Kids learn math, science can be fun - and messy

CELINA - Pint-sized students on Tuesday night invaded the local university to discover science, technology, engineering and math ... and got downright messy.

More than 100 area preschool through third-grade students - with parents in tow - created funky items such as monkey fart soap during the first-ever "Girls Just Wanna Have STEM and Boys Build it Bigger" event at Wright State University-Lake Campus.

"We had 140 kids registered and more on a waiting list," said Betsy Jo Crites, who teaches early childhood education at the campus to the 13 juniors who organized Tuesday's free event.

The evening was planned to give the college students hands-on experience working with children and parents and to introduce youngsters to the world of STEM, Crites said.

"They (college students) wrote lesson plans and came up with child-centered activities," she said. "You just can't get this type of experience with a lecture in class or reading from a book."

Children were able to visit seven learning stations in the crowded Dicke Hall where the college students helped them understand the science behind the projects they created.

"You're almost there. Stir just a little more," college student Kori York told 6-year-old Nora Moeller of St. Henry, as she blended a vanilla scent with dry, shredded goat milk over a small burner at the soap-making station.

The melted liquid was then poured into tree-, star- or animal-shaped molds and left to solidify on ice.

A long line of children waited patiently at the bouncy ball station where glue, coloring and borax were formed into small, round shapes by little hands.

"How you doing?" Crites asked participants as she approached the table.

"It's messy," the teacher-in-training told her.

"That's OK. It's science," Crites said with a smile.

Brayden Heitkamp, guided by his mother, Stacy, enthusiastically squeezed the slimy material in his hands until it formed a firm ball.

The St. Henry child's interest in math and science prompted his mother to bring him to the campus.

"They are his favorite subjects so I thought he would enjoy this," Stacy Heitkamp said.

A few yards away, 6-year-old twins Ashton and Caleb Lehman of Celina were making their own version of ChapStick from Vaseline and powdered Kool-Aid mix.

"The idea sounded like fun," their mother, Amy Lehman, told the newspaper when asked why she came. "The kids get to interact with science and I think it's important to get them interested. It's a good experience for them to see what's out there."

In a yard outside Dicke Hall, children took turns climbing two flights of stairs to drop eggs they attempted to secure in styrofoam cups, padded with coffee filters and plastic peanuts, and wrapped with rubber bands and tape.

Some eggs survived the fall; others did not.

Lilly Gonzalez of Celina was victorious.

"It's soft," the shy 5-year-old said, as she described the pink plastic peanuts that kept her egg from scrambling on the pavement below.

The supplies used for the event were paid for with an Ohio Space Grant and a human services mini grant from the College of Education at WSU, Dayton, Crites said.

Jack Snethkamp, 8, of St. Marys, and his brother, 6-year-old AJ, were drawn to the robotic Legos table where colorful creations were connected by cable to a laptop computer, waiting to be programmed into action.

"I have some (Legos) sort of like these at home but they can't move," Jack Snethkamp said.

His younger brother's eyes widened as he used the software program to make the ducks in his Lego vehicle come alive.

"This is great!" he said beaming with pride.