On Friday, January 18, the Queen Anne’s County Free Library welcomes FutureMakers, who will present “Wigglebotics: Build a Self-Propelled Drawing Machine” at the Centreville Branch at 10:30 A.M. and at the Kent Island Branch at 2:30 P.M.
Children in grades 1-5 can create a wiggling, drawing machine using electricity, household materials, motors, wires, and batteries to create circuits. They will then apply physics to make the machines draw. No experience is required, and all materials will be provided.
No registration is required for the Wigglebotics programs, although space is limited to the first 25 participants in grades 1-5.
FutureMakers believes in the power of tinkering , a child’s natural state of brainstorming, designing, making, fixing and problem solving that isn’t bound by convention, need or purpose. What and how they teach draws upon discovery, a core value of traditional craft, contemporary design and futuristic digital fabrication. They believe hand skills, experimentation, creative risk taking and purposeful play must be part of every child’s educational and social development.
FutureMakers founder Matt Barinholtz and his team will lead the session in conjunction with library staff. Barinholtz is a maker, educator and artist who has been teaching and mentoring young makers since 1995. Additional information about FutureMakers is available at www.kidsmakethingsbetter.com.
The mission of the Maker Education Initiative is to create more opportunities for young people to make, and, by making, build confidence, foster creativity, and spark interest in science, technology, engineering, math, the arts—and learning as a whole. They want young people to join—and eventually lead—the growing Maker Movement.
The library hopes to foster the initiative by building community networks of families, leaders, educators, and mentors to nurture makers of all ages. The library’s first midweek maker meetup was held on January 9 at the Kent Island Branch, with participants learning to make plarn, yarn made of recycled plastic bags.
Kent Island’s next midweek maker meetup on February 6 at 10:30 A.M. is open to adults and children ages 6 and older. It will feature candy making, fleece blankets or pillows, and more time to experiment with plarn.
The library is accepting applications from volunteers who may wish to share creative and technological skills with like-minded crafters and tinkerers for future maker events.
All library programs are free of charge. The Kent Island Wigglebotics program is made possible by a donation from the Sinsky-Kresser-Racusin Memorial Foundation.
The Centreville Branch Library is located at 121 S. Commerce Street in Centreville. The Kent Island Branch is located at 200 Library Circle in Stevensville. Complete calendars of events for all ages can be viewed at www.quan.lib.md.us.