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Picking Up the Pieces: Circulating LEGO WeDo

LEGO WeDo Hungry Alligator

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or an axle. Or a 24-tooth crown gear. Or all of them in one sitting.

That was the challenge we faced here at Mid-Continent Public Library as we planned to make LEGO WeDo kits available for programs at our 31 branches. How do you circulate 40 kits throughout the system without losing most of the pieces — and your mind?

'Un-tech' Methods Help Library Teach Coding to Kids

HTML coding language

Question: When do you go “un-tech” when you want to go high-tech?

Answer: When you’re creating a coding program for kids.

That was the strategy Assistant Branch Manager Claire Rust applied when she designed the Beginning Coding Concepts program for kids at the Mid-Continent Public Library Blue Springs South Branch. Instead of building the program around computers, Rust opted for manipulatives and tabletop games to introduce the concepts behind computer program coding.

Brushbots: A Fun Way to Get Kids Problem-Solving

Brushbots

Q: What do you get when you take a toothbrush head, a pager motor, a drinking straw, a rubber band and a AAA battery, and stick them all together? A: A brushbot, just about the coolest premise for a kids’ program ever!

Well, maybe that’s a little over the top, but I thought they were pretty cool when I found them while searching for STEM and makerspace program projects earlier this year. Then my daughter brought a couple home from 4-H camp, and I was on board.

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