Busting, fixing point of Tinkerfest; Little Rock museum puts tools, balloons in kids’ hands, sets them loose

Tayveon Moore, 11, gets his balloon tangled up while making his way through the balloon maze Saturday during the Museum of Discovery’s Tinkerfest in Little Rock. More photos are available at www.arkansasonline.com/915tinker/
Tayveon Moore, 11, gets his balloon tangled up while making his way through the balloon maze Saturday during the Museum of Discovery’s Tinkerfest in Little Rock. More photos are available at www.arkansasonline.com/915tinker/

Kids aren't often allowed to tear cars apart -- to rip wires from the engine block and pull taillights from their sockets -- but that kind of destruction is encouraged at Tinkerfest.

The Museum of Discovery's eighth annual Tinkerfest on Saturday drew more than 2,000 parents, grandparents and children to downtown Little Rock, where more than 50 curiosity-based activities were erected along President Clinton Avenue.

Children flooded into and around a defunct Trailblazer and an old minivan, yanking up carpet, loosening bolts and leaving the remains on a nearby tarp.

"This is the best way to learn to fix things -- to do it on their own and to take it apart," said Hope Rogers, a dismantler at Sonny's Auto Salvage in Jacksonville. The business donated the vehicles for Saturday's event. "They learn how to use tools, troubleshooting, how to work around a problem, and they get to tear something up."

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Rogers circled the vehicles, showing kids how to use wrenches and helping pull the vehicles to pieces.

"What do you want to do?" Rogers asked a little boy who wandered up to her. "I bet we can do it."

The Museum of Discovery has a tinkering studio where children can participate in hands-on projects every day, but on Saturday tinkering took over the building and the surrounding area, said Kelley Bass, chief executive officer of the museum.

Tinkerfest "is right in line with our mission," Bass said. "It really embodies the five pillars of STEAM -- science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics -- and it gets people's imaginations and creativity rolling."

Among Saturday's activities were robots that could draw, racing drones, wood construction, giant Jenga games and LEGO building competitions. Some children were drawn to the engineering and robotics workshops, where small, four-wheeled bots played soccer and zoomed around the floor.

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Toddlers were herded to a large sandbox upstairs, where smooth rocks and a mixture of glitter and blue sand were jumbled together in a Zen garden's worst nightmare.

Over on Sherman Street, 5-year-old Lucas Allmond pumped a bottle rocket made of PVC pipe, an air pump and a liter-size soda bottle. After the pressure built up, Lucas pulled a string, sending the bottle flying more than 40 feet in the air.

"It exploded on there!" Lucas said, describing the rocket to his mother, Laura Allmond. Gesturing wildly, he added, "Pop! Up to the sun."

Laura Allmond said she saw a Facebook event about Tinkerfest early Saturday morning and decided to make the trip.

"The Museum of Discovery does a really good job with hands-on activities for kids, and I love that it's really a community," Allmond said. "For kids his age, being hands-on is vital."

The festivities spread across all three floors of the museum. Adjacent was a street fair dotted with a few food trucks and seating areas.

One particular hit was the balloon maze, constructed of oblong orange and blue balloons and fishing line.

Each child who entered it was given a long, snakelike balloon and one mission: tie the balloon somewhere in the jumble before leaving. After just a few hours, the maze was covered in multicolor balloons.

The maze was designed and constructed by Sean Carlock, the guest satisfaction manager for the museum. Carlock said he's been making balloon art for more than 20 years now at state fairs and festivals, and while he worked for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus.

"It looks kind of weird on a resume, but here they got excited about it," Carlock said, smiling. "It's nice to have a job where my strange skills are not only appreciated but encouraged."

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Ruby Coppersmith, 7, of Magnolia sets off a bottle rocket held by volunteer David Cline during the Museum of Discovery’s Tinkerfest on Saturday in Little Rock. More photos at www.arkansasonline.com/915tinkerfest/

Metro on 09/15/2019

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