Free Medialab drop-in: children lead the making

Family making is easily captured by the finished photograph. An adult corrects colour, angle and glue, and the child’s final role is to hold the neat object for a camera. The drop-in format of Forum Groningen’s Medialab offers the opposite value. A child does not have to commit an entire day or know the answer at the beginning. Changing method when the material refuses to cooperate is part of the activity. Official information lists free walk-in sessions on 15 and 16 August from 11:00 to 17:00, for ages six and up, inside Forum’s Medialab. Free, open and flexible access lowers the barrier. It also means popular hours can be busy and that themes or materials may vary by day. Families placing the session inside a city itinerary should leave room for waiting, instructions and an imperfect ending.

The deeper skill is not reproducing a model. It is choosing, testing and asking another person for help. The hardest task for an adult may be refusing to take control back. Instead of asking why the result does not match the picture, offer a problem—“How can it stand?” or “How can light pass through?”—and provide boundaries only for safety and tool use.

• Time and place: 15 and 16 August, 11:00–17:00, Medialab at Forum Groningen. Check the day page before travelling.
• Age: designed for six-plus; follow the on-site rules for adult supervision and tools.
• Do not make the object the only goal: let the child choose material and problem; adults can offer another option only when genuinely stuck.
• Allow “unfinished”: an open workshop cannot promise a perfect object before departure. A photograph of the process can also be an outcome.

Practical takeaway: say before entering, “Today you do not have to copy the example; you are going to test one idea of your own.” That gives the Medialab back to the child more effectively than choosing the craft in advance.

Sources: Official Medialab drop-in page from Forum Groningen. Last checked 9 August 2026.