Kids' creations teaching valuable lesson in thinking

NORTH JACKSON

Dominos, pipe cleaners, marble mazes and cardboard paper-towel tubes probably aren’t the tools that come to mind when thinking about building the future.

But they were used Saturday to help build the minds of children, to help them one day shape the future.

An Engineering Extravaganza took place Saturday at the Tri-Lakes Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. The free event was for kids in grades K-2, and all the projects were geared toward engineering.

“Engineering in general requires a lot of critical thinking skills,” said Samantha Schneider, early learning team leader at the library. “If you can learn critical thinking, that helps you in all aspects of life.”

Kids were given things such as movable building blocks to build structures of their own creation, dreamed up in their imaginations.

“These aren’t necessarily simple projects,” Schneider said. “The kids have to really think about how they’re going to put their structures together.”

Cole McIntire, 7, spent some time sitting on the floor working with Zoob Builderz blocks, then walked to a nearby table where his mom, Michelle, was sitting with his 5-year-old sister, Emma.

Cole picked up a pair of straws, connected them with pipe cleaners, then held them together with blue masking tape. When he was finished, he held it up, looked it over, and thought about what he’d made.

“It’s a magic wand,” he said with a wide smile. “Like Harry Potter.”

He waved the wand at his sister, trying to make her disappear. Emma didn’t go anywhere, and didn’t seem to appreciate the thought.

Read more about the program in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.