I just got back from a very interesting talk by the PIE group at the Exploratorium. They spent ten days in India teaching Tibetan monks simple scientific concepts with cardboard automata.
They first had them study some pre-made automata and then had them make their own.
In true Exploratorium sprint they emphasized the playful and artistic elements of the automata.
The aesthetic connection the monks made provided the opportunity for them to then form insightful and intuitive connections with the complex concepts (for them) at play in the automata, despite both their very limited background in science and the language barrier.
Check out the video below, and go here for more information.
Tinkering with monks: cardboard automata from Learning Studio on Vimeo.
