Through generous support from National Grid and LEGO, the Museum was able to share engaging STEAM activities with children and families from across the state.  

The 2023–2024 school year marked year one of a three-year grant from National Grid aimed at supporting STEAM education in afterschool settings through use of the Museum’s Tinker educator resource. This first year provided professional development, Tinker materials kits, and ongoing support to six afterschool organizations in Lynn, MA: Boys & Girls Club of Lynn, Camp Fire North Shore, Demakes Family YMCA, Girls, Inc., LEO, Inc., and the Robert Ford School. The program reached 54 afterschool educators and approximately 350 children ages 3–8. In a post-program survey, educators reported observations of their children’s creativity, imagination, focus, and STEAM skill development when engaged with the Tinker activities and overwhelmingly stated their satisfaction with the program (100%), sharing excitement over the potential to expand its use in the future.  

With funding from the LEGO Corporation, Boston Children’s Museum partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education & Care (EEC) to provide support for the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement network (CFCE), a collection of educators across the state providing child development services to families of young children. Following the success of the prior year’s program focused on social-emotional learning, the Museum crafted a 6-week playgroup model centered on a family version of the Museum’s Tinker resource, which emphasizes STEAM skill development. CFCE educators at 61 different sites received training and materials to run these playgroups with families of children ages 3–5, reaching roughly 500 families. The educators involved expressed high levels of confidence in the success of these playgroups and 95% of caregivers who responded to a post-survey reported that the playgroups helped them learn new and playful ways of practicing tinkering skills with their children.