Robots, BeeBots - A Family STEAM & Stories Event

This program was intended to introduce STEAM concepts through stories and exploration activity stations to families with children ages 3-8 years old.    

Intro song:  Hello Friends (sign language action song for the words hello, friends, math, fun, and time)

Hello friends,
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
It's time to say hello.

Hello science,
Hello science,
Hello science,
It's time to have some fun.   

 

Demonstration and Storytime:

 

·         Read the book Remarkable Robots by Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker  

·         Show the word card for robots.  Talk about what this word means.

·         Show pictures of various types of robots and talk about what these robots do.        

·         Instruct on how to use the stations. 

 

Stations: 

Station #1- BeeBots

The children entered movement commands into the BeeBots.    

Station #2 – Ozobots

Using a variety of small magnetic tiles, the children created paths for the tiny Ozobot robots to follow along with special color tiles with action codes. 

 

Station #3 – Animatronics

The children created an animatronic hand that really worked using cardstock, scissors, tape, yarn, and straws.      

 

 

Station #4 – Measuring robots

I found a cute free printable online that encouraged children to use Unifix cubes to measure the robots on the paper.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeschool Meet-Up: BeeBots & Blocks

A monthly Thursday morning library program for homeschool families. 

Goals:

·                     Opportunity to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.

·                     Participants can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.

·                     Students build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks together.  

 

Name tag table: 

Invite participants to create a name tag using the die cut shapes, tape, and pens.  

 

Activities of the day: BeeBots & Blocks

Building toy:

-          Wood blocks from the block cabinet

 

STEAM table:

The children explored simple coding using the BeeBot robots.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robots Everywhere Toddler Storytime

Storytime for 1 to 3 year olds:

·         Opening - Skinnamarink, Sticky Sticky Bubblegum

 

  

·         Book #1 – Robots, Robots Everywhere! by Sue Liess, illustrated by Bob Staake (board book) 

·         Stand-up Activity – Lights on the Robot (action song to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus" that I found on the Hushlander blog)

·         Bridge - Open, Shut Them (fingerplay)

Open, shut them
(open and close hands)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap (clap)
Open, shut them

Open, shut them
Put them in your lap
(put hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them
Under your chin
(creep fingers up chest)
Open your mouth, but don't put them in
(do as words say)

Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open shut them
Open shut them
Put them in your lap 

·         Flannelboard - Five Noisy Robots (counting down rhyme I found on the blog Anne's Library Life)

·         Letter of the Day - "R" is for Robot

·         Transition - Tommy & Tammy Thumb (fingerplay)

Tommy Thumb up,

Tommy Thumb down,

Tommy Thumb dancing all around town.

Tammy Thumb out,

Tammy Thumb in,

Tammy Thumb dancing all in a spin.

Dancing, dancing, dancing,

Dance them on your knees,

Dance them on your head,

Dance them on your shoulders,

Then tuck them into bed.

·         Book #2 –  The Robot Book by Heather Brown (board book) 

·         Closing -  Scarves to the song "Water, Wind and World" from The Second Line: Scarf Activity Songs by Johnette Downing

 

  

·         Art Experience – Glue craft foam shapes onto take out food box robots

Ozobot: Learn Basic Coding with this Little Robot

Thanks to a state library grant, I was able to offer a special program at my library using the little Ozobot robot. An Ozobot is a robot about the size of a ping-pong ball that can be used as a teaching tool for basic coding.

At the beginning of my lesson with Ozobot, we looked at how the robot follows lines. I showed the children the basics and then let them explore on their own. What we learned:

• The light sensors on the Ozobot follows lines, printed or drawn.
• The Ozobot needs to be calibrated regularly or when it is acting erratic.  
• It can see certain colors: blue, green, red. When drawing with these colors, the color on the Ozobot's dome will shine the same color as the line. 
• You can give Ozobot commands by using color codes. 
• The order of the colors in the color codes does matter.

I found this online Ozobot Basic Training lesson and this Programming with Colors lesson to be extremely helpful in teaching me what I needed to teach to the children.  

As the children became familiar with the color codes, I then handed out tablets to use with the OzoBlockly website. OzoBlockly uses a graphical drag and drop programming language (very similar to Scratch) to write code for the Ozobot robot. A line of graphical code is placed in a row and then uploaded into the robot by calibrating it on top of the tablet screen. OzoBlockly was rather easy to get started with since it has numbered difficulty.  Even the games start off easy and get harder. The kids with experience in Scratch caught on to this really fast.  

Overall, I thought the Ozobot robots offer a unique experience for a coding class. It is not something many children will have in the home. Since the coding can be done on paper or on the computer/tablet, it gives a multi-sensory opportunity.  

Bristlebots Vibrating Creations, a S.T.R.E.A.M. event

Create mini robots!

A recent library program I did incorporated small brushes, wires, tape, lots of patience, and the willingness to keep trying, and trying, and trying until it finally worked!  My bristlebot program did not go exactly as a I planned.  First off, the motor kits we ordered online got lost in the mail.  Literally.  I quickly needed to come up with a plan B.  I had a few days to figure out how to take apart dollar store electric toothbrushes, attach the motor to a brush, and stay in budget.  (Hint: The brush on the toothbrush was way too small to work with the motor.) With some help from my significant other, I think I came up with something pretty decent to show my young friends.

I started off my program by showing the children how to put together a bristle bot:

1. Attach wire leads to the loops on the motor (the silver colored wires attach to one loop and the copper colored wires attach to the other loop.  
2. Cover and secure these wires with electrical tape. 
3. Use double-sided tape to attach the motor unit to the brush.
4. Attach the battery to the brush (the handle is a good place for this) with electrical tape.  
5. Adhere one color of wire to the positive end of the battery with electrical tape.  Then adhere the other color of wire to the negative end of the battery with electrical tape.  (Tip: If you flip the wires, the brush will spin in the opposite direction.)
6. Optional: Decorate your robot with supplies provided (colored electrical tape, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, etc.). 

With this explanation done, I let them gather their supplies and start creating. The most trying part for both the children and their parents was getting the wires to connect so a circuit can be created.  Really, this was extremely hard!  The vibrating of the motor would sometimes cause the wires to move so they no longer touched the battery or the metal loops on the motor.  This got very frustrating for some children.  But some children took this in stride and made it work.  I love the decorated Bristlebots the children created.  It was even fun to watch some children try to paint with their Bristlebots, despite the mess.  

 

Here is a list of what each child and/or group needed to get started creating their very own Bristlebot:

• 1/2 inch of double-sided tape
• Brush
• Motor
• One length of wire (I used speaker wire: pre-cut, striped on the ends, and separated at each end)
• Battery (AA)
• Electrical tape
• Scissors