Make at Home Projects: Earth Day!

I finished up week 5 still working 1/2 from home and 1/2 at our library district operations center, printing Mask Strap Extenders for local healthcare workers in cooperation with our local Repair Cafe group.

While most of my projects focus on using recycled supplies, I challenged myself this week to try and use the same supplies several times. By the end of the week, I worked with the tiniest cardboard scraps, but I think it might be my favorite project! 

I have started creating the rough draft of my project in the video, then spending some time finishing it after the video, to have something a little more appealing to take a picture of to promote the project/video. While I have mixed feelings about providing a finished example because it sets expectations on the participant that may end up frustrating them, I'm navigating new waters with providing digital content and not relying on my amazing personality to get people excited to try a project. My observation from other videos definitely shows a pattern of having the "idealized" version of a project to entice people to keep watching. I have no ambition of creating the best craft, but I have been spending a little extra time on the project.  

Tiny Projector
This project came from a suggestion by one of my coworkers (Hi, Gen!). Toilet paper roll, plastic wrap (I used repurposed plastic from a box that had a cut-out window), cardboard and a bit of tape. I was kind of surprised that I didn't have a flashlight at home to use with the toilet paper projector, but my phone worked ok.

Toilet Paper Roll Flowers
I've always loved how this project looked, but hadn't tried it for myself.   I think I prefer the paper towel roll (more cardboard pieces to work with).

Display Box
I'm trying to think of useful things for my primary audience, kids ages 6-10. When I was a kid, and when I interact with kids at the library, they most often have some sort of little toy or knickknack in their pocket. I figured a nice place to store and display their little figures would be a fun re-use of some cardboard. The un-edited video for this project was over an hour. I really struggled to get this one right. My first attempt even involved a ruler and didn't fit my figure, even with the exact measurements. I'm kind of sad I couldn't keep all that failure content in there, but YouTube has a 15-minute limit. Maybe some day I'll make a bloopers reel...

 Abstract Art Faces
This project was suggested by my coworker (hi, Bonnie!). In the original post on Facebook, they used simple shapes and colored cardboard. I thought it would make a fun project to just use some of the colored cardboard. Another new project for me, but pretty cool!

Scrappy Garden
This project was inspired by the teeny tiny shards of cardboard left over from this week's project. It was really fun and freeing to just fill a piece of paper with random cardboard scraps!

3D Printing During Pandemic

My library district owns 7 Lulzbot Minis. Initially, we had plans to create a centralized makerspace in our large downtown branch. When that didn't seem feasible, several other branches received 3D printers. We then set about coordinating our efforts to create a consistent process for getting the technology into the hands of our patrons.

My library district has been closed since March 15th. I've been keeping an eye on the maker initiatives growing out the of the need to support local healthcare agencies with Personal Protective Equipment and other items. I had a lot of concerns about the initial enthusiasm for creating PPE. My biggest concern was over makers creating these items without any oversight from healthcare agencies or an  actual ask by healthcare agencies.

The NIH website has provided a lot of guidance during this process.

We were fortunate to be able to partner with our local Repair Cafe group, Repair Clark County. They started sewing cloth masks, and quickly expanded into other areas. We responded to their request for surgical mask extenders.

We're following safety best practices created by the Prusa 3D printing company. Wiping down the machines with disinfectant, wearing masks and gloves.

Our facilities crew has been keeping an eye on our branches, and they kindly rounded up all the printers and brought them to the Operations Center. I worked on getting them cleaned, calibrated and printing.

Feedback we received from the first batch of mask extenders was they were a bit short. I created an optimized version for the Lulzbot Mini, squeezing almost an extra inch out of the design by printing without build adhesion (no skirt).

I also created files for printing 7" and 8" extenders. We'll see what feedback we receive from the next batch. I uploaded all 3 of my resized files to Thingiverse.

 Original size (left). 8 inch size (right)

Original size (left). Optimized Mini print (right).

We've only been printing a few days, but have already printed over 100 and I think I've got a system figured out to print faster. It takes about 20 minutes to print an extender on our Minis.  Here is a timelapse of several hours' worth of printing compressed to 30 seconds:

Make at Home Projects: Week 4

Our library district has extended our closure through early May. We are forming work groups to try and work out what summer learning, ongoing programming and connecting digitally may look like. There are so many unknowns at this point, that I get overwhelmed. I appreciate having the Make at Home project to practice creating digital content, and to start thinking about how the content I've already created can be expanded and enhanced for a more interactive experience with our communities.

The entire Make at Home Playlist is available on my Youtube Account

4/6: Pixel Art, Part 1: Pen and Paper
My husband recommended this project to me. During Winter 2020 Girls Who Code @ Vancouver, one of my club member's presented on the pixel art she had created throughout the 4 years she has been involved with FVRL's Girls Who Code. It was quite touching. I'm also acutely aware of the digital divide in our community, so I wanted to create an alternative pixel art project, that only required pencil and paper. I/ve done this project as part of a 2-hour Unplugged Coding workshop, but I usually cheat and use Excel to create a grid and print it out. I usually extend this project with Perler Beads, but not knowing if that's something kids have at home, I focused more on the math of measuring out and creating your own grid on paper. It was quite satisfying, but I love measuring things. :D

4/7: Pixel Art 2: Digital using Piskel
Piskel is a really fun and easy-to-learn software. It's free, cloud-based, and pretty powerful for a free online pixel editor. I know people who have created game sprites in Piskel and then use them in their video game builds. Pretty cool.

4/8: Pop-Up Cards
I recently made pop-up cards with the students at the Juvenile Detention Center. I don't know why I had never done a pop-up card before, the basic design is really simple. I can tell this will be one of my go-to projects.

4/9-4/114: Tiny Diorama
I love tiny things! I wanted to do an Altoids tin diorama, but I guessed not everyone hoards tins the way I do, so I found a couple of good alternative boxes to turn into tiny dioramas, and even how to make your own. Due to Youtube's 15-minute limit, I broke this project into 3 sections.

Make at Home Projects: Week 3

I continue creating videos at home. I'm getting better at editing and adding in more information on what the finished product will look like early in the video. I'm loading them to the Youtube account linked to my work email.

3/30: Shadow Theater
Inspired by the puppet theater and a request from a coworker to do a shadow theater program a few years ago. I still haven't been able to do this as a public program, but it was a super fun project.

3/31: Resist Tape Art
Another recommendation from a coworker. I did this project during Maker Camp a few years ago.  My Sharpies are starting to wear out.

4/1: Luminary
Another Maker Camp project from a few years ago. We used copper tape and LEDs to make our own light source. Knowing those items aren't likely to be something people at home made this more challenging.

4/2: Triangle Art
A re-use for my building squares. It reminds me of tessellation's. I may try to do a more involved tessellation's project...

4/3: Constellations
An oldie, but a goodie. This was one of the first STEM projects I did during my time as a high school student working at a summer STEM camp.

Make at Home Projects: Week 2

Our library closure has been extended until April 6. I am back at making videos from home. I'm doing my best to reuse supplies to keep waste down. It's been a fun additional challenge. I think I've figured out a good work flow to keep myself from getting overwhelmed. My partner is also working from home right now and our Internet is super slow (I think because a lot of people are working from home right now). It takes forever to download content, get it edited, and then get it posted to YouTube. I record several videos at a time, then work on editing them throughout the week. I love that YouTube allows you to schedule videos, so I can upload a bunch of them during off-hours (like 10 pm) and they will post throughout the week. I'm loading them to the Youtube account linked to my work email.

3/23: Board Game
 I've actually never done this project, but I was inspired by a gift of a blank board game kit. I love the idea of being totally in control of the play, environment, and rules. I actually want to make a full-fledged board game now.

3/24: Offline Coding
A coworker recently replicated an offline coding program we did together a few years ago. One of the activities included building a life-size grid on the floor, printing out basic directions (turn left, turn right, forward, stop, pick up) and then having the kids program each other to retrieve objects on the grid (we used story time puppets). It ended upping a great activity. While working on the board game, I thought about that activity and realized I could scale it down to fit on a piece of cardboard.

3/25: Building Squares
I find myself making these cardboard squares a lot. I first did this project while working at my library in Idaho and then created some for my friend's 4-year-old while visiting a couple of years ago.

3/26: Puppet Theater
A coworker and I created this project for Maker Camp a few years ago. We used miniature pizza boxes, but a soda box worked really well for this project.

3/27: Cardboard Automata
We had a training on cardboard automata at a Staff Day a few years ago, but I'd been too scared to try and make one. After creating the puppet theater, I decided it was time to give it a go. Fun fact, I initially tried to build cams from pop bottle caps, but they did not work for me. Thank goodness these videos aren't live...or maybe it would be good to see me struggle more...

I have plans to continue repurposing my puppet theater design next week!

March 2020: Adapting to Shelter in Place Amid Pandemic

As with most libraries around the country, our library district is closed until our governor gives the ok for non-essential businesses to reopen. Our library district is in Washington State, one of the states hit early with COVID-19 and hit hardest. Conversations about how to handle the crisis began around March  9. By the end of the week, the decision to close our branches was put in place. Initially, we thought staff would be back to work after 3 days (the time it's thought the virus is viable on paper products) but the decision to stay closed until the end of the month followed.

One of our librarians had the great idea of recording some story time snippets to help families who have suddenly found their entire schedule disrupted. Due to copyright concerns, we decided to focus on some of our favorite finger play/songs/flannel stories, instead of reading books on camera for social media. I was asked to provide some easy do-at-home crafts, which are totally my jam.

Initially, we thought we would continue reporting to work during the closure, so had planned to record a lot of videos in the following week. The order to close came before we could get too much organized.

Even at home, it took me 3 days to get myself organized and the right equipment identified before I could start even making videos. I decided to focus on my favorite projects that are easy to replicate at home and to limit myself to common household items (no downloaded software, no copper foil tape, no Internet required, no corrugated cardboard, etc).

I've made my first week's worth of videos and have the feeling I'll be making quality videos by the end of the quarantine. Still working on coordinating posting with our social media team, but for now I'm loading them to the Youtube account linked to my work email.

3/17: Marble Run
3/18: Trash Car
3/19: Musical Instruments (for my favorite story time song: Wiggle, Wiggle, Stop)
3/20: Stop Motion

Girls Who Code Washougal 2020

Today I went to my 2nd...and last...Girls Who Code meeting at our Washougal branch. The library district has decided to cancel all public programs through the end of the month due to the spread of COVID-19 in our state. Hopefully we'll be back at the beginning of April, but who knows.

Two best friends dropped in today and asked if we'll be doing things every week. It was heartbreaking to tell them we're on break until April.
















Today's project:

Interactive art with Makey Makey
We used graphite pencils and markers to create a conductive piece of paper, then wired it up to MakeyMakey and used the apps to interact with our art.

and

Interacting with Art using PencilCode
I think I have standardized my program utilizing PencilCode.
1. We begin with the example (the turtle makes 6 off-set squares)

2. We examine the block-based code.
3. We switch to the text-based code. My basic prompts:
   How many squares does the turtle make?
   Can we change the code so the turtle makes one square?
   Can we change the code so the turtle makes an upright square?
   Can we change the color of the pen?
4. We erase the existing code and pull out the PencilCode Reference Sheet. We try out several pieces of code together to see what they do.
5. We take turns deciding what to draw: house, flower, boat, face, tree, skull, etc

I still find PencilCode to be an effective and fun way to get the kids off block-based code and into text-based coding.

November 2019 Experiential Learning Roundup!

Girls Who Code 6-week program wrapped up in Battle Ground on 11/4. 7 of the original 
9 girls completed all six weeks of the program and were excited for another round of 
programming. 
The weekly projects for Girls Who Code were determined using feedback submitted by 
the girls at each meeting. BG’s program completed the following projects:

Week 1: GIF and website build using Made with Code (language: blockly) and 
Trinket.io (language: HTML)

Week 2: Video Game Design using Make Code (language: Blockly)

Week 3: Video Game Design using Make Code (language: Blockly, Javascript)

Week 4: Video Game Round Robin Testing

Week 5:Game Design in Unity (language: C#)

Week 6: celebrate with friends and family 

BG’s project website: https://gwcclub-wa18616-2019.weebly.com/

We also have 2 adults interested in assisting at the next Girls Who Code in BG.

STEM @ Green Mountain 11/15 I arranged with the community library to host a quarterly 
STEM project at Green Mountain Elementary. November's project: Crappy Robotics for 4th and 
5th graders!

   

Vancouver Community Library's Crappy Robotics Tournament 
11/19  I hosted the 3rd Annual Crappy Robotics Tournament at Vancouver Community 
Library. 45 people attended this program, including one participant who has attended all 
3 years’ of this program at VA. Participant age ranged from 3-45 and we saw a lot of families 
working together, and some siblings working against each other, to build the crappiest robot.
Finding enough chassis for everyone has proven difficult and I am looking into 
creating a simple battery-operated chassis for 2020. The final battle came down to 
Destructo Kitty and the Baconator: 

Stevenson STEM Wednesday 11/13 This month, the 2nd and 4th Wednesday focused on 
using the Edison robots. We incorporated coding the robots for older participants. 
Everyone enjoyed building with LEGOs and having the robots interact with each other and 
people.

11/25 STEM @ Clark County Juvenile Detention Center 
November’s project focused on exploring with Cubelets. We offered 2 sessions, with 15 
students. Their teacher commented that she appreciates how this project was simple enough 
for all students to have success, and complicated enough to provide a unique challenge to 
the more advanced students. The teacher commented that one of the JDC students generally 
doesn’t interact during class, but he was very engaged with today’s activity and she really 
appreciated seeing him open up.

District Partnerships

VR @ Adult Services Training Day. I demonstrated the Oculus Rift and Go during Adult 
Services Training Day. My colleague shared his experience taking the Gos to Outreach 
at an assisted living facility. Several attendees indicated interest in trying out this program.  
The 2 Oculus Gos owned by Program Services have been made into a kit for the branches 
to borrow.

Covered La Center’s 3D Design 11/7 and 3D Printer Certification 11/14. We had a full 
room for 3D Design  (11 people) and Certification (10 people). Ages varied from 12 to 
senior with one group of 3 generations (grandson, daughter, grandpa) certifying together to 
use the printer. 

Fixed Vancouver Community Library’s 3D printer. The glass plate chipped on the corner 
and metal bed mount damaged. I replaced plate with duplicate from dead 3D printer and 
inserted a longer screw to hold the calibration washer in place.

Covered Stevenson’s STEM Wednesday 
11/27. We had 6 people attend this program to play with Edison robots. One 4 year old cried 
when her mother told her they had to leave.

February 2020 Leap Into Science Storytime arranged at all 12 branches.  
A group of us received Leap Into Science last Spring and have arranged to host programs 
at all the branches, taking over a normal storytime during National Leap Into Science 
Week (2/24-29).

Community Partnerships

11/9 Girls in STEM @ Heritage High School (Evergreen School District). 
This is our 2nd year participating in this event. We hosted two 50-minute sessions and 
a project table during lunch. Our 50-minute project focused on building a marble maze
 using the game engine Unity. I built the base assets and scripts for this project ahead 
of time and students focused on working with the tools to get used to the build environment. 
We had a very positive response to this project. 36 students opted in for our session.  We
created custom icons using perler beads in honor of Susan Kare. 250 Girls, boys, 
non-binary individuals, and their parents attended this event, including 3 students from my 
Girls Who Code clubs (Cascade Park and Battle Ground). A colleague from 
Vancouver Community Library and a superstar volunteer assisted.

11/12 PDX Makerspace Coalition meeting @ OMSI 
+ tour of new teen maker lab. The newly formed PDX Makerspace Coalition met for the first 
time. This group is organized by the Portland Youth Builders Organization and is focused 
on sharing maker skills and knowledge with one another and the community. In
 attendance, representatives from MultCoLib and BeavertonLib. I spoke to one of the 
Beaverton librarians in September at OMSI Maker Faire. She indicated she attended my 
OLA/WLA conference session “Make Easy” last April and was inspired to join the 
makerspace workgroup formed at Beaverton library. They hope to open their makerspace 
in January 2020.  The next meeting for this group is February 2020.

We also had the opportunity to tour OMSI’s new teen maker space (partially funded by 
Best Buy). 
This area is free for teens to use, but has limited open hours (mostly after school). 
The space is located on the 2nd floor in the interactive play space. Their 
makerspace features:

Tinker table with passive activities (perler beads, button maker)

Sewing/knitting/crafting supply closet

10 computers loaded with Adobe Creative Suite

Large drawing tablet

3 iMacs (1 for 3D modeling + Ultimaker printer, 2 sound station) 

Green screen

Instruments and Digital Audio Workstations

1 sound booth

11/16 FVRL hosted Washington State Library’s “Makerspace Your School Library” at 
Vancouver Community Library.. 20 teacher librarians attended to learn more about how to 
integrate maker activities and maker spaces into their schools. Hillary Marshall from 
Washougal School District and Craig Seasholes from Dearborn Elementary (Seattle) 
conducted the training. I met Hillary Marshall through the Washougal Community Library
 in 2016. Hillary was just starting out in makerspace activities and I helped her plan  
and conduct activities until Hillary was comfortable leading programs. :). 
In general, most teacher librarians find themselves suddenly in charge of maker tools 
and spaces with little knowledge or training in these tools. Attendees discussed how maker
 tools in schools can help students engage in learning even if they struggle with traditional 
educational structures. Attendees mentioned struggling with giving up some “control” 
over the space and taking a step back from educating to guiding. 
They shared their curated list of maker activities aligned with school standards:
 https://padlet.com/mlarsen4/4chwf5g963hv 

Washougal high school sees ~125 students in their makerspace over lunch breaks.

The attendees discussed the desire to try out STEM tools before committing to them for their 
school. Some places to access STEM tools: 4H/WSU has STEM tubs you can check out. 
Also host summer camps. R. David OMSI and California State Parks has a Skype option 
for classrooms. Microsoft hosts Skype calls with authors in February.  We also discussed 
that FVRL has access to a lot of these tools and could partner with schools to host the
equipment at their school.

We also discussed the option of partnering with the school district to host a ½ day Maker 
Day during teacher professional development days.

I learned about the Hummingbird Kit and think this might be a valuable addition to FVRL’s 
MicroBit set. 

I also learned about the Apple Store Teacher Tuesdays https://www.apple.com/today/pioneerplace/