Brush Bots

This month's, our Read It and Eat Book Club books were all robot-themed (Robot Dreams by Sara Varon, House of Robots by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, and Curiosity by Gary Blackwood).  We followed our discussion with a brush bot activity.  I had ordered electric toothbrushes though a dollar store, and I bought 72 little fingernail brushes through Amazon.  I initially thought I'd be able to easily pop the motors out of the toothbrushes, but in the end (after a lot of one-on-one time with needle nosed pliers), it seemed most practical to leave the motors in the brushes.  I was able to snip the heads off with a wire cutter pretty easily. 

I had anticipated attaching the toothbrush motors to the fingernail brushes with duct tape or hot glue, but thankfully the curved handles of the fingernail brushes fit exactly around the body of the toothbrush.  It was basically a miracle. 

We experimented with using one fingernail brush, two fingernail brushes, even four fingernail brushes.  And we added all kinds of decorations!  We had lots of fun, and I think this activity would have occupied the kiddos for hours. 

One word of advice: have a few extra batteries on hand!  The toothbrushes come with batteries, but some are duds.  It would have been great to have a few extras to pop in. 

 

Marshmallow Builders

How have I never done this program before?!  It's inexpensive and quick to set up, and it's a crowd-pleasing STEAM activity!  There would be a million ways to structure this program; here's what I did:

 

Before the event (I actually had early arrivals help me with this) I distributed cups of regular size and mini marshmallows, along with spaghetti noodles, penne noodles, toothpicks, and paper plates, to each table. 

 

As participants arrived, they assembled themselves into teams; each team had its own table.  I asked teams to name themselves, which was a nice icebreaker.

 

I gave the first challenge: Build something you could use to survive in the jungle.  Teams worked together to build something to meet the challenge.  When all teams were finished, I had them take turns shouting out the names of the items they built. 

 

After the first challenge, I rewarded each team with a cup full of jumbo marshmallows.  This was a HUGE hit! 

 

I gave additional challenges:

Build something you could use to survive in outer space.

Build something that's alive.

Build something really tall.

Build something really long.

 

I had extra supplies on hand, and teams were welcome to help themselves without any limit. 

 

There was no competition aspect.  We just had fun building together. 

 

One piece of advice: use plastic tablecloths!  I tried getting teams to build only on paper plates, but that lasted about 3 seconds.  Save yourself some clean-up time and cover your tables!

 

Make-It! Build an Antenna

Ready to play with tools?  We hosted an antenna-building workshop and gave 'tweens the chance to do just that.  Our goal was to transform wire coat hangers, wood, screws, washers, and small transformers into working television antennas.  We used these instructions.  I'll be the first to admit that this program was out of my comfort zone.  I know nothing about televisions or antennas or transformers.  Thankfully, I know how to follow directions, and I know how to ask for help.  I spent a lot of time doing both of these things in preparation for the program.  Ultimately, I was able to build a sample antenna that actually worked! 

We limited enrollment to 15 'tweens, and we asked each young builder to bring an adult to help.  Having the adult helpers was absolutely essential.  To my surprise, the program didn't fill up; we had a total of 6 kids, plus accompanying adults. 

In the spring, I contacted our local high school's technology education program to find a student to help me prepare for and facilitate this event.  I did this for a couple of reasons:  first of all, I'm having a baby, and the program was less than a month from my due date, so I wanted to be sure that if another staff member needed to step in, there would be someone on hand who was an "expert" on the project.  It's also nice to offer this type of opportunity to teens, and a lot of 'tweens eat up the chance to talk to teenagers. 

My very patient, project-oriented husband went with me to Home Depot for some serious supply shopping.  The high schooler and I generated our own step-by-step instructions and prepared materials by cutting and bending the wire hangers and marking the points on the wood where the screws would go.  The program itself was only an hour long, so having these steps done ahead of time meant that families could realistically finish the project before they left. 

As participants arrived, they picked up instructions, selected materials based on a list on the instruction sheets, and got to work building.  We had a small TV so they could try out their antennas, but because this program was held in the basement, we didn't get great reception.  Next time, I would have a try-out-your-new-antenna station on the main level of the library. 

The project was demanding enough to require the effort and attention of both child and adult, which meant that they had to work together, like it or not.  Of course, they liked it, and they were proud to leave the library with their newly built TV antennas!

DIY Travel Games

Last Saturday, we hosted a DIY Travel Games program for 'tweens.  The event was an hour long, and we limited registration to 15 participants because we needed some special supplies (and because some of the projects involved detailed instructions/small pieces).  We ended up with 13 plus several adults who stayed to help their children. 

We created these projects:

Altoid Tin Tic-Tac-Toe

Velcro Shape Sticks  (We covered our sticks with patterned duct tape before adding the Velcro; each person made a set of seven sticks, and even though this craft is geared toward younger kids, the 'tweens loved them!)

Bubble Wrap BINGO


What worked well:
Having a few adults stay helped a lot!  Also, the one-hour time frame was perfect (a lot of our programs are 45 minutes, but that wouldn't have been enough time). 

Notes for next time:
In the middle of the Tic-Tac-Toe project, I realized that I could have made my life a lot easier by purchasing two different colors of glass marbles and self-adhesive magnets, like the ones at American Button Machines.  This would have eliminated the need to cut out all kinds of little circles of scrapbook paper and glue them onto magnets/marbles. 

I would be tempted to provide small stickers next time, too, for the Bubble Wrap BINGO.  This way, kids wouldn't need to draw pictures or write words or letters under each bubble.  Another option would be to use smaller paper (we used 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock), which would mean fewer bubbles. 

If we had had more time, it would have been fun to decorate bags or carrying cases for the travel games!

Rainbow Loom Fans Unite!

Toward the beginning of January, we hosted a Rainbow Loom Fans Unite! program.  This event was open to ages 7 and up, and participants were welcome to bring their own supplies.  The library had five looms (which was plenty) and a variety of colors of bands (which we ended up not really needing) available.  Kids and families came and went as they pleased for an hour, many staying the entire time.  We didn't ask for sign-up.  I brought our library's three iPads to the program, and participants used them to access online video tutorials. 

What worked well:
In the promotional materials for this program, I included this line: "No formal instruction will be provided."  This went a loooong way in letting families know that this was not a class; it was a drop-in event that would give Rainbow Loom enthusiasts a chance to create together and share their skills. 

Because we purchased looms and bands for this program, we'll be able to easily repeat it in the future with no monetary investment.  Unless, of course, we want to buy some of the fancy bands (tie-dyed, scented, or camo, anyone?).

What could have been better:
In retrospect, I should have scheduled this event a little bit later in the year.  We had several attendees who had received looms as holiday gifts, and some of them (with their frustrated parents) came to the event hoping to "crack the code" and learn how to turn unsuspecting rubber bands into wearable art.  I was able to help these families make basic bracelets, and other attendees were more than willing to lend a hand, too, but if they had had a few more weeks to try out the looms on their own, they might have had more independent success.