Celebrating Robots

To wrap up mini-maker week at The Children’s Museum in Easton, innovator and designer Steve Norris was our special guest maker who helped us celebrate robots! 

 Steve brought three robots for the kids to interact with; Huey, Frank, and Butler-Bot.

Huey: Color chasing robot

Butler-Bot: robot made from a trashcan

Frank: Face-detecting robot

• Huey is a color chasing robot, which is attracted to the color orange.  Kids got to hold up an orange piece of paper as Huey followed them wherever they went. 
• Frank is a face detecting robot, who recognizes the kid’s faces as they stand in front of it.  
• Lastly, Butler-Bot is the robot made from a trashcan who was roaming the floor for almost two hours straight.  Butler-Bot was also featured in the latest Transformers Movie!  Steve spent a week on the set and had an amazing experience, he said that he never thought his hobby would take him this far.            

Steve Norris is a software programmer and a writer for Robot Magazine.  Writing for the magazine is Steve’s favorite hobby, where he gets to write every two months about the robots he builds.  He has built 44 in total, one every two months, and has written in the magazine for just about all of them. 

Scribble-Bots

Kids making their scribble-bots

The children also got the opportunity to make their own scribble-bots!  These scribble-bots were made out of simple household items including the motor from the inside of an electrical toothbrush. For instrucions on how to make your own, click here to visit the Exploritorium website!  The kids got to watch their robots come to life as they made cool designs scribbling all over the paper.  Steve loves to inspire people into getting involved in science and technology, so watching the kids in awe as they designed their own robots was a great experience for us and him.  To check out more amazing creations from Mini Maker week, look for our blog post about textle artist Rhona Fazio!

Curious Creatures

This past Friday there were animals, feathered, scaled and fluffy at the Museum courtesy of Curious Creatures.  Not only did visitors have the chance to see the animals and learn about them, but they also had a chance to pet the animals as well.  Some of the many awesome animals that were at the Museum were a skunk, boa constrictor, chinchilla, bearded dragons and a flying squirrel.  Everyone in the audience had a chance to touch the animals during the show as well as the chance to spend time with some of the animals after the show as well.  The children helped hold up the boa constrictor, played with a fluffy bunny and provided a perch for the parrot.

Animals from every continent but Antarctica were present at the Museum on Friday.

• Macaw's (parrot) can be found in South America.
• Flying Squirrels can be found in North and Central America.
• Alligator's can be found in North America and China.
• Chinchilla's can be found in the Andes mountains in Peru and Chile.
• Bearded Dragons can be found in central Australia.
• Boa Constrictors can be found in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
• Scorpions can be found on every continent besides Antarctica but are not native to the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
• Tarantula's can be found in the U.S., Mexico, South America, Africa, Australia and lower Asia.
• Tropical frogs can be found in Central and South America.
• Bunnies can be found in Southwestern Europe, Southeast Asial Africa, South America, Japan, Sumatra and in your own backyard.
• Tortoise's, Skunks and King Snakes can all be found in North America.

There was a lot of fun and educational information in the show on Friday.  In case you missed the event, here are some of the many fun facts that we learned about the many different animals present.

• A parrot’s jaw is so strong that it can break a human finger and crack open the hardest nuts.
• Parrot's lose feathers every day.
• Blue and gold Macaws from South America are as smart as a 3 year old. 
• Bearded Dragon's are shades of yellow and tan to camouflage themselves in their habitat, the desert.
• Bearded Dragon’s have no teeth and spike up when they feel threatened.
• Aside from crocodiles, alligators have the strongest jaws of any animal.
• Despite how hard a tortoise shell might seem, a jaguar can bite through it.
• Tortoise shells grow in rings from the cracks on their shells.
•  Skunks dig in the dirt for bugs to eat; the more bugs they eat the stinkier they get.
• After a skunk sprays it can’t spray for a week.

Is your child curious about lots of different creatures?  If they are, don’t be afraid to encourage their love for animals.  Share these fun facts with them, take them out to explore at the zoo or on a farm and take them to the library to find books that can teach them more about their favorite animals.

For some more photos from Curious Creatures you can check out the slideshow below.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Prevent the Summer Slide

Prevent the Summer Slide

No school, the main reason why kids love summer.  To kids no school means all fun and no learning.  As a result, kids often lag trying to get back in the swing of learning when they return to school in the fall.  The last thing that kids want to do during the summer is continue learning and as a parent the last thing you want to do is push their buttons about it.  Summer however is a great time for some really fun learning!  So how do you prevent kids from falling behind during summer vacation?  Here are some ways that you can keep kids learning this summer and make it fun.

1. Start a family book club.  Kids won’t enjoy being told to read during the summer.  By getting the whole family involved the kid won’t feel like they’re being singled out or forced to read, it will become something fun to do instead of torture.  Let the kids pick the books as well.  By letting them pick the book they’re more likely to be interested in reading in the first place.  Involve snacks, crafts and fun games during book club too.  The kids will have even more fun and begin to look forward to reading and learning.  If the book is a bit advanced for them read it as a family and then try something like acting it out a second time.  In any case, make sure that your child is getting some interactive time with books!
2. Have fun in the kitchen.  Get your kids involved in the kitchen.  Assign them a night once a week where they plan and make dinner (with your help of course).  This will get them using numbers, learning to follow directions and do tasks in an order, will help them with their vocabulary and reading and can be a way to educate them about healthy eating.  Having kids work in the kitchen is a great way to get them learning.
3. Learn a new letter or word.  Every week put a new letter or word on the fridge.  During the course of the week have your kid keep track of how many times they use the word or see the word.  This will help them increase their vocabulary and it will help with counting
4. Practice writing.  Every other week have your child write a letter about what they’ve been doing this summer and send it to a relative of their choice.  This will help them work on their writing skills in a way that is fun for them and will make them feel proud.
   
5. Take them places to explore.  Providing an opportunity for a hands on learning experience is always a great way to get kids learning and having fun all in one.  Take them to the beach and see how many different shells they can find or take them to the zoo and have them make observations about the different animals and habitats.  No matter what, if they're making observations, asking questions or picking up new facts they're learning more than they would spending the afternoon watching their favorite movie again.
6. Take the kids to the library.  Kids are more likely to take an interest in reading when they see a lot of colorful books in one place and when they get to pick the book themselves. Maybe they saw an animal they really liked during that trip to the zoo, take them to the library to learn more about it.  Or, maybe they really want to learn more about the ocean, take them to the library to do some learning before that trip to the beach.  Activities are great ways to find things your kids want to learn more about and what better way to learn than through a fun book!
7. Make a goal.  What is it that interests your child the most?  Whatever it is, have them create a goal to complete by the end of each week that focuses on that interest.  Maybe its learning a songs to perform in a concert for the family or it could be making a list of things that they’d bring with them if they were an astronaut exploring outer space.  This will not only get them using their brains but it will help to encourage them to get involved with their interests or hobbies. 
8. Get their imagination flowing.  Pick a specific topic for the week (animals, shapes, food, etc) and tell your child to find something in the house that fits that theme.  Tell them they need to make up a story involving that item in some way, even if a monkey eating a banana is how they incorporate their banana.  It will get them thinking outside the box.  Another take would be to assign them to educate the family with 5 facts about their weekly item.

Tie Dye At Home

Who doesn’t love tie dye?  It’s a fun way to create a colorful piece of clothing that is unique every time.  Tie dyeing with kids however can feel complicated and get a little messy.  Here are some ideas and tips to help you make the most of tie dyeing a new piece of clothing.

1. You’re not the intended item to dye.  That being said, use gloves to prevent having colorful hands for a day or two. 
2. Try to tie dye outside.  It’s possible to dye inside if it’s raining, but if possible, I’m sure you’d rather have to worry about the grass getting stained instead of something in your home.  
3. Wear old clothes.  If you haven’t already realized, dye STAINS.  Don’t wear your favorite shirt or brand new jeans when tie dyeing, wear something that can get ruined.  If you have clothes you wear for working in the yard or painting those are a good choice because you won’t care if they end up covered in dye.
4. If you’re dyeing a new shirt instead of an old white shirt that’s in need of a facelift wash the shirt before you start the dye process.
5. Be prepared.  Make sure you have all of your supplies ready before you go, especially rubber bands.  You don’t want to find you’re missing something once you’ve started.  You also don’t want to make a mess or mess the process up because you didn’t plan through from start to finish.  If you’re using a kit, follow the instructions, they’re there to help you keep on track with the whole process and different kits may have slightly different instructions depending on the type of dye involved.

Now that we’ve covered some of the basics about precautionary measures let’s move on to the actual dyeing.

1. Pick a design.  There are tons of different ways that you can arrange a shirt or other item of clothing to be dyed.  For some different design ideas you can try looking here or here for inspiration and maybe try them yourself before giving kids a turn as some require more patience and finesse than others.  Also, pick a method here, are you going to use a spray bottle or a squeeze bottle?
2. Here’s where we actually start the tie dye process.  Make sure to soak your shirt or other item to be dyed in a lukewarm soda ash bath for about 10 minutes.  When the shirt is done soaking wring out as much of the water mixture as possible.  This step is an important preparation step because it helps the fibers in the shirt hold the dye.
3. Now place your shirt on a relatively flat surface.  Even if you’re outside, try to get a flat surface for tying your pattern, it’s more likely to come out how you want if you do it on something flat instead of on the grass.  Fold, roll, scrunch and rubber band your shirt into the design that you’ve picked.  Make sure the rubber bands are tight or your pattern won’t come out well as the dye will run.
4. Now we dye.  If you’re outside but want to avoid getting dye on the grass you can put down a plastic tablecloth where you’ll be dyeing.  Keep in mind when you dye your shirt that it’s easiest to put lighter colors on first, they won’t show up well if you try to put them on over a darker color.  Make sure also to cover any space you don’t want to be white, that means getting into the folds as well as dyeing the surface that you see.  Next is where instructions will vary based on the method you chose.  If you used a spray bottle skip to number 7 otherwise continue to number 5.
5. Patience.  Once you’ve finished dyeing the shirt how you like with a squeeze bottle, place your shirt in a plastic bag and let sit for at least 8 hours in a warm place.  You can leave it in for up to 36 hours and the longer you leave it the brighter the color
6. Once the waiting is done you can rinse your shirt out using tap water (I would suggest either in a utility sink you don’t mind getting messy or using a hose over a storage container.  BEWARE, lots of dye will wash out when you do this so you should still wear gloves.  As you’re rinsing the shirt take off the rubber bands.  
7. If you chose to spray dye your shirt, let it sit rubber banded and dyed for about 5 minutes.  Afterwards, flatten it out and let it dry in the sun.
8. Before wearing your new shirt, wash it a couple times by itself to make sure the color sets in. 

For more detailed instructions look for the instructions in your tie dye kit or search for them online.

There are a few ways to tie dye.  You can follow the above methods or try a slightly less messy method and use sharpies instead.



The Enterprise covered our Summer Drop-in Day! Check out some pictures here: http://www.enterprisenews.com/photos/x273434864/Tie-dyed-fun-in-Easton