However, that's not what I wanted to talk about.
On Friday I had my monthly STEAM-Powered Drop-In, where I bring our Spheros, legos, building blocks, and snap circuits to the library's programming room for a free play. Sometimes this is a huge hit, while other times I'm left wondering what I did wrong for a lack of attendance. Almost every kid goes straight for the big blue Sphero charger when they walk through the doors, which is nice because Sphero in itself is a learning experience that is disguised as a fun little robot. That's usually the only thing that gets played with (and the blocks as an accessory to Sphero). This time, however, with a little bit of engaging conversation regarding challenges (I've noticed kids LOVE a good challenge), I managed to bring a lot of hype to the snap circuits. As soon as they saw the little propeller fly and hit the ceiling, they were hooked.
With one tween in particular, I discussed how I'm interested in doing a battle bots program, where kids could make an exterior for their Sphero with a balloon attachment, and whoever was the last one standing with their balloon would win a prize. I'd mentioned that I tried using legos but they were too heavy. Suddenly, she was on it! She tried making a structure from the legos, and then we discussed why it didn't work and what we could do to make this program a reality. Everyone seemed super interested. Moments like this are reasons why I love my job and have programs like this. Learning through fun is such an important concept to me.
I had fourteen kids total come to my program (which is A LOT for me, considering that getting any kids to come to my programs at all is like pulling teeth). Everything went pretty well... until the Spheros started to spontaneously die on me. Every single one. Which is awkward because most of the kids come for those little robots alone. And trying to explain this is incredibly awkward too, because it's essentially my fault for not charging them. I take the blame. This hiccup aside, I'd say the entire program was successful. I'm starting to see kids I'm used to seeing at my programs and kids I've never seen before who are very enthusiastic about my teen programming. A good mix of both.
I felt really good. Like, incredibly good. That feeling has definitely lingered with me for the past few days.
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