The Makery at NEMO Science Museum

Natural inventors

Thanks to millions of years of evolution, many plants and animals have developed unique qualities and clever tricks. Researchers and designers find inspiration in nature for making inventions or solving problems. Discover which invention was inspired by which animal or plant in the interactive exhibit Natural inventors.

Making patterns

The natural world is rich with all kinds of patterns. These mysterious, repetitive and infinitely complex mathematical patterns are found everywhere in nature as well as in ourselves. Think of a zebra’s stripes, the veins in leaves, cauliflowers and shells. In this workshop, you can experiment with cubes, circles and dots to create your own unique pattern. Or enjoy a game of Palago, where strategic thinking is key to being the first to complete a flowing pattern and win.

Experiment with sound effects

Filmmakers and TV producers often use everyday objects to imitate various natural sounds. The crisp sound of celery cracking is used to simulate a bone fracturing, for example. In The Makery, you can create a natural sound audio track for a short film using everyday objects. For example, a flying bird sounds just like... flapping gloves! And you can replicate the sound of a galloping horse using a sink plunger.

Race with a wooden figure

When you walk, you actually fall forward and swing your leg forward at just the right moment so you don't actually fall. Designers use this principle to create simple walking robots. The wooden figures in The Makery walk in the same way. See how you can make the figures walk down a slope as quickly as possible by experimenting with balance and gravity.

Specially for multilingual families

For multilingual families, NEMO Science Museum provides instructions in eight different languages at The Makery. Besides Dutch and English, the instructions are also available in German, French, Turkish, Ukrainian, Italian and Spanish. 

To encourage participation from multilingual children and their families in science and technology, NEMO is collaborating with Utrecht University and others in the Multi-STEM research project.