Robots, Robots, Robots!

Our first and second grade friends started constructing their first robots this week! They were given many different materials to use to construct their robots, and when they completed the building process they were able to add a small toy motor to see if their robot would move. 

If their robot creation didn't move as fast or as crazy as they liked, they had the opportunity to rethink their design to make any necessary adjustments. We have had lots of success with our robots in the Makerspace. 

Some of our friends turned their initial design mishaps into surprisingly creative new designs. A pair of our 2nd grade friends from Mrs.Shamia's class decided to turn their intial idea of one large robot into a family of bots when the large robot didn't move as much as they would have liked. It was awesome to watch the class get so excited over the mini robots buzzing all around the table!

A Hyperlapse video of the mini-bot family some of our 2nd grade friends made

Many of our first and second grade friends have shown interest in trying to create these simple robots at home. For anyone that wants to know what we are using to power our robots, we used 1.5-3 volt offset toy motors. They can be purchased at any hobby or craft store for $2-$3. You will also need a small battery pack, and a weight to attach to the rotating mechanism on the motor. We used dimes and pennies as weights. 

It has been so fun to watch our young friends imagine and create. They have had so much fun in the Makerspace building simple robots.

New Things, Passion Projects, and a Big Thank You!

Recently, we've introduced our newest center  in the Sappingtion Library Makerspace, a Lego building table. It has been a huge hit with all of the grade levels. They are particularly excited to try building on the side and back build plates. Many of the students have never had the opportunity to create with Legos in such an interesting way.

Discovering that Legos don't have to be built from the gound up has inspired some of our friends to build ramps on the side of the table for their Lego vehicle creations to cruise down. It was so great to see the students figure out how to bring their idea to life, and even better was to see how excited they were when after several trials it really worked! We expect our Lego building table will continue to inspire many amazing ideas and awesome creations. It will be fun to see what our friends build throughout the year.

some of our second grade friends preparing to build

Miss Handrahan's friends are busy creating with Legos

Earlier in the year, everyone filled out a heart worksheet about things that they are passionate about, or would really like to learn more about. We brought these worksheets out to give our friends a starting point in choosing a topic or question to research over the next several weeks. Their research will help them narrow thier focus to a particular question they want to explore about their topic. All of their hard work will ultimately result in a project that they will share with the rest of their class.

Passion Project and heart worksheets

This sort of approach is sometimes to referred to as passion driven or maker driven learning, or connected learning. In our library makerspace, we are using the Genius Hour approach. Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom.  It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school. It encourages student autonomy, and creates lifelong learners. These are skills that will take them far in our fast paced world!

We would also like to give our sincerest thanks to all of the parents, teachers, and staff that have donated tools, old electronics, cardboard tubes, fabric, paper, and so much more to our makerspace. The Sappington Library Makerspace would not be such an engaging place to learn and grow without these donations. Our makerspace is proof that one person's junk is another person's treasure so please keep the "junk" coming! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

This is just a small portion of the amazing things that have been generously donated to our space!

Book Recommendation: Tinkerlab for Little Ones

We were looking for some great ideas for our younger inventors.   This is a great book to encourage problem solving through hands on experiments and engaging with interesting materials.    From the book jacket:  55 playful experiments that encourage tinkering, curiosity, and creative thinking from the creator of Tinkerlab.com—hands-on activities that explore art, science, and more.  For children two and up.

Lots of awesome ideas for your preschooler and younger children at home, too!