Kids bugging you?

News of delayed openings of Oregon schools might have created some panic in parents, but the Oregon Coast STEM Hub has a solution that could help start your kid on a path toward science, technology, engineering or math.

Thanks to a grant from Georgia-Pacific, libraries in Lincoln County are distributing about 800 free bags of science activities for Lincoln County kids. The kits will guide kids through seven daily challenges designed to teach them to think critically and to observe, make, draw and deconstruct things.

Over the past few weeks, staff from Oregon Sea Grant, who coordinate STEM Hub activities, have been stuffing bags with supplies and instructions in English and Spanish. Depending on the intended age group, the bags might include: a magnifying glass, colored pencils, plastic specimen box, pen, journal, lanyard, rubber ball, tape measure, tweezers, eye dropper and a paper microscope called a Foldscope.

“The kids learn to think like scientists, ask questions and pay attention to their surroundings,” said Tracy Crews, the manager of Oregon Sea Grant’s marine education program and interim director for the STEM Hub. “The activities may seem simple, but they are laying the foundation for skills used in careers in science, technology, engineering, art and math.”

The activities challenge kids to:

●      Make a raceway from paper tubes, paper plates or cardboard cartons.

●      Take apart objects like a toy or a pinecone and assemble them into something new.

●      Observe a live animal, write or draw observations and ask questions about what they are seeing.

●      Build a structure from paper and tape that can hold a small stuffed animal or toy. Kids are asked to think like an engineer by defining the task, brainstorming ideas, drawing a design, testing it and refining it.

●      Go on a scavenger hunt for items in nature and then create a picture or collage with them. While outside, kids observe a spot for 10 minutes and write or draw what they heard, saw, felt and smelled.

●      Place toys so they cast a shadow on paper and then trace the shadows to create a scene. Kids are asked to think about the relationship between the location of the object, the light and the size of the shadow and when the best time of day is to make shadow art.

●      Fold paper to make different airplanes and see which ones fly the farthest, highest or fastest or do the most acrobatic tricks.

The bags will be distributed at libraries in Toledo, Siletz, Lincoln City, Newport, Waldport and Yachats. Crews recommends that people contact their local library to find out when and how the bags will be made available.

For more educational resources for families, students and teachers, go to  oregoncoaststem.oregonstate.edu. To access the activity book, go to  bit.ly/3kgT3Jq.

Driftwood Public Library (Lincoln City): 541-996-2277

Newport Public Library: 541-265-2153

Waldport Public Library: 541-563-5880

Siletz Public Library: 541-444-2855

Toledo Public Library: 541-336-3132

Yachats Public Library: 541-547-3741