Kids made lava lamps, built engines and more at this successful STEM Family Night
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IDAHO FALLS — Building LEGO engines, creating lava lamps and learning how to code: these are just a few of the many activities kids learned during an interactive, hands-on experience at an elementary school this week.
A parent-teacher organization held its first-ever STEM Family Night at Discovery Elementary School in Idaho Falls on Friday night. It had a successful turnout, with hundreds of students in attendance.
“A lot of families were super supportive and came and brought all the kids,” said Anyelen Bailey, coordinator for STEM Family Night and PTO member at Discovery Elementary School. “I had someone say that making the lava lamp was their favorite. It was amazing for them to see the chemical reaction.”
Students had the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through engaging activities. There were more than 20 stations, three of which were live demonstrations.
Bailey works remotely as a compliance engineer for Cummins, an engine company based in Indiana. She was in charge of the Cummins booth that built LEGO engines.
“I think it’s fun for kids to see science in different ways, like in math, or building engines, or building cars. I think it gives them a different vision of how the world works,” Bailey said.
Hannah, 10, and her sister Penny, 8, attended STEM Family Night and said they loved exploring at the various booths. Hannah said her favorite was learning how to code.
“The person who sits next to me in class is always coding, and I’m like, ‘That’s cool!'” she said.
Their father, Chad Ryan, said it’s good to get kids exposed to STEM in a creative way.
“STEM is pretty difficult to do generally, so it kind of scares people away, especially when you get into math and science, so this is fun. I think this is a good outreach,” he said.
Kayla Secrist brought five kids to STEM Family Night and said they all really liked it. She told EastIdahoNews.com it was enjoyable to watch them learn new things, such as using a microscope to look at a fly leg and onion skin. The hands-on booths are what made the night exciting.
“Them being able to see it and pick it apart, it definitely makes more sense in their brain — and that’s what kids want to do. They are curious, so being able to do that is an awesome activity for them,” Secrist said.
Her son Carter, 12, liked making cars with rubber bands. He got to collaborate with people who helped him create it.
“It’s been really cool getting to go into the rooms and getting to make different things, and learning about how UV lights work, and how coding works, and how robots follow different directions,” Carter said.
There were many participating partners that made the night come to life, like Idaho National Laboratory, Rockwell Homes, Brigham Young University-Idaho and more. See the list below.
Bailey hopes the STEM Family Night returns next year and is even bigger.
“I hope all the kids had fun and they enjoyed it with their families, and they can have something to talk about when their friends and family ask, ‘What did you do this weekend?’ And they say, ‘Oh, I went to the school STEM event,'” she said.
Check out our gallery of photos from the night:
