STE(a)M Saturday

Looking for a STEM activity for your youngster? Do you have some newspapers laying around, waiting to be recycled? Then look no further. An exercise in the engineering process is just around the corner.

• You will need at least a issue of a daily newspaper
• Tape or Stapler
• Other recycled materials

You can find an explanation of the process here.
Check out the need play structure these guys built here.
This project is ideal for the 3-6th grader, however, younger and older participants can be coaxed into helping. A newspaper tube can be made for the younger child for her to work with while the older child might be convinced to make a more complex structure.

Lego Construction Zone

Did you know there are artists that use LEGO bricks to make sculptures? Nathan Sawaya was the first ever LEGO brick only sculptor, but now there are several others.
What will you make this Sunday, April 26? You can make your creations from 1:30-3:00 in the Puett Room. This program is best for ages five and up.

STEAM Saturday

At the heart of every scientist, mathematician, musician, or artist is a person who is willing to tinker.The scientist tests and retests (or tinkers with) theories. A musician will work and rework (tinker with) a song before it's finished.
Which leads to me to recommend one of my favorite new books for parents who want to nurture the "tinkerer" in their child. It's called Tinkerlab: A hands-on guide for little inventors by Rachelle Doorley

Doorly poses that the only way to really get to know a subject or process or material is to work with it long enough, over and over again, so that to the tinkerer gets to the place where she can see it or use it in new ways. There are so many fantastic ideas in this book and on her blog! I especially like her quote,

"When children are encouraged to solve problems on their own, they learn a great deal through the questions and hands-on experiements that lead to a solution."

If you use this book for nothing else, use it for the 10 Tinkerlab Habits of Mind

• Make room for creativity
• Encourage questions
• Listen actively
• Be curious
• See mistakes as gifts
• Embrace a good mess
• Accept boredom as a tool for self-discovery
• Step back ad enjoy the flow
• Spend time outdoors
• Think of everything as an experiement.

What are you waiting for? Get tinkering!

STEAM Saturday

Are you looking for a charming and funny non-fiction picture book about...um...disgusting critters?
Well, they're only disgusting because of their bad reputation, because these guys are important!
Find out why when you read Elise Gravel's Disgusting Critters series.

While reading aout The Worm, I learned that there is a worm that can grow to be over 98 feet long!
It's called the Ribbon Worm.

STEAM Activity:
Take a tape measure out and mark off 98 feet! How many inches is that? How many centimeters does that equal. How many meters is 98 feet?
You can let us know what your results were by leaving a comment.

STEAM Saturday

Did you know that solving puzzles strengthens cognition abilities? Being able to solve puzzles is the same part of the brain that works math and music as well. So, to celebrate this fact, here's a puzzle for you.

'We eat what we can, and we can what we can't.'
Can you explain who could make this statement?

To find out the answer, check out the book The Puzzle Emporium Presents Amazing Brain Teasers: mathematical diversions, lateral thinking puzzles, riddles, conundrums, and more by Erwin Brecher.

STEAM Saturday

Meep, meep!
Have you ever watched the Looney Tunes cartoons with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner?
Poor Wile E.! He tries to outsmart the Road Runner with all kinds of contraptions that never work. Why don't they work? Sometimes it's a combination of his impatience and the laws of physics!
And what a fun way to learn about physics. Take a look at these books

Smash!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments With Simple Machines by Mark Weakland
Splat!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments With States of Matter by Suzanne Slade
Thud!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments With Forces and Motion by Mark Weakland
Zap!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments With Energy by Suzanne Slade

Then, the next time you enjoy some of his cartoons, you'll appreciate that he is a physical science genius.

Ziptang!

STEAM Saturday

It's STEAM Saturday, once again, where we give you ideas to incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics into your daily activities.
Remember David MaCaulay's The Way Things Work? It's exciting to know that some of the content from that book has been repackaged as Non-fiction Early Readers, making the concepts accesible to the beginning reader crowd. The books are full of MaCauley's signature detailed artwork.
The series is called How It Works.

STEAM Saturday (a little late)

There is just something about computer games that kids (and adults) love. Don't you wish there were computer games that helped your child practice her math skills while enjoying a computer game?

Wait no more, I found this website that has all kids of fun games to play that require your child to use the math skills he has learned.

http://www.mathplayground.com/

There are some annoying advertisements at the top and to the right on the website, that  look like games too, but if you stick to the Math Playground games area, your child will have lots of fun with math.

STEAM Saturday

Can you tell we're starting to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math here at the library? I like to throw in some STEAM in my story times, and sometimes I test the stuff out with my boys at home. I must say, doing science experiments is one of my favorite ways of spending time with them. Reading Rockets offers quite a list of tip sheets for sharing science with your kids. Check it out!

STEAM Saturday

Here at STEAM Saturday, our wish is to make science fun. What could be more fun than mini-marshmallows and toothpicks? Making stuff out of mini-marshmallows and toothpicks!

The directions can be found here. While the directions call for teams, this project can be done individually. There is no end to the creative structures your child can make. If you are concerned about the safety issues that go with toothpicks, simply use uncooked spaghetti noodles broken down to the length of a toothpick.

Have fun with this full-STEAM ahead activity.

STEAM Saturday

You might have heard that our Summer Reading theme this year is Fizz, Boom, READ! We are highlighting all things science. Don't miss our display cube in the Children's Room. You'll find sea monkeys, an ant farm, a potato clock and other objects to observe.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) is everywhere! You can incorporate more science into your child's life simply by focusing on the power of observation.
When you take time to stop and look at something in nature, practice asking, "I wonder why...?" or I wonder how....?" Then allow your child to make his or her own hypothesis. It doesn't matter if it's accurate or not. The important part is allowing your child to of observe, wonder, and think. Later, if you want to find the answer, there are many books in our collection that help him or her learn about the natural world.

STEAM SATURDAY

The E in STEAM stands for engineering. He's an E activity you can do with your kids: Make paper airplanes! Until my kindergartner and I checked out paper airplane books, I had no idea that paper airplanes could look so different and do such different things based on the design! Try these:

Best Ever Paper Airplanes, by Norman Schmidt
Paper Airplanes series, by Christopher Harbo
Super Simple Paper Airplanes, by Nick Robinson

Crack an Egg!

Who wants to cook with kids? I do!
I love cooking with my three-year-old. Here are a few ideas about working in the kitchen that will keep your youngster engaged, give them a tactile experience, and provide opportunities for them to learn about math in the process:

• Come up with a fun cooking project! Does your kid like scrambled eggs? Muffins? Or maybe they like to play with playdough. Start with something your child is excited about.
• Make a grocery list together. Find a recipe, then have a conversation about the ingredients you might need to collect. The only thing more fun than writing a list is getting to cross things off!
• Talk about the recipe while you work. After you've gathered your ingredients, talk about the recipe out loud. How many cups of flour do we need?
• Let your child do the measuring. Here is a Tablespoon! Let your child hold the measuring cup or spoon. When it's full, they can tip it into the bowl.
• Watch it cook! After everything's stirred up and ready to go, pop it in the oven, and turn the light on, so your child can watch chemistry in action!

Here are a few tried and true recipes we love:

Popovers! from Pretend Soup, by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson

You can't go wrong with lots of eggs and lots of butter.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair

This amazing recipe has no eggs (all the better for licking the bowl) & maple syrup instead of sugar. Yum! 

Playdough from Mudworks, by MaryAnn F. Kohl

Make your own playdough. So fun.

And if you really need a belly laugh, watch author John Green whip up some mac & cheese with his tyke.

Enjoy!

STEAM SATURDAY

Here at STEAM Saturday, we want to make the sciences fun. Did you know that the laws of physics apply to everything, including outdoor play?
Inertia, gravity and friction are all at work on the playground.
The next time your child is on a swing, you can talk about Newton's First Law: "a body in motion remains in motion, a body at rest remains at rest, unless acted upon by force." The full experiment and several other experiements with playgound physics can be found here.
If you really want to be a star-student, check out the physics of bouncing on a pogo stick here.