PLEASE NOTE: All drop-in activities are suspended while the museum remains closed.
Schedule
Open Saturday and Sunday, 11 - 3 p.m.
View the upcoming weekend Idea Hub activity schedule
3D Printing and Design
Learn how to design in three dimensions using Tinkercad and explore how 3D printers can turn digital models into reality.
App Inventor
Explore MIT’s App Inventor program and develop your own app for a smartphone or tablet.
Chain Reaction
Discover the potential of engineering improvisation as we tinker and create chain reaction contraptions.
Data Sculptures
Build unique physical representations as you explore interesting ways to visualize and tell stories with data.
Dream, Design, Build
Learn about the tools and techniques that architects use to dream and design new spaces, while applying your vision to the new MIT Museum location, opening in 2021.
Float Your Boat
Learn how to create an efficient boat design by building and testing your own boat hull.
Kinetic Sculptures
Create a unique moving art piece engineered to move with gears, cams, linkages, and pulleys.
Paper Circuits
Use copper tape and LEDs to create your own artistic light-up cards, paper models, and more.
Polarization Exploration
Did you know Polaroid’s first invention was the polarizer? Discover how polarization works by exploring how polarizing filters can be used to reduce glare, stress test, and more. Using what you've learned, create your own polarized art piece. This activity is offered in conjunction with ThePolaroidProject.
Polaroid Petting Zoo
Learn about the technology behind Polaroid photography by exploring the Museum’s Polaroid camera collection, then test out your non-instant photography skills. This activity is offered in conjunction with ThePolaroidProject
Programming with Scratch
Design your own simple video game or animation using the block-based programming language Scratch.
Visualizing the Brain
Compare imaging through light microscopes with the power of expansion microscopy. Create your own drawing of a brain cell and be a citizen scientist to help neuroscientists map the human brain.
Sewn Circuits
Construct a working and wearable circuit using LEDs, batteries, and conductive thread.
Upcoming weekend sessions
Mar. 14 & 15: Paper Circuits
Mar. 21 & 22: Scratch
Mar. 28: Our Microscopic World
Mar. 29: 3D Printing
Free with museum admission and appropriate for ages 12+. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Activities are determined based on staff availability and are subject to change.
Supported by the generous donors to the 2018 McDermott Award Gala, hosted by the Council for the Arts at MIT.