the first man-made trade network of community cooperation, of the ingenious use of water power. Construct a boat, its mules, people and canal bed in 1/4th" scale. Operate a model lock. With the rich illustrations of Peter Spier's Erie Canal ©1970

Connecticut History for the canal communities: New Haven, Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Plainville

Explore the ancient history and challenging mechanics of catapults. Rubber bands power this model. Experiment with the concepts of force and motion and test your projects out with varying degrees of power by changing the amount of rubber bands used and position of the ping pong balls. Safe for people and places when used with the ping pong ball provided.

The evolution of color engineering began 40,000 years ago when primitive artists expressed themselves in colors made from natural pigments. They tested their colors on different surfaces and mixed them to concoct more colors.

In the first half of the 19th century, Connecticut joined the race to California and China in sleek, bold Clipper Ships. Construct a model clipper with a hold to export and import cargo that built Connecticut's industry and commerce. Choose and craft your cargo to transport.

Dexterity games are found in every culture and tradition.

They teach your brain and hands to work as a team.

Understand the math and story behind the game, and then play them and enjoy. Sometimes learning is just that much fun!

Choose among four different kinds of games – to play by yourself or with/against a partner/competitor.

To understand people and culture, study them where they live. Construct simplified model houses to consider the climates, resources, materials and traditions that define culture. Focus on a region and a historic area and create façades of local architecture.

We construct castles and temples, pyramids and pagodas from far off lands and far off centuries. Building connects the hands and minds of your students to the hands and minds of the world and to one another. Great architecture is built with the cooperation that builds community.

Build a remarkable drawing machine from 1913 adapted by our apprentices and designers. Since its first adaptation, it's been revised many more times. We will teach you some ways to program it. Then you will go on to invent your own programs. The possibilities are infinite. Add color and shadows. In order to understand this machine, you will need to understand coordinates in order to record and create patterns. There are 6 separate settings that must be changed to experiment with the patterns also. There are a large number of permutations and variations.

The English Scientist, Neil Downie, has written three volumes of Saturday Science Projects. His designs are remarkably original and thoughtful., explaining the math and science of every project.

Looking at waveforms at different speeds and the effect of weight, air friction and gravity. As the speed changes, see the different number of waves traveling around the edge of the cloth. Note whether the speed of the wave is the same on the inside and outside. What is the shape of the wave? So much to learn. Thoroughly enjoyable to do.

More than 70 years ago Charles and Ray Eames created interchangeable cards that connected to build sculptures and structures. They marked their cards with the forms and colors of modern art. With a nod to their genius, we have created blank cards for you to experiment with.Take your engineering skills to new heights with these cards that you will decorate and devise into towers, buildings, and beyond. Each Student will receive a set of 18 cards to decorate, collaborate with, and build structure with. Larger sets of cards can be ordered as well (Price will change).

Early Egyptians believed in eternity. They recorded the stories of their Pharaohs and people for you to understand 4,000 years later.

Discover how. They built massive pyramids to protect the remains of their Pharaohs against time and thieves. They included models of all the comforts of life forever. Build a Pyramid to house the tomb and place the Sphinx outside to guard it.

Build a diorama and construct a Pyramid and the Sphinx along with camels and the River Nile. Decorate and embellish your creations complete with Sarcophagus, Canopic Jars and Jewels in the Pyramid.