Try It Studio – Bay Area Discovery Museum

Try It Studio

Try It Studio

Construction is almost complete in BADM's new Try It Studio, the first of 4 new permanent exhibits at BADM.

In the Try It Studio, children explore hands-on activities; engage with low-tech and digital tools and technologies; and use creative thinking skills to solve design challenges. This one-of-a-kind space includes three distinct experiences: a family-friendly exhibit for museum visitors; a Think, Make,Try® Classroom for school groups visiting BADM on field trips; and a WorkShop featuring BADM’s high-tech digital fabrication tools.

The Try It Studio Exhibit

Children and families get hands-on exploring interactive elements in the Try It Studio exhibit. Designed especially for ages 3 and up, the experiences in the Try It Studio introduce children to early math and engineering concepts. Children can play independently or collaborate with others, while helpful prompts encourage caregivers to get involved. In the Try It Studio, you’ll find:

Drawing Arm: Children explore cause-and-effect by changing the direction or speed of the Drawing Arm’s control wheel, and watching how the picture changes in response.

Puzzle Wall Children use tangram pieces to follow a template to create a recognizable shape, or use their imaginations to create their own.

Tool Wall Children get hands-on use of real tools, including wrenches, hammers, and more.

Weaving Wall Children choose from the materials available to create a new pattern in the wall, or continue the pattern of someone who was there before them.

Music Box Children move the pegs of a wall-mounted music box to play a familiar tune, or compose one of their own.

Build It Children play with both physical and digital components to create new environments and explore the ideas of size and scale.

Design Challenge Area Children use BADM’s engineering design process Think, Make, Try® to test out new ideas and solve creative problems.

The Think, Make, Try® Classroom

BADM’s popular school visits program has found a new home at the museum in the Try It Studio’s STEM Classroom. This dedicated classroom space will allow us to welcome more than 17,500 schoolchildren on field trips per year, at least 50% of whom will receive need-based scholarship to attend.

The WorkShop

Children can gain knowledge of and experience with high-tech digital fabrication tools during a camp or class in the Try It Studio’s WorkShop. This space will house a range of high-tech tools, including 3D printers and laser cutters, and children will be able to interact with these tools in a meaningful way during facilitated experiences.

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