Pop Up Tinker Shop

The Challenges

Every school year, nearly 60% of the children in the Tri-Country area begin school unprepared for learning and, ultimately, struggling for success.

Rural and semi-rural schools tend to have less access to technology for STEM education than students in metro areas, but demand for STEM-educated students is on the rise.

CML’s location in downtown Charleston can be difficult to access, particularly for Charleston’s most underserved communities.

The Solution

The Pop Up Tinker Shop will:

• Provide key education experiences that help young children start out on the path to success with critical thinking, language and problem-solving skills,
• Offer critical outreach and access to excellent hands-on, play-based STEM activities,
• Bring the Museum on the road, reducing or removing transportation costs and other financial barriers to Museum participation.

Why Tinker?

As leaders in early education, the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry understands that the most successful method for presenting Science,  Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to young learners is through hands-on, play-based activities. The Children’s Museum Education Specialists are experts in play, and research has shown play to be the most effective method for helping children ages 2-12 build and retain STEM skills.

Why Build a Museum on Wheels?

With an initial goal of a 60-80 mile radius, the Pop Up Tinker Shop will reduce barriers in finances, transportation and distance for communities with high rates of poverty, Title 1 schools and neighborhoods in outlying communities throughout Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.

What Will We Accomplish? 

In the first year the Pop Up Tinker Shop will engage more than 26,000 children in hands-on STEM learning activities through:

• Charleston STEMFest (10,000+ attendees)
• Cooper River Bridge Run Kids Run (5,000+ attendees)
• Fam Jam (6,000+ attendees)
• Tri-County area schools, childcare centers, Head Start facilities, and other public events (5,000+)

The Pop Up Tinker Shop will:

• Bring immersive STEM learning activities into communities and schools to spark imaginations and stimulate curiosity through the power of play
• Offer educational teacher training programs to provide innovative teaching strategies to help tackle STEM concepts in the classroom
• Expose young learners to new interests and abilities, inspiring more confidence and more natural curiosity, making them better students, better learners and ultimately helping them to pave a path to success in school and in life

What’s Inside the Pop Up Tinker Shop?

When fully outfitted, this museum on wheels will include a customized outreach towing vehicle which will transport a large trailer retrofitted into a full mobile museum that is able to park and set up easily in any number of settings. This method will allow us to make a greater impact in the communities we are currently visiting and provide a means to expand into new neighborhoods and schools.

The Pop Up Tinker Shop will be packed to the brim with fun activities that generate excitement and engagement while teaching math, technology, engineering and science concepts.

Museum Contents Will Include:

• A portable wind tunnel that will allow visitors to explore the concept of laminar flow airflow
• Tiny robots called Spheros that can be controlled to navigate a
  visitor-engineered obstacle course or covered in paint and driven across paper, creating a unique abstract painting and a one-of-a-kind experience in technology
• Special Lego® kits designed to allow younger visitors to create simple machines
• Snap Circuits® that will give older learners the opportunity to build circuits that make music or react to light

Fully outfitted, staffed and insured, the total cost of the Pop Up Tinker Shop is approximately $180,000.