Yesterday, Briton and I (and a whole group of homeschoolers) visited MFTA or Materials for the Arts which might be the coolest thing I've seen in New York. I love that the city sees the wisdom in supporting artists by providing a warehouse full of stuff for them to use and from a recycling standpoint, what a great way for companies to re purpose their leftovers, scraps and odds and ends. Fantastic.
As part of the tour, the kids got to "shop" for items to create a marble maze and spend a few hours putting them together. The folks that work there were incredible about supporting the kids in their creations, offering just the right amount of guidance while letting them do their own things. Briton was only about a third of the way done when our time was up so they suggested that he fill up a bag with double sided tape, linoleum samples, plastic scraps and corks from the table to take home. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent doing more gluing, taping and testing.
I wish every town had a place like this. So freaking cool.