Camp Wonderopolis in libraries: Lincoln Heritage Public Library

Lincoln Heritage Public Libraries, located in Indiana, was one of three libraries across the country to be awarded a grant to be a Camp Wonderopolis site. Abby Galyan, Youth Librarian shared the following about their program.

Camp Wonderopolis has been amazing for our small community!  We are a very rural Public Library system and to have the opportunity to bring parents, grandparents, and children together for STEM learning has been amazing!  From my perspective, a lot of the adults were trying to take charge of the project at first, but then the children got their hands on it and ran with it.  It is so awesome to see so many adults stepping back and listening to the little ones fix a problem.  You can see the “light bulb” go off in their brains as they all learn together.

Our first Camp Wonderopolis, we made the rain sticks.  The kids had a blast when it was time to decorate the rain sticks while the adults stepped up when it came to choosing what to fill them with.  We had two different days of making rain sticks and we all concluded that they are the loudest when they are filled with beans and foil.

Our second Camp Wonderopolis Maker project was making spin drums.  The children all needed help from the adults when it came time to figure out the length of the string on the sides of the spin drum.  Once they saw the adults showing them how to figure it out, the kids were all so excited!  They all concluded that the length of the string does matter and that two beads on each side, tied at the end of the string, was the loudest!  It was so much fun!

Overall, we have had a lot of fun during our Camp Wonderopolis days here at Lincoln Heritage Public Library.  Many different kids are looking forward to our next two projects. I can’t wait to see all the smiles and hear all the giggles while we make slime next week!  Stay tuned!

Check out camp for yourself, including the Camp Wonderopolis app available for IOS and Android, Camp.Wonderopolis.org