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Coding Clubs: Youth Programming for Public Libraries

2016-09-08T08:47:36-06:00

Please join us for this free webinar to learn about successful coding club programs for youth in public libraries. Coding Clubs: Youth Programming for Public Libraries Wed, September 28, 2016, 11:00am-12:00pm PDT Registration link: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/cpae6d4vmk7w&eom Does your library offer programs related to coding? Coding is quickly gaining traction as an essential digital skill in the 21st century, and many public libraries are offering coding classes for youth and adults as a way of promoting STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). The challenge is that coding is often a new skill for librarians and library staff who are responsible for offering programs. The good news [...]

Coding Clubs: Youth Programming for Public Libraries2016-09-08T08:47:36-06:00

3-D Origami – The Fun of Legos on a Much Smaller Budget

2016-08-06T16:18:05-06:00

Fate is a funny thing.  A few months ago I got ambitious one week, and wrote and published ( I thought) three blog articles.  Unbeknownst to me, it was the same week that the STAR_Net blog was being moved to its new home on this website.  For some reason, one of my articles made the move.  The other two disappeared into the ether.  I could have taken this experience as a reminder to always back up my work on at least one flash drive.  Instead, I decided it was the universe giving me the opportunity to work harder on my article. [...]

3-D Origami – The Fun of Legos on a Much Smaller Budget2016-08-06T16:18:05-06:00

What is the Lowest Maintenance Pet of All?

2016-08-03T12:06:24-06:00

  A few weeks ago I decided to have a program where the kids could relax and let their creative juices flow, and where some of the parents/grandparents could flash back to their own childhoods and have a good laugh.  The program, I expected, would be a short one.  Then we could spend the rest of the time making thank you cards and notes for our summer reading club sponsors.  It was the week of Independence Day, after all, and it's hard to get folks to come to the library that week.  Things turned out a bit differently than I'd anticipated - in [...]

What is the Lowest Maintenance Pet of All?2016-08-03T12:06:24-06:00

Lego Robotics Programming: A Service Any Library Staff Member Can Offer

2016-08-02T11:23:09-06:00

By Sarah Lawler Director of Partnerships & Outreach Fayetteville Free Library At the Fayetteville Free Library (FFL), it is a priority to offer informal STEAM learning opportunities. We strive to offer this type of programming to patrons of all ages and skill levels. Lego robotics programming is especially popular. During these programs, participants work together to build a robot out of Legos, and then they program the robot to perform specified actions, such as building a sled dog to carry cargo or creating a model to kick a ball. FFL patrons especially love to participate in Lego robotics learning opportunities. Because [...]

Lego Robotics Programming: A Service Any Library Staff Member Can Offer2016-08-02T11:23:09-06:00

Learn About Other Cultures While Getting Fit – Make Your Own Skill Toys

2016-07-21T18:48:55-06:00

                There's lots of research these days that supports the idea that a healthy body supports a healthy mind and intellect, improving one's ability to learn, understand, and retain information.  Cultures throughout history may or may not have made the connection between a healthy body and a healthy mind, but they did encourage physical training and health for their children, as well as their adults.  Often physical fitness was required for their very survival.  That's not so much the case in the technologically advanced societies of today.  Because we have become more sedentary, spending more [...]

Learn About Other Cultures While Getting Fit – Make Your Own Skill Toys2016-07-21T18:48:55-06:00

Little Makers: Dinosaur Dig!

2016-07-18T10:25:22-06:00

  Stephanie Prato- Director of Play to Learn Services Fayetteville Free Library Little Makers is a monthly STE(A)M program designed for K-2nd grade. (To learn more about our Little Makers program series, see our earlier post here. In this session we got to be paleontologists and explore the concepts of dinosaurs and fossils. Prep Before the Program: There is about 1-2 hours worth of prep to do before this program. I used the following recipe to make the dinosaur fossils for excavation, prior to the program, so they would be hard enough to chip away at. During the Program: We stared out [...]

Little Makers: Dinosaur Dig!2016-07-18T10:25:22-06:00

Resources Shared at the ALA Annual Conference

2016-07-15T15:00:35-06:00

STAR_Net has a wealth of resources for public libraries to use in their STEM-related programs, and we brought resources relating to collaboration, plus our newest hands-on activities, to the ALA Annual Conference. Check out the slides and links from our two sessions below and let us know if you have anything to add! Thanks to the leadership of STEM in Libraries Member Initiative Group, who facilitated small group discussions, the session included insightful tips from fellow attendees! STEM Collaboration Share a Thon Saturday, June 25 Three presenters from the Public Libraries & STEM Conference kindly agreed to share their [...]

Resources Shared at the ALA Annual Conference2016-07-15T15:00:35-06:00

Tumbling Around With Tumblewings and Walking Along With Walkalongs

2016-06-12T23:47:07-06:00

Do you know how to make a telephone book fly? One page at a time, of course! Kids (and adults, as well) can have a great time learning about air flow, aerodynamics, creative paper engineering, and patience, with nothing more expensive or hard to acquire than an old phone book, a large piece of cardboard, a drinking straw or two, tape, and a pair of scissors.  Oh, yeah, you'll need a large room, as well. The internet offers several different patterns that can be freely printed and used to make tumblewings, also known as walkalong gliders.  Here are a few examples [...]

Tumbling Around With Tumblewings and Walking Along With Walkalongs2016-06-12T23:47:07-06:00

Paper Airplane Challenge!

2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00

Last week my Crafternoon participants (with a few moms and one teen-aged sister included) enjoyed a paper plane tournament.  It was a wonderful, low cost, quick prep program which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. I collected all the paper airplane books that my library system owned, added quite a few that I bought online, and had them laid out on tables around the room.  I made sure that I had paper of the correct dimensions available, as well.  Most of the books that I used required standard 8 1/2 x 11 letter size paper, but a few called for 6" x 6" squares.          [...]

Paper Airplane Challenge!2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00

Eggs and Art – The Tradition of Pysanky

2022-01-02T13:07:17-07:00

Eggs and art.  Those are two words most people don't often connect, unless it's spring and one is thinking of Easter.  In the Ukraine, though, egg art is a centuries old tradition, and people design and decorate the eggs year-round, as well as collect and prize them as fine and treasured art.          The word "Pysanky" comes from the Ukrainian word that means "to write."  The term is used in relation to these beautiful eggs because they are not simply dyed in the way with which we are most familiar.  The intricate designs are drawn, or "written," on them [...]

Eggs and Art – The Tradition of Pysanky2022-01-02T13:07:17-07:00
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