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Kids build with everyday items Saturdays at OH WOW!
By Bob Jackson
YOUNGSTOWN
What can you do with some breath mints, batteries, buttons and bulbs?
Well, after the mints are gone, you can use the other things, plus a few other basic materials, to build a flashlight.
That’s what kids at the OH WOW! Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology did Saturday afternoon. It was one of the programs offered through the downtown center’s InspireWorks Project, said Audra Carlson, education manager.
“Every Saturday from noon to 1 p.m., we have some sort of hands-on project for kids,” Carlson said.
This week, it was making hand-held flashlights using empty Altoids mint tins, light bulbs, batteries, push-button switches, tin foil, wire and electrical tape. And of course, safety glasses.
Kids age 10 to 14 were given a tray of materials to make the lights and then guided through the process either by OH WOW! staff and volunteers or by their parents or other adults.
“Ideally, I want the kids to do as much of it by themselves as they can,” Carlson said. “The soldering, drilling, twisting wires together, for themselves.”
The flashlight project helped teach children the
basics of electronics, she said. All projects are science-related, in keeping with the OH WOW! theme.
Next Saturday’s project will be building mini-microscopes using blocks of wood, some wire and flattened lenses. A chemistry project is slated for Feb. 14.
Carlson said she doesn’t have to look far or hard to come up with project ideas.
“The Internet is an amazing place,” she said, laughing.
Rosa Houston of Liberty made her first visit to OH WOW! on Saturday with her 6-year-old nephew, Odell Houston, who was interested in watching the flashlights being built but shied away from trying it himself.
“I like it,” Houston said of the science center. “It’s something good for kids to do, and it’s a free program.”
Houston, an English teacher at Eastern Gateway Community College downtown, said she especially likes the hands-on approach because it’s a more effective way for most children to learn.
“They’re actually following instructions and doing something instead of just listening to someone lecture,” she said. “It’s really great.”
Richard Blair of Boardman actually had just come to the museum Saturday to visit a friend who was working there. But when his 11-year-old son, also named Richard, heard about the flashlight project, he wanted to stay and build one, so they did.
“He’s pretty hands-on,” Blair, 38, said of his son. “He likes to build things, and he’s good at following directions.”
The younger Blair, sporting a T-shirt that said “Captain Awesome” across the front, patiently worked on his project, with his father’s assistance, and said he was interested because he’d never done anything quite like it.
“It’s cool,” young Blair said. “I built a robot [from a kit] once, but this is different. I like it.”
Carlson said the weekend programs are free, but parents are urged to call ahead to register their children so OH WOW! staff can make sure they have enough materials for everyone.