ISO: class for pre-teen who loves to build/make/tinker

[Anonymous]

Hi all - My almost 12yo is one of those kids who has been interested in building and how things work his whole life. He designs machines and builds stuff in the back yard whenever he can 9and will play with Legos for hours), but I'd love to support him better now that's he's a little older and he might like to meet other kids into this kind of thing. His favorite thing ever would be if I gave him a bunch of scrap wood and parts and he got to use his dad's tools to build some contraption. He's building a "race car" design with a friend and they want to make it, but his ideas are more than I have the space for him to work on (we don't have a garage or anything like that).

Any ideas for a class or summer camp or something that he might like? He's less into electronics/robotics and more into wood, pulleys, things that move like cars, etc. Thanks for any suggestions!

[Anonymous]

There’s an engineering school/camp thing in Brentwood. Maker something.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the current status of the program is or what the ages are, but a friend's "gearhead" kid did a couple of summers with the Go Baby Go program. They work with adult volunteers to adapt and trick out ride-on vehicles for young kids with disabilities. Kids can even get student service hours for the program.

They might take, say, a kid's ride-on toy Jeep with an electric motor, and fix it up to match a particular child's abilities and limitations. They figure out what the child needs to drive successfully and safely, like adding hand controls or adapted steering or roll bars, then decorate it and make it look cool. So there's some problem-solving and design work, as well as the hands-on work, and they get to actually watch the kids trying out their handiwork once the car is finished.

I'm pretty sure the program in the DC area has been run through Sidwell in the past? Someone else might have more info, or you can contact the national umbrella organization for details on local programs.