YMCA Thingamajig Convention Inspires Future Thinking in Young Inventors
Alexandria, VA – The United States Patent and Trade Office hosted the 30th Annual YMCA Thingamajig Invention Convention on Tuesday, July 30. Over 600 children, ages 5 to 14, participated in hands-on activities, challenges, and competitions.
The activities incorporated Science, Technology, Education, Art, and Mathematics, commonly called STEAM. STEAM education aims to foster critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity among students and prepare them for their future endeavors.
THINGAMAJIG participants could be seen scattered throughout the building’s atrium, lobby, conference halls, and cafeteria. The YMCA staff worked tirelessly to prepare for the event. It turned the USPTO into a giant classroom of wonderment where they could explore, experiment, and invent.
Janice Williams created the Thingamajig Invention Convention over 30 years ago when she was the Senior Vice President of Program Development for the YMCA. Williams realized the average child received less than 15 minutes of science education daily during the school year. “Thirty years ago, I created Thingamajig because I noticed kids weren’t getting the hands-on opportunities they needed to become the creative problem-solvers they needed to be to take on tomorrow’s challenges,” she said.
The now-retired Williams described the details behind her motivation: “I pushed them to explore and create inventions, using recyclable materials because they need to learn to solve problems with limited resources while also being good stewards of the environment.”
She hopes kids will be motivated to think out of the box, enjoy learning, and strive to do more than they had ever imagined. Events always include children from many different backgrounds who might never have gotten the opportunity to participate in these programs due to lack of funding.
One of the activities was titled “Trashion Fashion.” Kids could show off their “passion for fashion” by creating looks that are fabulous and help save the planet. It incorporated materials that could be repurposed for their creation, such as buttons, pieces of jewelry, and other odds and ends. Other invention challenges allowed the children to submit their own inventions in several categories, including robots and flying contraptions.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum, located just inside the USPTO Atrium, welcomed the kids, their leaders, family, and friends to participate in several of the interactive exhibits. One of the visitors accompanying his granddaughter surprised museum associates by pointing out the invention of his grandfather, James A. Parsons, an inventor whose portrait is displayed in the museum. Parsons’ invention, a steel formulation known as the Durimet Alloy 2.0, was featured in the museum with hundreds of other innovative inventors and their stories.
Special guests were United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Paige Thomas and her daughter Paisley, who walks with the help of artificial limbs. They were able to share Paisley’s journey and educate attendees on prosthetic devices and other tools to help those with different abilities thrive.
Regional Outreach Director Elizabeth Dougherty spoke to some YMCA Directors, Leaders, and Board Members. She expressed her gratitude to them by saying, “At the end of the day, not only will we have helped children build important cognitive and analytical skills, but we’ll have inspired the next generation of great problem solvers to take their next step.”
For more information on YMCA programs, go to YMCA ymcadc.org
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