Lifelong Kindergarden from MIT MediaLab

The Lifelong Kindergarden inside the MIT MediaLab believes that is is important that children know how to design, create, and express themselves. Inspired by the ways children learn in kindergarten, so that all ages could continue to learn through a process of designing, creating, experimenting, and exploring.

"Sowing the seeds for a more creative society."
"We develop new technologies that, in the spirit of the blocks and fingerpaint of kindergarten, expand the range of what people can design, create, and learn."

Their ultimate goal is a "world full of playfully creative people who are constantly inventing new opportunities for themselves and their communities."



a couple of their projects:
Scratch is a new programming environment that kids can use to create their own animated stories, video games, and interactive art - and share their creations with one another across the Internet.

With Crickets, kids can create musical sculptures, interactive jewelry, dancing creatures, and other artistic inventions -- and learn important math, science, and engineering ideas in the process. These are crafts for the digital age so that children can create and program their own computerized designs.

photo from Robert Spencer, New York Times News Service