All Posts

By Finnigan Cogwheel, Head Tinkerer at Cogwheel Workshops Right now, in whatever room you're sitting in, there are dozens of engineering marvels going completely unnoticed. A zipper. A ballpoint pen. A refrigerator hum. We walk past extraordinary things every single day without blinking — and that, my friends, is a wonderful problem to fix. Here at Cogwheel Workshops, we believe one of the most powerful things we can do for a curious young mind is help them see  what was alwa

It saddens me that more elementary schools (at least in my district) don't have STEM classes. In my opinion elementary school is the perfect time to introduce kids to STEAM subjects. Especially in the third grade through fifth grade window. Aside from the aspects that I touched on in my last post there are a few specific reasons why I think kids 7-11 is really the sweet spot for STEAM education. Most people would agree that elementary school is where it starts for kids. The

A lot of people hear the term STEM and automatically think they have a good handle on what it is. This is partially the fault of STEM teachers and the popular media. They give the idea that STEM is just Computer Science, maybe engineering. However STEM is much more than that and kids who learn STEM skills are learning so much more. Here are some of the skills kids learn in STEM classes. Confidence Last year, a fellow teacher and I began helping students participate in an eve

Curiosity doesn’t disappear overnight — it slowly dims when kids stop feeling safe to ask “what if?” At Cogwheel, we see again and again that children are naturally inventive when given time, space, and permission to explore. The good news? You don’t need a lab, a 3D printer, or a background in engineering to nurture that curiosity at home. Here are five simple STEAM projects  you can try with children ages 7–11 using everyday materials. Each one invites experimentation, crea

When I was a kid I wanted to know EVERYTHING! Especially when it came to machines. I was fascinated by cars, engines, motors. If it was mechanical, I was hooked. The same went for science, especially space, and dinosaurs. It's why I am the person I am today. My friends were the same way. Maybe not about the same things but they were still interested in how things worked. The longer I've been teaching though the more I'm encountering a disturbing trend. Curiosity is dwindling

Finnigan Cogwheel What a year it's been! 2025 for me has been eventful on many fronts and has been full of challenges and triumphs, joy and sadness. I guess it's like that for everyone, each in different amounts. But as the year winds down I wanted to reflect on some of the things we have accomplished at the Workshop this year. We got the workshop up and running! We started making and crafting. Finally getting ideas out of our head, onto paper, and off the paper into the wo