Amos Blanton is involved in design-based research on environments and activities that support tinkering and collective creativity. He has worked on the Scratch Team at MIT Media Lab, the learning-through-play design of LEGO House, and served as an advisor at Not Back to School Camp.

As a participant in Experimenting, Experiencing, Reflecting (EER), the collaborative project led by Olafur Eliasson and scientist Andreas Roepstorff, Amos took part in the EER lab at PSM gallery, Berlin, from 14 January to 25 February 2023. As part of the exhibition Nature is an event that never stops, by artist and EER member Sophie Erlund, the EER lab hosted a set of activities run by artists and scientists as a public programme accompanying the exhibition. Together with Sophie Erlund, Amos created an artificial environment for playful experimentation using sand and cinefoil. Students from the International Kant School, Berlin, were invited to build small, solar-powered machines out of various mechanical parts. Because of the lack of sunshine in Berlin in January, Amos set up a halogen work light over one area of the table and provided hand-crank generators and chargeable powerpacks. More information on this open-source project can be found at https://www.playingwiththesun.org/#one.