Children

Pinhead: No School Science

May 23, 2015

$1-50

Byline

Paula Ciberay, Youth Services Program and Outreach Manger, Wilkinson Public Library

Pinhead: No School Science is a hands-on STEM program created in partnership with the Pinhead Institute, a Smithsonian Affiliate. The Pinhead Institute's goal is providing opportunities for high-level scientific inquiry to people in rural Colorado. The institute educates and inspires children and adults in the greater Telluride region about the wonders of science and technology.

Advanced Planning

We met with the Pinhead Institute to set up programming dates at the beginning of each school year, targeting days that children would be out of school. We then talked about our shared goal of providing children opportunities to become excited about science.

Marketing

We put up posters at the school and library and on both organizations' websites. We sent e-mail invitations to appropriate after-school care organizations, and benefited from word of mouth.

Budgeting

The cost of the programs was spent on inexpensive materials for all of our experiments, like popsicle sticks, eggs and glue. The average cost of a No School Science program at the library is $35.

Day-of-event Activity

All we needed to do was set up the materials for the experiments.

Program Execution

The children and families engaged in guided scientific exploration. Attendance varied between 12 and 24 people. During an hour-and-a-half program, children are exposed to a variety of experiments that teach them that science can be cool. For example, kids made slime (see recipe), built landing crafts to protect eggs from a one-story fall (see instructions), and crafted stomp rockets. The goal — engaging children in exploring their world and making observations — was reached every time.

Advice

If you do not have a scientific organization or science museum in your community, you can do science programming on your own. Before our partnership with Pinhead, we had a bi-weekly hands-on science program in which children explored the world in a safe and welcoming setting.