Explorables: Handmade Science

Play around with paper in three activities inspired by our new Wildcard exhibition.

Paper Circuits
Using copper tape and surface-mount LEDs allows you to make fully functional simple or complex electrical circuits on a flat surface, such as a piece of paper. You can make light-up greeting cards, origami animals come to life, or 3-D pop-up paper sculptures with working lights.

Tremendous Triangles
Engineers use triangles to make structures strong. Build your own little structure or join others in creating a big structure made entirely out of paper plates folded into triangles.

Building with Newspaper
Using newspaper, an inherently weak and flimsy material, you can explore the relationships between its shape, and the stability and strength of the structure created. Because newspaper is very weak under compression and somewhat stronger under tension, you’ll roll newspapers around a straw to create sturdier building blocks for your structure.

Use everyday materials to create models and other tools for exploring the world around us. Run by a highly skilled, dedicated team of volunteers, these drop-in workshops mix classic activities with open-ended investigations, encouraging participants to follow their hunches to aha moments of scientific insight.

All materials provided; take what you make.

Explorables has been offering science to go since 1990.