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At Engineering Extravaganza, kids build projects, their minds
By Bob Jackson
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, putting them together, then taking them apart. Then he 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 through the ends, 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.
“It’s not magic,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just pretend.”
Then she went back to work on her own project, making a cat from paper- towel rolls, Popsicle sticks and blue masking tape.
“The cat’s name is Star,” she said. The name seemed appropriate, since she’d decorated the body with red and blue stars.
Michelle said she often takes her kids to events at the library because she likes what the kids can gain.
“It’s always stuff to get their brains working, interacting with other kids and playing with different toys we don’t have at home,” she said.
Likewise, Pam Rider of North Jackson said she regularly attends children’s events at the library with her grandchildren, who range in age from 3 to 11.
“They’re wonderful,” Rider said of the activities. “The kids have a blast, and most of the programs are make-and-take, so they like to take home what they’ve made. And they learn things.”
While some of the materials used Saturday were items most people have around the house, some – such as the Zoobs and Q-Ba marble maze kits – are specially designed to help kids develop skills in science, technology, engineering and math, Schneider said.