Tinker Labs

Tinker Labs offers a unique STEAM approach that includes science, technology, engineering, art and math experiments and the practical learning necessary for each child’s future success.

We at Tinker Labs have developed a number of programs for children 4 – 14 years of age that are designed to supplement and enrich their standard education.

Our intention is not to teach them what they need to know in order to pass a standardized test, but to engage their innate curiosity and inspire them to ask questions about the world around them.

The slogan that guides the development of our curriculum is: “from play, to passion, to purpose.”

Each one of our classes is designed around a concept or theme that we want the children to engage with through fun and interactive games and activities.

Our goal is to facilitate an inspiring space where children can use their hands and minds to create and build different things. Through this play they will develop a passion for learning, and particularly a passion for the many STEAM subjects that we will cover throughout the year.

At Tinker Labs we have created three separate programs designed to introduce children to the world of STEAM. Each program last for the duration of two years. The programs follow the academic school year.

Our teacher are all trained and certified in the Tinker Labs method. Small classes, up to 10 children, allow for a personalized learning experience. Each TL Learning Center is designed as a lab that inspires the innovative process. Each program is designed for a specific ability level (pre-school, elementary).

The programs introduce certain core themes and build on them throughout the year. The progression of the programs is designed to incorporate more concepts each year, and to build on their foundational knowledge acquired in the previous courses.

Tinker Tots is our first level program aimed at introducing pre-school-aged children (4-5) into the wonders of exploration and discovery. Topics include: chemistry, geometry, engineering challenges, anatomy, the animal kingdom, and many more. The storybooks for this course follow the story of Marie, an inquiring young girl who takes every opportunity to explore the world in and around her home.

After successfully completing the first year of classes, we recommend that students continue with the follow-up course: Tinker Tots Plus. This second year course introduces some new material and goes into more detail on the topics already covered.

Tinker Town is the entry program for school-aged children (6-10). The idea behind Tinker Town is to lay the foundations for an understanding of the main concepts and topics in the STEAM curriculum.

In an effort to make these concepts more accessible to the children, and have them retain more of the information, we have created an entire alternative world that will guide the students through these diverse experiments in thinking. It follows the adventures of Marie’s sister, Leonarda, and her best friend Nikola, as they expand their horizons and come to meet all the people and professions that are necessary for the smooth functioning of a small city.

Tinker Town Plus is the program that comes after Tinker Town. As a follow-up course it is only intended for students who have already taken Tinker Town. The concept of the course is the same (40 classes, once a week, 1 hour each). In this course we continue to follow the story of Leonarda, Nikola, and the character’s that they meet in Tinker Town.

Tinker World is the continuation course for Tinker Town Plus. It can also be offered as a 1st year program for children aged 11-14. Tinker World continues the story of Leonarda and Nikola. The guiding theme behind the program is that after having learned about all the STEAM related professions that make up a micro-scale community (Tinker Town), they are ready to delve deeper into the concepts that they have studied thus far, and learn more about the characters and cultures that have been influential in the history of science.

Tinker World Plus is the continuation course for Tinker World, essentially the sixth consecutive class in our series. The concept is the same as Tinker World, where the students will follow their friends Leonarda and Nikola through time and space to learn about ever more scientist, inventors, artists, engineers, and the like.

The first Tinker Labs franchise center in Osijek was opened in 2016, and with its 100 enrolled students, it already showed great success in the first year. Parents of students were often interested in where the idea for such an innovative program came from, and we decided to develop the idea and the program so that it could be implemented as a franchise system.

A teaching methodology and teaching manuals for teachers and different courses were developed and a team of designers was employed to design teaching textbooks and accompanying materials available only within the franchise to confirm Tinker Labs as an innovation in the children's education market.

Franchise rules are clearly defined by signing the franchise contract with the national franchisor for the specific territory of the country. In Croatia, there is specifically the case of the headquarters in Osijek and the owner of the franchise, Alan Orlic, and the national franchisor for the territory of the Republic of Croatia is Krešo Bikic from Vinkovci.

Currently, franchise agreements have been signed for Tinker Labs centers in the cities of: Osijek, Vinkovci, Našice, Požega, Ðakovo, Slavonski Brod, Varaždin, Cakovec, Zagreb (seven center), Rijeka, Split (two centers), Rovinj, Zadar, Samobor, Karlovac, Zabok, Belišce-Valpovo, Metkovic, Porec, Ivanic Grad, Labin, Križevci, Šibenik, Cres-Lošinj, Pula, Velika Gorica, and we receive new franchise inquiries every day, so during one school year we expect further expansion within Croatia.

The Tinker Labs educational franchise for children is also widely spread in other surrounding countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. According to the provisions of the franchise, all franchisors are obliged to train their teachers to work according to the Tinker Labs method, through a five-day training in Osijek with the owner and author of the franchise and program.

Courses are the backbone of the franchise system. They offer the first of their kind, fully developed STEAM integration programs on the market today. Franchisors and teachers upon completion of the training receive a teaching manual created at the Tinker Labs headquarters, which describes in detail the entire course, all activities and instructions that the teacher should follow in order to prepare and successfully carry out each lesson.

Franchisees are provided with the materials needed to implement the courses, from downloadable files to pre-prepared packs of teaching props with detailed instructions on creating different projects and conducting experiments, all available online on the IMS (Information Management System) portal for teachers, which is a specially developed software and a closed system within the franchise that contains strictly confidential information.

All textbooks, picture books and workbooks used as part of the Tinker Labs franchise have their own ISBN and CIP numbers under which they are cataloged in city and university libraries throughout Croatia and contain all copyrights as intellectual property. The Cash required for this franchise will be established per contract

The Tinker Labs logo is registered as a trademark at the State Intellectual Property Office.