Virtual Junior Curators: Tools

January 2022's theme was Tools!

A homemade paintbrush next to a red paper plate with light blue paint in the center.

UAMN photo.

Explore the history, diversity, and importance of tools!
See tools from the collections, create and use them in new ways, and discover how artists, scientists, and even animals use tools.
 

At Home Activities:

The links are all PDF documents. 

  • Create Painting Tools: Make painting tools from different materials and use them to create art.

  • Tools Through The Ages: Play a game to explore a variety of tools from the museumÉ«ÊÓƵÏÂÔØ™s collections.

  • Make Snow Goggles: Discover a traditional tool to protect eyes from sunlight.

  • Artifact Hunt: Learn how archaeologists study the past by observing tools and artifacts. 

  • Make a Catapult: Discover the mechanics of levers and how they can be used as tools.

Hand using a homemade paintbrush with feathers on one end to paint on white paper.

Snow goggles template with a piece of yarn tied through each side.

Yellow stick rested on a fulcrum made from a folded piece of paper. A blue pom-pom rests on one end of the stick. The stick has black lines marking one inch intervals.

Left to Right: Create Painting Tools, Make Snow Goggles, and Make a Catapult examples.

 

 

Watch a video exploring how chimpanzees use tools:

 Courtesy of the Jane Goodall Institute

 

 

For activities designed for kids ages 5 and under, go to our Virtual Early Explorers page.

 

Return to Junior Curators homepage.