A Place for
Makers and Inventors
Why We're Here
Gadget Lab is a place for kids and adults to learn with and teach each other about hardware, software, gadgets and the world around us. We approach the world using scientific inquiry, asking key questions like, “How does that work?” and “What’s going on in there?” We build things, we take things apart and we aim to create a culture where we create and upload instead of just consuming and downloading.
Our Approach
While our students build a resume of skills, the emphasis at Gadget Lab is joy - the joy of discovery, the joy of learning and the joy of making something yourself. Our programs are fun but we don't back away from offering a challenge. Learning to face frustration and find the rewards on the other side can foster a lifetime of confidence and an understanding that achievement can take effort.
We offer all this in a low pressure environment where mistakes are welcome and embraced as part of learning process but also as part of a path to self acceptance. Take a look at this site. Check out our What We Teach page and don't hesitate to contact me with your questions.
Karen Giacopuzzi, Gadget Lab Owner
Our workshops offer both skill building and opportunities for personal expression
Solder A Cookie
Find Music In Everyday Objects
Make A Ukulele
Design A T-Shirt
Make a statement
Take Something Apart
What We Teach
Gadget Lab operates under the premise that our homes are a laboratory of joy and learning. While we sometimes use 3D printers and computers, our main goal is to find the magic in ordinary things, then tear them apart and see how they work. Our workshops are divided into three primary categories: GadgetHeads, CodeHeads, Arts and Design. Short format workshops offer a variety of one or two day workshops on various topics.
Our core workshop series are listed below but we add other topics when we find a great instructor with something to share.
All workshops have a "Screentime" rating and include a list of the skills for a Tech Resume where kids keep track of what they've learned. They can use this resume for summer job applications or for bragging to the relatives.
Explore
Explore
Circuits and Engineering
In GadgetHeads workshop series offers fun hands on activities that teach about the physical world of circuits and their components. The overall theme of GadgetHeads is "Robots, the inside story". We learn about motors, circuits and batteries then make our own robots in the CodeHeads workshops.
GadgetHeads
Our core hands on workshop. Learn soldering and circuit building. Take things apart!
Coding
Our CodeHeads workshops use both drag and drop code blocks and typed code to make things happen in the physical world. You'll make lights flash, motors spin and can even make music using a buzzer. Our workshops are built around age appropriate projects that use the same coding techniques you'd learn in a high school or college course but with an emphasis on coding circuits so you'll have time with your eyes off the screen as you make something fun.
Make a Museum
Find a topic you’re passionate about and make an interactive museum exhibit.
Digital Sandbox
Start with code blocks to create code that works with buttons, LEDS and sensors on a pre-wired board, then transition to typed code to control circuits you build yourself.
Sampler
Write small programs that make lights flash, motors spin and take input values from distance sensors and remote controls.
RC Robots
Build and program an original remote control robot. Add personality with hacked toy parts.
Arts and Design
At Gadget Lab we see no reason to separate the worlds of Art and Science. The science of sound, the joy of making music and the thrill of crafting a working instrument all belong under the same roof. We also include art and design made by hand and by digital tools. Check out our workshops below and come back because we keep adding more.
Ukes & Amps
Make a beautiful,electric ukulele and amplifier using cigar boxes and your new carpentry skills.
Write a few songs and go home a musician.
Art With Claire
Paint, draw and collage an original zine with artist Claire Kalala.
Keep it private or share it with the world.
Music Discovery Lab
Make an instrument with musician Jason Mullinax, learn music production and explore the science of sound.
2D and 3D Design
Design and make your own T-shirt with an original logo. 3D print a mini house and more.
OUR TEAM
Instructor, Owner
Music
Circuits, Engineering
"I could not have been happier with GadgetLab. My 8 year old son was excited to go to each session and came back happy and thoroughly engaged with each new project they made. A+"
— Wendy Spillane, Parent