Home School Hour - Circuits

Simple Circuits

 Our January Home school Program was Simple Circuits

We had an AWESOME attendance of 42 children! It did get a little chaotic (since we weren't exactly prepared for that many), but we managed to make it work. 

We started out discussing electricity and circuit board basics. We had an awesome example of a circuit board that was donated by a local company that builds chicken fryers. We discussed some of the different parts on it, talking about what each part does, and comparing them to familiar electronics.

We talked about how the display had a bunch of lines to make different characters, like on a microwave or a digital alarm clock.

We talked about different appliances that used buttons like the ones on our board.

We discussed how capacitors hold energy... kind of like a battery.

We also discussed the vibration of crystal oscillators (which I personally think are really interesting), and LEDs. There were a lot of electronics we could compare to the lights.

We talked about other parts of the circuit board, but I've labeled a few of the more interesting ones (at least to the kids) on this image.

Buttons 

Display

Capacitor

LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)

Crystal Oscillator 

Diodes 

We also had several blank boards to look at. We compared labels and shapes to the full board. We traced the lines traveling between different parts to see how the energy travels (which you sometimes need to flip the board over for!) We also talked about how the boards themselves are made... specifically the green coating over the metal, and the way multiple layers to the board offer different paths.

We had a cover from the company too, so we were able to lay it on top of our circuit board to see how it lined up. There are transparent parts of the cover so the lights and displays can show through. The kids also liked seeing how the numbers lined up with the buttons on our circuit board.

After we learned about the more complicated circuits, everyone got a chance to build their own simple one.

The paper circuits used a print off, copper tape, a battery, and an LED. 

You can find complete instructions here.

We got Copper tape and LEDs on Amazon.

Most of our batteries just came from the dollar store, but I'm sure they're on Amazon too.

It's very important that the tape stays connected. We explained how to fold the tape over itself, but a lot of the kids still ended up tearing it at the corners. You can hook some of them back together (making sure the copper touches copper... not adhesive), but we ended up with  a lot of wasted copper. Make sure to emphasize how careful kids need to be... or provide a lot of assistance.

They were all very proud when the lights worked. We mixed up the LEDs so they had no idea what color they were getting until it turned on. 

It's also very important to remember that the positive and negative sides of the LED are important. It is a diode, so the current only travels in one direction. Luckily, this is easy to remember, as the longer wire is positive (so essentially, + = more).

HCABK - Week 2

Have Courage And Be Kind - Week 2

Our second week of kindness was given in the form of bookmarks.

Week one, we gave our projects to our very best friends.

Week two, we're giving them to strangers.

This was a super easy project, but I love the creativity that came with it.

I cut a bunch of card stock bookmarks in different shapes, and the kids got to decorate them with colored pencils and ribbons. All of my examples had puns on them, so it was pretty fun to see the sayings these kids came up with.

 

I printed labels to stick on the back of the bookmarks so that library patrons know who they're from. 

I'll be setting these out on our circ desk, so people checking out books can get a free bookmark with a little one-of-a-kind positivity!

Tweens Are Kind

Our Winter After School theme is 

Have Courage and Be Kind.

We're using the quote from Cinderella to inspire random acts of kindness!

Along with kindness themed projects every week, we will be keeping track of nice actions outside of our meetings, using our Tweens Are Kind/WE Are Kind board.

Every meeting, the kids will share nice things that they've done that week. The actions will be written on sticky notes (we're using ME to WE notes that say 'Be the Change'... which I LOVE), and placed on the board.

By the end of this session, we should have a whole collection of kind things that our kids should be proud of doing!

Homeschool Hour - Clay

Yesterday, we had an extremely successful (read: record numbers... 37 in attendance!) Homeschool Program about CLAY.

Unfortunately, I was too busy to take pictures. I did collect photographs taken by other library staff members though, so we have a few!

Our primary product for the clay program was Minnesota Clay Company Rainbow Air-dry Clay (purchased here ). We didn't have the time or funding for kiln work here at the library, but this clay was perfect for what we needed. It comes in a variety of colors (so the kids all got to pick their favorite), and dries within a few days. The clay itself is a good quality, heavy material. It doesn't feel like play-dough or polymer clay... it feels very close to a typical sculpting clay.

The kids rotated between four stations for the program.

STATION ONE: COILS

The kids used clay to make a coil pot. They rolled ropes ("snakes") of clay between their hands, and then coiled it around in a circle to form a container. the bottom of this bowl was made with a flat circle of clay, or with a tightly coiled spiral from one of their ropes.

STATION TWO: THROWING

We used some banding wheels that we bought from Amazon, so the kids could get a chance to try working clay on a wheel. Without access to a pedal wheel, these actually worked very well. It isn't too hard to spin the wheel with one hand, and hold a tool to the side of your clay with the other. It was also very helpful for doing a 'pinch-pot' style bowl, keeping fingers steady to pinch as the project rotated. The banding wheels we got are very sturdy and solid. They spin very cleanly, and cost about $35. For cheaper alternatives, a plastic cake decorating wheel would probably work for smaller/lighter projects.

It wasn't quite 'throwing' in the traditional sense, but it did work nicely when combined with pinch pot directions. The kids made a ball of clay, setting it in the center of the wheel. They pressed one finger into the middle of the ball, and then pinched the walls as they spun the wheel with one hand. After they got the basic shape down, they could make designs along the sides of the bowl. If you dip a fingertip into a bowl of water, it's easy to smooth out the sides. We were also able to create curves in the pottery by holding a finger (or tool) in place while spinning the wheel. After the pot was finished, we slid a bit of fishing line underneath to separate it from the wheel.

STATION THREE: GLAZING

We knew the projects wouldn't be dry by the end of the program, but I still wanted everyone to get a chance to "finish" a piece of pottery. Since everything was air-dry, I created a bunch of clay pieces in the week or two before our program. They were all some form of small bowls, but each one had different curves and shapes to it (32 in all, made from the Minnesota Clay Company's air-dry white). At this station, each kid got to pick a piece of pottery that was already hardened so that they could glaze it.

For a cheap air-dry 'glaze,' we used Glossy Mod Podge. We mixed in liquid food coloring so that there were color options. When this is applied in a thin, smooth layer, it creates a somewhat translucent, glossy, hardened shell (seriously... you would have sworn some of those projects were glazed and fired).

STATION FOUR: FREE SCULPT

At this station, kids were able to try their hand at sculpting anything they wanted. There were dogs, houses, caterpillars... a turtle, a snowman, and even a dojo. We provided blocks of rainbow clay and tons of tools. We used Rubber Tipped tools, wooden ribs, and this awesome set of 38 wooden clay tools we found online. A few of these were spread out to other stations (especially the throwing station), but most of them were available for the kids to use as creatively as they wanted. We had a few books set out with pictures of famous artwork in pottery and sculpture that they could use for reference.

NOTES:
A few things that helped us out...

• We used wax paper to cover a couple of the tables, and pre-cut chunks of clay with fishing line to set out for kids to pick up as they needed. This was much easier than digging out handfuls as they were needed.

• We used squares of card stock for the kids to place their projects on, with sharpies so they could include their names. This helped us keep track of whose projects were whose, and allowed the kids to carry the (still wet) projects without accidentally smashing them. 

• Instead of letting each kid get a brush to paint on their mod podge, we had brushes for  specific colors. When they switched colors, they switched brushes too. If the brush was not in use, it was on a piece of paper labeled with its color. This way the colors didn't mix.

• PARENTS. As I stated earlier, we had more kids than we anticipated (most months we get about 12). The parents who came to the event were awesome about helping to cover the stations, and running to get things from the desk for me. This was super helpful, and I can't thank them enough. 

Snow

Wallace (the desktop pygmy puff) 

is celebrating our first substantial snowfall of the season 

by dressing up as a snowman!

Don't forget! Winter is the perfect season to snuggle up 

with cocoa and a soft blanket to read something you've picked up from the library.

Homeschool Reminder

Gearing up for our December Homeschool Hour with 

EIGHTY-FIVE lbs

of  rainbow  clay!

We stocked up on tools (at least 45 options), and even have two hand wheels we'll get to work with.

Students will get to try a few different pottery techniques, paint with an air-dry glaze, and take their projects home with them. Stay tuned for details and pictures after the December 21st program!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wallace The Desktop Pygmy Puff is thankful for all of the cool stuff he gets to do at the library

(and for the fact that he isn't a real turkey).

Enjoy your holiday!