Invention at Play explores creativity and how purposeless play is a vital ingredient in meaningful invention. Combining art, science and technology, interactives both large and small invite visitors to create their own inventions. The stories of modern inventors describe how play influenced their creative processes. Produced for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and funded by the National Science Foundation, Invention at Play won the Excellence in Exhibition Competition at the 2003 meeting of the American Association of Museums.
The Science Museum of Minnesota produced two versions of this exhibit for the Lemelson Center. The 3,500 square-foot version of the exhibit is on display at the new Lemelson Hall of Invention at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The 1,700 square-foot version of the exhibition continues to be toured by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC).
