Leonia Middle School Librarian, Victoria Gupta, invited Shinae Hyun, Leonia Public Library’s Young Adult Librarian, to her library last week. Shinae brought assorted Maker supplies with her, including: MaKey MaKey, Snap Circuits, and LittleBits, as well as a button/magnet maker. Shinae stayed for three hours which included all 3 lunch periods for each of the grades 6,7, and 8. The students had a ball! They made hand buzzers, whirligigs, and a a keyboard using the human body as a conductor to play a musical notes, to name a few projects. Students also enjoyed decorating their own buttons and magnets, using colored pencils. Shinae would like to set up a schedule of monthly visits to the school, starting in January.
We hope that now that their appetites have been whetted, Leonia students will happily welcome the arrival of the BELS mobile MakerKits, now making their way around our member schools! This visit was part of BELS member initiatives to strengthen relationships with their local public libraries, cross promoting their programs and sharing resources. We look forward to hearing more create things from our collaborators.