Tuesday was the first day camp of the season for Sherburne County 4-H’ers, and kids had a great time learning about science and how things work.

 

Kids had fun while doing hands-on projects related to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program at the county fairgrounds.

 

Some of the projects included building towers using marshmallows and toothpicks, making balloon rockets and pop rockets and creating a Rube Goldberg gadget that uses multiple steps to perform a simple task.

 

“They’re doing things like knocking a marble into a cup - but with at least three steps,” said Tammy Putz,  4-H summer intern.

 

Another project was making simple paper planes. The kids were given a sheet of construction paper to design their own planes.

 

“Once they found out what would work, we gave them thicker card stock for their final design,” said Putz. 

 

A paper clip was attached to the front of each plane. Then everyone went outside to launch them and see how far they would fly.

 

The kids worked in groups for the egg drop activity. Each group had to design a nest to secure the egg using a variety of materials, including plastic food containers, cardboard tubes, coffee filters, yarn, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, glue, plastic bags and tape.

 

Then each egg was dropped from the top of the grandstand to see which survived the fall.

 

The kids also got a chance to operate a small drone, aiming at objects and flying around obstacles.

 

The day also included a Lego movie, lunch, games and crafts.

 

Everything went smoothly and kids learned how to get along and work together by following the seven rules of Day Camp: Listen up when the counselors are talking; always stay with the group; no horseplay; no bad attitudes; treat everyone with respect; follow directions; have fun!

 

They did.