ArtNight: Coding And Art

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We had a wonderful group of smart, creative kids come to do some coding and art at our ArtNight program last Friday, April 16th. Kids 8 and up did the Artist Tutorial together on Code.org. The tutorial contains nine easy puzzles to solve, each one introducing a new concept about […]

Minecraft Designer Hour of Code: Kids’ Coding Club

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We had 198 participants in our Zoom coding workshop today! For today’s workshop I walked everyone through a Code.org Hour of Code tutorial on video game design with activities based on the game Minecraft. Kids learned how to code creatures like sheep, chickens, cows, golems, creepers and zombies, to: “spawn” […]

Coding Fun for All Ages

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Coding has quickly become one of the defining skills of the 21st century. Coding involves problem solving, logical and sequential thinking, and mathematics–as well as its own set of language/literacy skills. We’ve put together a list of ideas to help you learn coding or teach your child coding, with recommendations […]

Making Flappy Bird Games on Scratch: Kids Coding Club

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Our first coding class for ages 7-12 on May 29 had a total of 115 attendees! 115! Not all of them could be there for the entire time. But still, 115 new or fairly new users were brought to the fountain of free learning and creativity that is Scratch! So […]

Citizen Science Anyone Can Do at Home

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For many kids and teens, summer is a time for traveling and expanding their knowledge of the world. For some it’s also about doing something helpful for their communities, getting involved in volunteer projects. But with travel restrictions and in-person volunteering opportunities limited, Summer 2020 is going to be different. […]

Using “Twin Texts” to Get Kids Excited About Reading & Learning (Grades K-3)

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If you are trying to come up with fun strategies for getting children excited about learning you may want to use “twin texts.”  This term refers to the use of fiction and nonfiction books to increase comprehension and build a foundation for critical thinking.  Most think this only works with […]

Bouyancy ~ What sinks? What Floats? – Preschool STEAM

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Preschool STEAM (for children ages 2-6) is all about having fun with science, technology, math and art!  There is no right or wrong way for children to experiment – the fun and learning comes from the doing!  Early childhood research shows us that little hands and minds learn best when at play. […]

Exploring the Night Sky

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On Thursday, February 27, we had a special astronomy festival for the whole family! People of all ages got to learn something new and inspiring about the way our understanding of the universe has grown, and also the ways that you can help scientists track changes in night sky visibility. […]

Preschool STEAM ~ Spin Art ~ Centrifugal Force

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Preschool STEAM (for children ages 2-6) is all about having fun with science, technology, math and art!  There is no right or wrong way for children to experiment – the fun and learning comes from the doing!  Early childhood research shows us that little hands and minds learn best when at play. […]

LEGO Robotics: Mindstorms

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Our Teen Advisory Board partnered with our friends at Wolf Corp Robotics to host an afternoon of LEGO Robotics – Mindstroms. Small groups of tweens (ages 9-14) built robots and engaged in a friendly competition.   Special thanks to Lek of WolfCorp for the photos!