Rocket Talks: Tinkering with Ryan Jenkins

A cardboard box, a few unusual objects and some tape can be the beginning of a surprisingly absorbing afternoon. Ahead of the UK tour for The Tinkering Workshop, author and educator Ryan Jenkins joined Rocket Talks to explore the value of experimentation through tools, materials and making. The conversation considered how children learn by handling things, testing ideas and encountering the occasional spectacular failure — often discovering more through the process than they might from a finished example.

Ryan shared practical ideas for creating tinkering spaces at home, choosing materials that invite exploration and finding the balance between useful adult guidance and genuine child ownership. The conversation also considered how physical making might sit alongside children’s increasingly digital lives. Rocket’s interest in tinkering extends into its curriculum and practitioner inquiry, where materials are valued for the questions and possibilities they create. For families, the session offered something immediately useful: a different way of looking at the recycling box, the kitchen table and the ordinary objects that might become a child’s next invention.