On MLK Day 2022 WonderLab is giving away 100 Free Science Kits

This MLK Day take on the Rube Goldberg Challenge! On Monday, January 17, 2022, WonderLab is giving away free science kits to kids of all ages. Collect a kit from Monroe County Public Library locations in either Bloomington or  Ellettsville branches during their open hours.  Create an original design and then post your machines on Instagram with the tag @wonderlabmuseum, by Saturday January 22. Include the hashtag #RubeGoldbergMachine in your post and you may be selected to win a WonderPass for a free visit. 

Why is WonderLab Giving Away Kits on MLK Day?

Dr. King understood the importance of science. During his 1964 Nobel Prize acceptance speech he noted the many achievements that humanity had reached through science and technology, “Modern man … has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.”

Who is Rube Goldberg?

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, engineer, and inventor who became well known for his comic strips depicting overly complicated machines doing very simple tasks. According to his estate, Rube Goldberg is the only person whose name is used as an adjective in the dictionary. Rube Goldberg had a 72 year career where he produced more than 50,000 drawings and thousands of comic strips.

Rube Goldberg Machines require creativity, thinking outside the box, tenacity, patience and a sense of adventure. Remember: trying, testing, and failing are all a part of the process, but the end result is always fun. Read more about WonderLab’s very own Rube Goldberg Machine, the Kinetic Contraption: Maximum Effort, Minimal Results.

Kit Pick Up Details 

Kit Pick-Up Locations and Times 

MCPL Bloomington Branch: 
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, Indiana 47408
Hours: 9 am – 5 pm

MCPL Ellettsville Branch: 
600 W. Temperance Street
Ellettsville, Indiana 47429
Hours: 9 am – 5 pm

WonderLab will be closed on Monday, January 17, 2022 in observance of MLK Day. WonderLab is an award-winning science museum located at 308 W. Fourth St. on the B-Line Trail in Bloomington, Indiana. General admission is $12.50, and children younger than one year are free. Due to Covid-19 the museum is open limited days and times. For the most up-to-date information go to wonderlab.org or WonderLab’s Facebook page.