A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.

A Throwback to November 2010! An interview with John Ratzenberger over lunch one day – love his passion for young inventors! John on Working with Young Inventors and Creative Play . . . 

We were excited that John Ratzenberger joined us at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards on November 19^th at the Museum of Science and Industry. He isn't just a beloved actor (Cheers, all Pixar movies, Dancing With the Stars, etc.), he is passionate about inventing and encouraging people to make things. He recently joined the Board of Directors for Foundation for Fair Civil Justice and you probably remember him from Made in America. At the TAGI Awards, he presented the Young Inventor of the Year Award. At our Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he'll be talking to our Young Inventor Challenge contestants, announcing the winner with Mike Hirtle of Hasbro at 5 pm on the stage and taking them out to dinner with Mike on Saturday the 20th.

John, tell us why you are passionate about inventing.

John: “Making and fixing things with your hands is a dying art in America, as I see it. Based on lessons I learned from creative play as a child, I’ve made “be creative and work with your hands” into a national campaign to save the American skilled workforce.

As a child, I tinkered with toys, boats and radios. I learned at the feet of my parents and neighbors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of the nation’s manufacturing hubs. My curiosity and old-fashioned work ethic taught by my family and neighbors turned into a career as a carpenter, innovator and entrepreneur, never losing my love of hands-on productive play.

As I began production of my Travel Channel series, Made In America, the celebration of “skilled work” quickly revealed a national crisis. When kids are no longer encouraged to explore and create worlds of their own, we wind up with a culture that casts a slanted view towards essential skilled work.  Every major sector of our nation’s economy requires creative, skilled workers to produce and innovate – and we’re facing a severe shortage of those essential workers as a result.