Note: This is a new element of Minibury’s Be a Regular! Series. Today, we are posting a preview of an upcoming, recurring event for kids in fourth to sixth grade. We can’t post with as much nitty-gritty experience-based reporting as our last posts because it hasn’t started yet! But we wanted to get the word out on a fun event on Monday afternoons. Grab your nearest fourth to sixth grader and read on together!
Next Monday, a new and exciting activity begins at the Ilsley – Maker Mondays! It’ll be a chance to make and build some simple home-made machines and toys! Everyone will learn about basic design principles, building techniques, and testing processes. With a focus on kids in fourth through sixth grade, Maker Mondays will be a short, recurring weekly drop-in series hosted in the Community Meeting room at the Ilsley.
The event will be hosted by Ilsley Public Library’s Kurt Broderson. This first series is focused on flight and motion. Over the course of six weeks in March and April, everyone will be building rubber band powered cars, helicopters, paper airplanes, paper airplane launchers, rockets, and hot air balloons! It is a drop-in friendly course, so there’s no need to worry about making it to the first one. Come when you can and bring home what you build!
Maker Mondays build on the maker-type events at the Ilsley held last year. And based on Minibury’s interview with Kurt, there are plans to continue these maker-style events. Come out and support these fun, educational activities. He’s looking forward to getting started next Monday. It sounds like a fun and very low-key way to get into basic making and building – as Kurt said, “The idea is to build stuff and play with it!”
Minibury was able to get a few minutes of Kurt’s time to answer our usual questions about events. Read on!
Kurt Broderson of MCTV
MB: What’s your favorite part of these afternoon activities?
KB: Helping kids get to that “Aha!” moment when they’ve produced something that they’re excited about, that challenged them, or that they want to show their friends and family.
MB: What’s it like to be a kid at this playgroup? A parent of one of the kids?
KB: As a kid, it’s a fun time to make something. As a parent, you’ll know your kid is in good hands and in a great place (the library!)
MB: What’s a good thing to know about before someone attends this event?
KB: The library is more than just a place to read, it’s a place to do and make as well.
MB: What’s the best spot for kids in town (or the Champlain Valley) that no one knows about?
KB: I don’t know of any secret spots, but our town is a great place to grow up in, with the outdoors, sports, theater, music, and more just literally steps away. On another note, I always keep my eye out for spots that would make good movie locations, like a haunted house, dramatic waterfall, or old abandoned building.
MB: What do you enjoy about working with kids?
KB: Their creativity and enthusiasm.
Maker Mondays @ Ilsley
Community Room in the basement
Mondays 3:30-4:30PM March 12, 19, 26 and April 2, 9, 16
Follows ACSD calendar, including snowdays!
For grades 4-6
Free!