Lemelson Center presents Invention at Play

Invention at Play was developed by the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota. The exhibition, its related programs and materials, and its national tour were supported by the Lemelson Foundation and by the National Science Foundation.

Invention at Play is currently installed in the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Hall of Invention at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Orginally, Invention at Play was a traveling exhibition and the national tour was managed by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) in Washington, D.C. A smaller version of the exhibition may be visited at The Tech Museum in San Jose, California.

The four video segments presented in the Does Play Matter section were produced by Hillmann & Carr Inc., Washington, D.C.

Images in the videos courtesy of

Academy of Model Aeronautics

A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village

Fisher-Price, Inc.

Hillmann & Carr Inc.

IDEO

Intel Corporation

LEGOLAND, California

Lego Systems, Inc.

Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Additional footage from the award-winning series, The Promise of Play, courtesy of Direct Cinema Limited, available at www.directcinema.com

Supported by:

Design and Development:
	Hello Design: www.hellodesign.com

Invention at Play is a highly interactive, engaging and surprising exhibition that focuses on the similarities between the way children and adults play and the creative processes used by innovators in science and technology. It departs from traditional representations of inventors as extraordinary geniuses who are “not like us” to celebrate the creative skills and processes that are familiar and accessible to all people. Visitors of all ages will experience various playful habits of mind that underlie invention.