VIVISTOP Telliskivi 2021 Recap
Happy New Year! We hope you have turned all the challenges of 2021 into victories! Are you ready to take on the new challenges in the coming year? We are definitely ready to see what the new year brings us!
Workshops
Numerous workshops were held in VIVISTOP Telliskivi throughout the year, where Vivinauts (Vivinaut: a member of Vivita) acquired many new skills in different fields. As it was quite trendy, also we kicked 2021 off with virtual workshops. Let’s take a closer look at all workshops that took place in VIVISTOP Telliskivi in 2021.
A Human in Relation to a Building
For three days, the inventors met with Ivo Visak in Zoom, where answers were given to many architectural questions, such as why our rooms do not have round walls etc.? Each participant also made a paper model of their own room or object.
The Water’s Flowing in Minecraft / The Labyrinths in Minecraft
In February and March we got together with all Vivinauts all over the world in Minecraft. The aim of the first meeting was to build different water-related structures, and the second time we built different labyrinths in the world of VIVITA.
Mysterious Creature Idea Machine
Haven’t we all experienced that feeling, when you want to start with a new project, but don’t know exactly, how. To alleviate this state of mind, the Idea Machine was created to help new VIVITA members analyse their environment and come up with new ideas to improve it. As a result of three weeks of active thinking and crafting, the children came up with many world-changing ideas.
Olivia, 9-year-old Vivinaut, learned the tools of a design platform called Canva and shared her knowledge with other inventors as well. During the workshop, she introduced the possibilities with Canva and in the end each and every one had designed a personal card for one’s best friend.
From Seedling to Sandwich
In the virtual workshop From Seedling to Sandwich, we discussed how and what kind of plants can be grown with ease on a home windowsill. At the end of the workshop, every participant had made a self-watering plant pot.
The printing workshop was organised as part of a series of digital workshops focusing on computer science and various uses of the Internet, computers and other hardware and software for research, processing and programming.
The sign art, or ASCII, dates back to the late 1970s, when computer creation was still quite limited. With the web-based application asciiflow, all participants were able to create art on a theme of their own choice. At the beginning of the workshop, we asked to come up with an absurd sentence that would later be used as an output of typewriter art. The children learned keyboard shortcuts and combinations to help them create their own sign art.
Inspired by the work of world-famous designer and artist Bruno Munar, together we built a completely “useless machine”. We discovered a magical abstract world and crafted a mobile sculpture.
The Making of an App Prototype
The workshop took place in two parts. First we had to come up with an idea and then we learned the features of the Marvel application. In order to bring life to the application, we distributed different roles in the workshop. The children created personalities for their new roles. They wrote down the exact information about the person who will start using the application later. Once the preliminary work was done, we moved on to the Marvel application to complete a prototype of the app.
Vitamines and Minerals
A balanced diet is the ABC of our body. That is why in the workshop we talked about the role of vitamins and minerals in our body and how their levels are controlled in our bodies. What if there is too little or too much of a vitamin or mineral in our body? Iron is a very important trace element for our body — so in the workshop we did a simple experiment to find out how much iron there is in cornflakes.
DNA and Genes
In the first research laboratory workshop, we studied the field of genetics and took a closer look at what chromosomes, DNA and genes are. During the experiment, the participants in the workshop isolated DNA molecules from their cheek cells.
In the sound waves workshop, we made an unusual musical instrument that can be used to play simpler songs. Before building the instrument, we researched where the sound comes from and what makes the music sound, how these types of instruments can be tuned and how to make their sound better.
Eventually the weather got warmer and we moved outside from the Zoom workshop sessions. We made a nest box so that the birds living with us in the summer would have a lovely nest house. During the construction, we discussed why is it important to build nest boxes and what to keep in mind so that the new house would be suitable for birds.
In addition to the nest box, we also made some really cool kites.
Cooking with Carlo
“La cucina piccola fa la casa grande” / “A small kitchen makes a house big,” an Italian proverb said.
Köögisaar has got a lot of heat in the premises of VIVISTOP Telliskivi. Carlo, who started here in VIVITA as a volunteer, is now cooking various delicious dishes with Vivinauts on a weekly basis. It sure has been one of the biggest hits of the last year. Carlo has shared interesting tricks and expanded Vivinauts’ knowledge in the world of cooking. Many interesting dishes were made such as Gnocchi di Patate, Tiramisu, vegetarian burger and raviolis. We are very excited about what we can cook with Carlo in the coming year.
A gift for the children of My Day of Dreams
The My Dream Day charity fund celebrated its 10th birthday last year and wanted to celebrate it accordingly. When the charity fund approached VIVITA with the idea of doing something extraordinary together with and Vivita’s kids on the Foundation’s 10th birthday, there was no doubt about it. The VIVITA designer and activities supervisor Vera Naydenova considered for a long time, regarding what could be something that is really fun and doesn’t have a very big ecological footprint. But of course — soap bubbles, lots and lots of soap bubbles! Together with the children, we built a huge soap bubble machine, which is now a source of joy for all major and minor events!
Vivita Junior
For the second year in a row, we have also been organising workshops for younger inventors aged 5–8. Both last year and this year, unfortunately we got to meet less than we originally planned to, in order to ensure the health and well-being of everyone. Despite the restrictions, the juniors got to visit the VIVISTOP Telliskivi creativity laboratory five times.
The goal of the VIVITA Junior program is to familiarise the younger siblings of our members with the activities and philosophy of VIVITA, so that when they become a member of VIVITA when they reach the age of 9, they already have a familiar studio and people waiting.
We started the year with the workshops “DNA and Genes” and “Electricity Full of Excitement”. After the spring break, Lui Puik, a member of VIVITA, conducted a workshop called “Summer Engines”. First, everyone crafted an awesome water machine. Thereafter, the workshop ended with a spirited boat rally. In the summer, we introduced juniors to the wonderful world of colors and patterns, to the world of kaleidoscopes.
The last meeting of this year took place in September and was again supervised by VIVITA member Emma Anette Juss. She introduced the participants how to make paper and boil natural colors from vegetables.
Social Club
VIVITA Social Club is one of a really cool society of members in VIVITA, who have been given a free hand to organise many different events: such as a summer party, movie nights, fashion shows, tours to their favourite companies etc. So far, the team has set up a VIVISTOP escape room and they were also the main organisers of the TMW children’s festival, pretty big deal. VIVITA aims to give them more freedom to organise the events themselves, strengthen their sense of community and organise other great events in addition to workshops.
Summer Camps
For the first time, VIVITA summer camps took place in the summer of 2020. We got such an overwhelming and positive response from the children as well as from the parents. So it was obvious that we had to continue with the summer camps in 2021 as well, which we did. So what happened during those three weeks? Each camp lasted for three days with numerous workshops, team games, lots of happy faces and laughter. This year the camps were “Design a Moving Creature”, “Creative Amps” and “Mixed Cottage”.
In the first camp, the children could try rapid prototyping, be inspired by a sculptor, learn to use different woodworking tools, and to finally create four unique creatures.
The second summer camp started with creative amps, where we refuted the saying “don’t play with food”. For three days, the kids could try out a number of experiments with food and for the cherry of the cake, there was one entrepreneurial challenge for the kids to solve.
In the third camp, called Mixed Cottage, the participants were able to take part in exciting challenges and all sorts of activities, such as paper making, the construction of an egg rally and a chain reaction machines.
Vista Season 1
In the spring, we piloted an exciting new 10-week start-up accelerator program. The Vista Idea-to-Prototype program, designed for young people ages 9–14, was launched to develop young people’s entrepreneurial mindsets. The first batch was completed by 11 young people, many of whom have already brought their idea to life.
For example, Karolin’s Mastermind science kits and Johanna’s buddy benches have taken off. Joonas (smart cups), Lana (drawing app VividColor), Marianne (Änx workbook), Jaan (CandiLearn math machine) and Elisabet (Äravõru) are also in the process of developing their ideas.
It is now noteworthy to highlight Joonas Salmisto, a graduate of the 1st season of Vista and a Vivinaut in VIVISTOP Telliskivi. In December, the Research Agency awarded the National Student Inventor Awards. Joonas won the 3rd place in the competition with his invention called Taibutops aka the Smart Pencilbox. Taibutops is an educational pencil box that helps preschoolers to effortlessly memorise the alphabet. 658 young inventors with 560 ideas took part in the competition. Congratulations, Joonas!
Throughout the whole program, young people met with experts from the start-up community, many of whom attended Vista meetings to share their experiences and knowledge.
The Vista program started already last year, when we started filming a 10-part series, where three young people interviewed successful Estonian technology entrepreneurs and experts, with the aim of getting advice and inspiration to carry out their own business ideas.
Vista Season 2
In fall, we launched Season 2 of Vista, where 14 young people took the journey from idea to prototype. Young people have come to plan and discover their ideas, and now they are enthusiastically developing their prototypes. What have they done so far?
In the Vista program, there are both physical and digital product ideas. Under the guidance of Gleb Maltsev, the expert of pitching, Vistas got a lot of knowledge how to seem more confident in pitching their business ideas. Next, it’s time to put their skills into practice. In the second week, all the floors and rooms of VIVISTOP Telliskivi studio were covered with experts in their field, to whom the young people could pitch their ideas. Marek Kiisa (Nordic Ninja), Kersti Ojala (Good Deed Foundation), Taavi Tamkivi (Salv), Hedi Mardisoo (Cachet), Rainer Sternfeld (Nordic Ninja), Kristi Tiivas (Fiizy) and Triin Mahlakõiv (Reconeyez) were advising the young people.
In the last four weeks, Vistas have diligently been working on their ideas. Slowly but steadily, the ideas begin to take the form of a prototype. During this time, Martin Villig (Bolt), Anna-Liisa Palatu (Woola), Rainer Sternfeld (Nordic Ninja), Björn Lapakko (Pazzing), Kerli Kehman-Vaarik (Estonian Design Center) and Hardi Meybaum (Whatifi) have inspired young people with their inspirational talks. In addition to that, Vistas visited Comodule’s factory, where they met Kevin Reisenbuk, Tuule’s product manager, who shared some tips&tricks about prototyping.
Now the program is halfway through and the young inventors have gone on a little Christmas holiday to continue again with new energy from January. The program ends on January 29, where all Vistas will be able to present their ideas and prototypes at Vista Demo Day. Follow the exciting journey of Vista Season 2 in Vista Facebook.
6 awesome Estonian companies (Fiizy, Veriff, Bolt, Adcash, YuMuuv, OP Corporate Bank) accepted the Christmas challenge to make a particularly healthy and environmentally friendly Christmas present with their teams this year. During the 3 weeks, the companies walked a total of 21,728,131 steps, thus contributing to the Estonian educational technology companies — VIVITA and Unicorn Squad.
VIVITA says thanks
Thank you to everyone who is part of our big family — children, parents, volunteers and partners!
Thank you Fotografiska Tallinn — for the crafts materials and for the inspiring cooperation projects!
Fotografiska Tallinn restaurant and Peeter Pihel — thank you for the delicious dishes and for taking part in the workshops!
Thank you Artproof — with Your help we had the opportunity to equip VIVISTOP Telliskivi with suitable furniture!
Thank you Lincona Põrandakeskusele for the amountd of different materialas and for the new table covers!
Thank you Akzo Nobel Baltic AS for the paint materials!
Thank you Uuskasutuskeskus that you always find the quickest solutions to our peculiar wishes and ideas!
Thank you Wendre for all this great amount of fabric and stuffing!
Thank you Ruth Oltjer ja Chemi-Pharm AS for supporting our young scientists!
Karin Rask Design —Thank you for sharing inspiring materials for our young fashion designers!
Thank you Velvet — you have been our supporter from the first moments!
Thank you La Muu for the materials and for the ice cream that has been so loved!
Thank you Veriff for your contribution!
Thank you Fraktal for the stylish designs!
Thank you Fiizy for your contribution!
Thank you Jäämari for the delicious ice cream!
Thank you Unicorn Squadile for the continued wonderful cooperation!
Thank you the whole Magusa Molekuli team and ERR kids station!
Thank you Telliskivi Loomelinnak!
Thank you Triin Ott and Admirals!
Thank you Eesti Disainikeskus and Kerli Kehman-Vaarik!
Thank you Enn Kerner, Valdemar Verner Okspuu andEesti Inseneride Liit!
Thank you Eesti Teadushuvihariduse Liit!
Thank you Elisa Eesti for the devices!
Thank you Embassy of Japan in Estonia!
Thank you Kooker!
Thank you Latitude59 and Maarja Pehk!
Thank you Startup Estonia!
Thank you Edtech Estonia!
Thank you Mellow!
Thank you Good Deed Foundation!
Thank you Paavo Pauklin, Ottomar Tamm and SA Noored Olümpiale!
Thank you Taavi Tamkivi for your contribution!
Thank you Minu Unistuste Päev!
Thank you State Chancellery Public Sector Innovation Team!
Thank you Ruffler OÜ for the coolest new sewing machines!
Thank you Särgid-Värgid for all the cool T-Shirts!
Thank you Valter Soosalu, Terje Trochynskyi and Tallinn Music Festival!
Thank you Siim Taliaru and Vineerimaailm for the contribution of the Buddy Bench!
Thank you VLND Burger for the design challenges to the kids!
Thank you Sandra Liiv and Peaasi!
Thank you Starship Technologies for exciting constructing materials!
Agnes Kangur, Anna Marin Mõttus, Anna-Liisa Palatu, Annes Aus, Anu Sternfeld, Astrid Maldre, Ave Habakuk, Björn Lappako, Ede Tamkivi, Elise Sass, Enn Kerner, Gleb Maltsev, Halina Mugame, Hardi Meybaum, Hedi Mardisoo, Heiki Urbala, Jakob Kangur, James Doyle, Kaarel Reinvars, Kadri Tuisk, Kadri Uljas, Kaidi Ruusalepp, Kerli Kehman-Vaarik, Kersti Ojala, Kerttu Lumi, Kevin Reisenbuk, Kristel Kruustük, Kristi Tiivas, Kristo Iila, Liisianne Kruusimägi, Marek Kiisa, Margus Hernits, Märt Lume, Martin Villig, Merili Ginter, Peeter Koppel, Piret Kartus, Ragnar Sass, Rainer Sternfeld, Risto Pajust, Sander Tammer, Sergei Bogatenkov, Sham Lairikyengbam, Taavi Tamkivi, Tiia Plamus, Tiina Toomet, Tõnis Saag, Triin Mahlakõiv, Tuule Laansoo — Thank you for Your time and dedication to the VIVITA kids.
Volunteers
The community of VIVITA volunteers has grown to 40 members in 2021! Throughout the year, volunteers have been involved in daily Free Flow activities, summer camps, Social Club projects, workshops and the Vista program. In VIVISTOP there are a lot of opportunities to come to share your knowledge or skills. Our volunteers have helped new members complete the challenges and have also been a very good help in preparing and conducting the summer camps. A large number of volunteers have also been part of our media team, creating social media posts, blog posts and filming or taking pictures. In this point, we’d also like to mention that we don’t expect you to be experienced experts, but rather volunteers who want to be an example for the children and are ready to learn and find solutions along the way together with the kids. We are all one big team. We are very grateful for everyone’s contribution!
To new and exciting adventures and memories!
Text and translation: Anette-Heleri Lind
Photos: VIVITA Estonia, Ahto Sooaru
