Welcome to Little Makers! The toolkit and curated set of resources aim to provide library educators with evidence, examples, and excitement for how they can facilitate maker-centered learning for children, ages 2 to 6, in any library setting.

Based on the successful Little Makers program at New Hampshire’s Keene Public Library, we’ve gleaned insight into running both in-person and virtual maker programming, with parents and caregivers playing a key role. We explore why making and tinkering are essential to early childhood development, how to approach program planning, facilitation techniques, and reflection tools.

About

The Little Makers Program

Developed by the Keene Public Library (KPL), the Little Makers program explores how public libraries can provide STEM programming for very young children, ages 2 to 6, and their adult caregivers, resulting in new attitudes, skills, and competencies, fostering higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills. The program, which ran from 2018 to 2021, focuses on co-learning through tinkering and making activities, both in person and virtually. Little Makers is made possible by a National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (#LG-95-18-0191-18).

The goals of the program are twofold: 

• To engage early learners in STEM, tinkering, and making activities in an inviting environment
• To increase caregiver and parental understanding of the importance of STEM, tinkering, and making activities and to boost their efficacy in engaging their children with STEM

The hope was that young children would have fun in the program, show a capability for engaging in STEM activities, ask their parents how and why questions, and begin developing a positive view of STEM. The hope for parents and caregivers was that they would choose to bring young learners to the program, increase their own use of scientific vocabulary and tools, feel more comfortable engaging in these types of activities with their children, and perceive the library as an essential STEM, tinkering, and making learning center.

The toolkit on this website represents the outcomes of this work and the lessons learned.

Why Libraries

Libraries are the perfect place to introduce young children and families to making, tinkering, and STEM. Libraries are free, open to everyone, and offer programs where children and families can attend together. 

Statistics from the American Library Association (ALA) show that minority and economically disadvantaged families make up a high percentage of groups that visit libraries frequently. And libraries help bridge the gap for children who don’t have access to expensive daycare facilities, STEM camps, or museum passes.

Research resoundingly points to the importance of libraries engaging families in STEM fields and activities, but little research has been done to show how libraries can best do so specifically with very young children.

Keene Public Library

Established in 1898, Keene Public Library (KPL) is a small but energetic library in the vibrant town of Keene, New Hampshire (population 23,281). The library’s mission is “To provide free, open, and convenient access for all Keene residents to acquire information for growth in their personal knowledge; for lifelong learning and enjoyment; for the fulfillment of informational needs, desires, and curiosities; and for enhancing the quality of life in the community.”

The Youth Department staff is composed of innovative thinkers who remain dedicated to the philosophy of lifelong learning. KPL takes pride in being a certified Family Place Library, one of only two in the state! This initiative illustrates KPL’s commitment to providing specialized resources, equipment, and programs to the youngest patrons and families, in a deliberate and nurturing manner. KPL is a cherished regional resource and an integral part of the cultural and educational life of the city.

Contact us

The Keene Public Library
60 Winter Street
Keene, NH 03431
(603) 352-0157

Gail Zachariah — gzachariah@keenenh.gov

Amy Kraemer — akraemer@keenenh.gov

**** Contact Form and Google Map to Library

KPL Staff

Gail Zachariah

is the Head of Engagement and Youth Services at Keene Public Library. Prior to becoming a librarian, Gail was a museum educator at the Los Angeles and Denver Children’s Museums.  It is no wonder that Gail was an early adopter of bringing making and tinkering programs into the public library and was the Grant Administrator for Little Makers.  Before coming to KPL, Gail served at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Ohio Valley Area Libraries, and the Springfield Town Library in Springfield, VT.

Amy Kraemer

is an artist and a youth librarian at the Keene Public Library. She has an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts and an MLIS from Simmons College. Fortunate to grow up in a tinkering and making family, she has been making stuff with multi-media since she was a young child. As a practicing artist and facilitator/art educator, bringing making and tinkering programs into the public library is a dream come true. She thoroughly enjoys facilitating open-ended learning opportunities for children and adults. Amy was the Project Director for Little Makers.

Colleen Swider

is a youth librarian at the Keene Public Library. Her many years of working with children as well as her involvement with local educational and social service organizations informed many aspects of the Little Makers project.

Maureen Meyer

is a School Library Media Specialist with an Ed.D. from the NOVA Southeastern University School of Instructional Technology and Distance Education and MLIS from Southern Connecticut State University. Maureen’s many contributions include her work on the Little Maker toolkit.

Jay Fee

is the Teen Services Librarian for the Keene Public Library. He provides technical support both onsite and online for Little Makers programs. Jay received his Master of Library and Information Studies degree from the University of Alabama.

Partners

PEER Associates

Michael Duffin, Ph.D., is a co-founder of PEER Associates. Michael has worked as an educator, administrator, and/or evaluator in the field of environmental education for three decades. His recent work has focused on using qualitative and quantitative evaluation and research tools to promote organizational learning in public agency, philanthropic foundation, K-12 school, and nonprofit and informal learning settings. 

Chris Hardee, MST is a Consulting Associate for PEER and founded a mission-driven environmental and educational communications company, Monadnock Media. He has taught courses and workshops at Antioch, MA Audubon, and the National Park Service. He graduated from Antioch University New England with an MST in Environmental Studies and is continually intrigued by how we learn about science, nature, and the environment.

Keene State College

Deborah Black is a Professor of Education at KSC. She also serves as the Director of the NH GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science) site. Deborah has worked in Belize using Children’s Literature for STEM instruction and served as a consultant for the creation of a makerspace in a school in Winchester, NH.

Dr. Jayme Hines is an Assistant Professor of Education at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA. She teaches coursework across Early Childhook & Elementary programs and coordinates the Alternative Pathways Program. For more than 20 years, Dr. Hines has taught Pre-K – 6th grade & higher ed. and advocated for young children in a variety of ways.

Cheshire Children’s Museum

Deb Ganley is the Founder and now retired Executive Director of the Cheshire Children’s Museum, which opened in Keene in 2012. Previously, she spent nearly a decade as director of the Keene Montessori School, a private preschool for children ages 18 months to 5 years.

Advisory Committee

Lisa Brahams, Ph.D.

Lisa Brahams, Ph.D. is the Director of Education for the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich Vermont. Lisa has been an educator and designer of informal and formal learning experiences and environments for two decades. As Director of Learning and Research at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Lisa lead the development and study of MAKESHOP, a maker space designed for young children and family learning at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The MAKESHOP project has become a national model of informal learning research and practice.

Stephanie Chang

Stephanie Chang’s focus over the past 15 years has been in experiential education, whether defined as STEM, STEAM, hands-on, project-based, or maker-centered. Between 2012 and 2020, she worked at Maker Ed, a national non-profit organization that supported educators in their maker learning endeavors, whether related to developing programs and makerspaces, integrating tools and curriculum, or facilitation and assessment of learning experiences. She has also worked in educational research and evaluation, designed curriculum, led science and technology summer programs, and taught environmental and marine science. Currently, Stephanie supports a portfolio of consulting projects in design, learning, and strategy.

Saroj Ghoting

Saroj Ghoting is an Early Childhood Literacy Consultant and national trainer on early literacy. She presents early literacy workshops at conferences and library systems for staff and their partners. She has been a consultant for the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association on the Every Child Ready to Read @ your library® early literacy initiative. She is the co-author of six books, the most recent being Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide, co-authored with the researchers from the VIEWS2 project at the University of Washington. Saroj has been a children’s librarian for over 40 years and a consultant since 2003. She received her MLS from Catholic University in Washington, DC. She enjoys learning new ideas while presenting trainings on early literacy.

Ann Marie Polensberg Thomas, Ph.D.

Ann Marie Polensberg Thomas Ph. D. is a Professor in the School of Engineering and Opus College of Business at University of St. Thomas, and the Director of the Playful Learning Lab. She is also Co-Founder of University of St. Thomas Center for Engineering Education at University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN

Lisa Regalla, Ph.D

Lisa Regalla is the CEO of Regallium Consulting, LLC. Her consulting practice focuses on bridging the gap between research and practice by putting actionable tools in the hands of adults to support the creative development of children of all ages. Previously, she was the Deputy Director of Maker Ed, supporting a growing, national network committed to broadening participation in making as a form of creative learning. She also served as the Director of STEM Learning & Innovation at the Bay Area Discovery Museum and developed content and a national outreach program for the SciGirls children’s television series at Twin Cities Public Television. As the project manager of several national outreach initiatives throughout her career, Lisa has experience planning, leading, and evaluating initiatives focused on building and sustaining innovative learning environments. Lisa received a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Theater before earning her Ph.D. in Chemistry. In 2011, she received a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on SciGirls and the Rising Star Award from the Women Chemists Committee of the American Chemical Society for her work to promote gender equity in STEM.

Hands-On Activities

We offer seven hands-on activities for young makers and their parents or caregivers to engage in. We call them “Explorations” because they’re loosely guided modes of exploring different materials and properties. Our hope is that you use them as a springboard to develop your own unique explorations, designed specifically for your community. All activities have a version for you to use in your library programming and a subset also include a version to hand out to parents and caregivers to continue the exploration back at home.

Cardboard Exploration

Cardboard is a simple material with endless opportunities for exploration. Children can quickly become engineers by designing, shaping, creating, and building. In the library and At Home pdfs.

Circuit Exploration

Exploring electricity with young children can be somewhat intimidating, but keeping it simple allows children to develop a solid basis for understanding electricity as they get older. The objective is for them to explore, observe, and make predictions. In the library pdfs.

Light & Shadow Exploration

Playing and exploring with light and shadows is an interactive, fun way to introduce young children to making predictions and observations. The activity can be very simple (using flashlights or sunlight) or it can be more complex (using other mediums such as an overhead projector). In the library and At Home pdfs.

Ramps Exploration

Exploring with ramps looks like play, but the concepts behind what’s happening are absolutely science! By experimenting with designing and building ramps, children become mini engineers and are introduced to concepts in physics and math. In the library and At Home pdfs.

Simple Machines Exploration

Free play with levers, pulleys, and conveyor belts allows for experimentation and discovery. Many children are amazed by how a simple machine, which has very few moving parts, can make work a lot easier. In the library pdfs.

Wind Tunnel Exploration

Exploring with wind and air is both fun and exciting for young children, partly because wind is everywhere around them in their daily lives. Children learn that air and wind aren’t visible, but their effects are! In the library and At Home pdfs.

Woodworking Exploration

Young children enjoy the process of hammering, screwing, sawing, and being empowered to use tools in general. There’s always a great deal of trial, error, and experimenting with wood, essential to a child’s process of discovery. In the library and At Home pdfs.

Book Selection

Annotated Bibliography Little+Makers+Bibliography.pdf

Keene Public Library has many books on the topics we selected for our Little Makers activities. When making book selections, we used typical best practices and the following as our starting point:

• Followed our policies and procedures, based on ALA guidelines
• Read through many book review resources
• Consulted librarians, preschool teachers, and blogs
• Considered patron recommendations

One of the main factors we considered when selecting books for our program was the age of the children, from 2 years old to 6 years old. The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) provides excellent suggestions for choosing science books for this age range. One essential question NSTA asks is “Is the book fun to read?” Always keep that in mind when purchasing books for preschool children!

Our primary considerations when selecting books include:

• Developmentally appropriate for children ages 2–6
• Fun, captivating, and engaging story
• Highlights or models the Learning Dimensions of the maker mindset
• Integrates STEM disciplines and has factually correct depictions of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics content
• Features illustrations that enhance the text and provide an alternate way of telling the story and illustrating the concepts presented in the book
• Includes culturally diverse people, ethnicities, and languages
• Provides meaningful connections to children’s real-world, authentic problems
• Incorporates ideas around divergent thinking, assimilation of new ideas, teamwork, exploration of multiple solutions, or acknowledgement of failure as a reality that can be mitigated or surmounted

Vendors

Reference to any product or service, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the community and does not constitute endorsement or oversight by KPL.

Becker’s School Supplies
1500 Melrose Highway, Pennsauken, NJ 08110
1-800-523-1490

Children’s Innovation Project 

Community Playthings
PO Box 2, Ulster Park, NY 12487
1-800-777-4244

Constructive Playthings
13201 Arrington Road, Grandview, MO 64030
1-800-448-4115 

Discount School Supply
PO Box 734309, Chicago, IL 60673-4309
1-800-627-2829 

Harrison 2 Inspire
1-708-345-4000

Kaplan  Early  Learning   Company
1310 Lewisville Clemmons Road, PO Box 609, Lewisville, NC 27023
1-800-334-2014 

KodoKids
2330 W Midway Blvd, Broomfield, CO 80020
1-844-563-6543 

Lakeshore 
2695 E. Dominguez Street, Carson, CA 90895
1-800-778-4456

Play with a Purpose
2525 Lemond St. SW, PO Box 998, Owatonna, MN 55060-0998
1-855-858-5501 

Rigamajig, Heroes Will Rise, Inc.
P.O. Box 6052, Providence, RI 02940 

Whitney Brothers
93 Railroad Street, Keene, NH 03431-0644
1-603-352-2610 

Please contact us if you would like to know more about any of the materials and equipment we used for the Little Makers program.

Program Tools

We share a variety of program tools that can serve as models to help you build and reflect on your programming, including the Exploratorium’s Learning Dimensions, a facilitator reflection form, a parent/caregiver interview guide, and a link to our virtual Little Makers programming through Niche Academy. 

Exploratorium Learning Dimensions

The Learning Dimensions of Making & Tinkering resource features specific indicators of learning throughout various levels of agency to help you recognize and interpret learners’ behaviors. This invaluable resource can be used for program planning and assessment. LittleMakers_Resources_ExploratoriumLearningDimensions.pdf

Facilitator Reflection Form

Use or adapt this form to help document the implementation of your program, prompt facilitators to reflect on the program in practice, and track progress toward meeting intended outcomes. LittleMakers_Resources_FacilitatorReflectionForm.pdf

Parent/Caregiver Interview Guide

This guide provides sample interview questions that can be used in a more in-depth way (if you need a more systematic way to collect data for reporting purposes) or an informal way (to make connections with and get feedback from parents and caregivers). LittleMakers_Resources_ParentCaregiverInterviewGuide.pdf

Little Makers at Home

Our virtual model consisted of both a synchronous and asynchronous experience for our patrons. Using Niche Academy, an online learning portal, we were able to build weekly making and tinkering exploration activities for adults to facilitate from anywhere. Check out our archived virtual programming. https://my.nicheacademy.com/LittleMakersAtHomeStemPlay

Other Online Resources

We’re excited to add our experiences, stories, knowledge, and voice to the ever-growing knowledge base available online. Here are a few of our favorite resources, where you can glean even more insight:

• Digital Promise: This organization works at the intersection of education leaders, researchers, and technology developers to improve learning opportunities for all and close the digital learning gap.
• The Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio: The Tinkering Studio believes that tinkering experiences empower both learners and educators to develop an understanding of science processes and ideas, as well as their own potential as learners. In 2022, they held a multimedia virtual event, Tinkering Together, that explored tinkering, making, and STEAM in early childhood.
• Maker Ed: This organization provides training, support, and resources to individuals, institutions, and communities who are integrating maker education into their learning environments.
• Makers in the Library: This online toolkit provides resources and opportunities to connect with others, centered around the creation and sustainability of community-driven library maker programs.
• Making + Learning: The goal of Making + Learning is to build the capacity of libraries and museums to create and sustain effective makerspaces and related programs for learning.
• Reimagining School Readiness Toolkit: These research-backed resources were created by the Bay Area Discovery Museum for librarians to help families prepare children ages 0 to 8 for success in school and life.
• Tinker Kit: This educator’s guide is designed for museums, libraries, and early childhood settings to increase their capacity to support the optimal development of all children through intentional family-engagement activities.

Based on the successful Little Makers program at New Hampshire’s Keene Public Library, this toolkit offers insight into running both in-person and virtual maker programming for children, ages 2 to 6, in any library setting, with parents and caregivers playing a key role. We explore why making and tinkering are essential to early childhood development, approaches to program planning, facilitation techniques, and reflection tools.

Throughout, we focus on learning through a playful process, co-learning between adults and children, demystifying STEM, and recognizing parents and caregivers as key participants. Using these principles as a guide, this toolkit provides several models, tools, and lessons learned that you can draw from to develop a program that best fits the needs of your library and community. Rather than provide a step-by-step process, we offer knowledge and examples to help you shape your own custom programming. It’s the maker way!

We hope you find the information we share to be useful and that you have as much fun reading our toolkit as we had putting it together for you!

Blogs

Little Makers @ LibLearnX

Jan 22 

Written By Amy Kraemer

I am so excited to be sharing Little Makers at the ALA LibLearnX in New Orleans. My colleague Gail Zachariah and I will be presenting STARTING YOUNG: HOW TO LAUNCH FAMILY MAKING EXPERIENCES AT YOUR LIBRARY on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm in room 293-294 of the Morial Convention Center. We will do a short presentation about how we implemented our Little Makers program for children ages 2 – 6 and their caregivers and be distributing our Little Makers Toolkit to attendees. Join us to explore how to expand this type of programming in your library large or small.

Little Makers Webinars now available

Sep 28 

Written By Amy Kraemer

In case you were not able to attend, I wanted to share links to our Info People webinars. Gail Zachariah, Lisa Regalla, and I highlight key aspects of program planning and implementation for both the In the Library and At Home Little Maker programs.

Little Makers: Program Planning and Implementation

Our second webinar about the critical role of Facilitation and Reflection will be archived and posted as soon as it is available. If you were able to attend we thank you for your participation and for your feedback. If you have any questions or comments you would like to share with us please don’t hesitate to contact us through our website or through email. We look forward to continuing this work with librarians/makers in the coming years.

Little Maker Toolkit Available!

Sep 23 

Written By Amy Kraemer

Hello everyone, I am so happy to share that our Little Makers Toolkit is now available on our newly designed Little Makers Website. It has been a wild and wonderful four years since we started our Little Makers program and we are very excited to share the good and the not-so-good, but nothing is predictable or moves in a straight line. That would be boring, wouldn’t it? We are especially happy to share what we feel were viable solutions to providing both in the library and in-the-home programming for caregivers and children as young as 2 years old.

We did this all with support from fellow staff members of the Keene Public Library and numerous volunteers, thoughtful feedback from parents and caregivers, Peer Associates, and our professional board of advisors. Thanks to Lisa Regalla and her team at Regallium Consulting for pulling it all together.

We hope that you will be inspired and motivated to integrate STEM play into all your library programs. The Little Makers Toolkit provides planning and evaluation tools, an annotated picture book bibliography, and lots of ideas for age-appropriate STEM Play activities. You can download the toolkit in its entirety or pick and choose chapters that interest you. Through our website, you can access our Little Makers Niche Academy which provides examples and guidance on how librarians can provide virtual STEM programming for families and very young children. With these resources, we hope to inspire and motivate you to develop programming unique to your community’s needs.

Just make sure you have fun in the process.

Amy

Little Makers use big maker tools

Sep 28 

Written By Amy Kraemer

Photo Caption: Practicing her swing with wooden pegs and clay

One important aspect of Little Makers is introducing children and their caregivers to the power of, and the proper use of tools! So how do we deal with the added risk involved in giving a two year old a sharp instrument?

Young children use crayons, scissors, and paintbrushes to name a few common tools for making. In our program, we introduce children to hole punches, measuring tapes, screwdrivers, hammers, wrenches, pliers and even saws. We find that caregivers are usually excited, albeit a bit wary of allowing children to use sharp tools but with one on one instruction adults quickly gain confidence and are able to work with their children.

When we set up the room, we keep in mind that not everyone is ready to get involved in woodworking. To manage the number of people in the woodworking area we place it near the back of the room and cordon it off from the rest of the activities so that when a child is in the woodworking area they are not also playing with cars or running after balls.  

When planning weekly programs we introduce new tools each week. Since children are not really making something with the tools, but rather exploring the tools to see what they can do with them, we introduce them one or two at a time.  We might put out the hammer with pegs to pound into clay and screwdrivers and screws. The next week we may put out the hammer with nails and soft wood along with the drill and the following week the saw.

When introducing a tool to a young child we demonstrate proper use to the adult who then is responsible for instructing the child. We introduce a hand drill without the bit inserted so the child can safely investigate how the different parts of the drill work together. Once they insert the drill bit, they can apply it to a surface and observe what happens when they turn the crank. This is the point when caregivers get nervous. It is important for facilitators to help the adult distinguish between safety and reasonable risks. This can also be a critical juncture when children can either keep their interest or loose it because of too much adult intervention. If a child is not using a tool properly or to its full potential an adult can remind the child about how to hold the tool or how they can allow the tool to do the work. When a child is genuinely stuck, it may be helpful to foster awareness by using phrases like “try using your…”, “notice what happens when…”, “do you see where your fingers are?” or use problem-solving phrases like “what’s your plan for…”, “where will you cut a hole?”, and “what can you use to…” Knowing what kind of guidance is appropriate when using a potentially dangerous tool is difficult to navigate but feeling comfortable with risk and failure is part of the process of making, even when not using sharp tools.

Facilitating is a key element of the Little Makers

Sep 23 

Written By Amy Kraemer

STEM play with young children provides opportunities for observing, exploring, asking questions, seeking answers, making predictions, and sharing discoveries. By allowing a child to follow their natural curiosity, we allow children to come to their own conclusions.

Facilitation is the key element of the Little Makers program. Facilitation mostly boils down to modelling behaviors for the caregivers that will instill a sense of agency in the child and an interest in their own learning. Facilitators model language, patience by allowing the child time to think and organize their thoughts, praising behaviors and asking open-ended questions.

When we notice a child beginning to have difficulties, instead of intervening and solving the problem for them, we help them along the path to self-discovery. For example, during one of our programs on circuits, a child was having a hard time getting a light bulb to light up. No matter what battery she connected it to, the light bulb would not light up! We encouraged the parent to give the child time to figure it out. Then rather than supplying an answer by saying, “Maybe that light bulb is burned out,” the facilitator said, “Can you think of a reason why that bulb may not light?” When the child exclaimed that the batteries did not work, the facilitator prompted the child to think deeper by asking, “Do the lights ever go out at your home? Why do you think that happens?” The child focused on the bulb rather than the batteries or connections. There were many bulbs of varying colors spread around the table. She pointed to another bulb and said, “Can I try that one?” The facilitator said, “Of course, why not try all of them to see what happens” and wondered aloud about if they would all work.  

The girl spent another ten minutes trying out the bulbs and found out some did not work. She began sorting them and was quite happy to see that it was not the connections she had made, but a burnt-out bulb that was the problem. She quickly overcame her initial shyness about trying the other bulbs on the table that were in in front of others.  She also helped another child complete a circuit so they could work together to test objects. The facilitator continued to encourage them by praising their behaviors, challenging them and asking higher-level questions such as, “Do you think you could make more than one bulb light up at once and how do you think you could do that?”

Looking Back: Our First Little Maker Program

Dec 16 

Written By Amy Kraemer

Caption: Children testing out the wind tunnel

Well we were supposed to get this program up and running in the early spring of 2019, but as happens with many major construction projects ours was delayed and we didn’t have full occupancy until July 2019.  Beginning in April 2019 we had some abbreviated programs in the children’s story room.

We really wanted to start off with a bang, so for our first program we introduced the wind tunnel. In addition to the wind tunnel, not an everyday household item. We provided an assortment of materials such as paper, cardboard, straws, pipe cleaners, fabric, plastic containers, assorted balls, and cars for children to experiment with.  We had several crafting tables with scissors, glue, tape etc… so children could make something to fly in the wind.  Sorting boxes were placed around the room labeled hard, soft, heavy, light.  We hung vocabulary words without definitions on the walls and relevant picture books around the room. There were two staff people facilitating the program who engaged by modeling asking how and why questions, and encouraging adults to follow the child’s lead. For instance: to not immediately identify objects that were too heavy, but let the child discover for themselves.

The program was scheduled for 2 hours on Saturday from 10 – 12 and advertised as a family program with a target audience of children ages 2 – 6. We started the program by reading The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.  Then we turned on the wind tunnel and let them have at it. 

About 15 families with multiple children showed up on time and stayed for the duration.  Several other families who were visiting the library drifted in and out.  We think that a program with a narrow focus such as this could have been just as successful with a 90-minute time frame. While the wind tunnel held the older children’s interest, younger children became tired and moved on to other less exciting things. Some of the children were so excited by the novelty of the wind machine that they didn’t have an interest in anything else in the room. Others did quite a bit of constructing and testing to see what would happen to their object in the wind tunnel.  One child made a bird-like object that had too wide a wingspan and his mother did a good job helping him discover why it wouldn’t work in the tunnel. Other children were interested in crafting objects but then didn’t want to risk damaging them by experimenting with them in the wind tunnel.  We suggested they make two . . . one to try and one to take home.

After doing this first program, we realized we need a larger space with having making activities and playing with things flying all about. Since the program is intended to provide co-learning opportunities for adults and children, having space for chairs for adults to sit while playing with the kids would help them engage.  We noticed that when they stood, they were more likely to stand apart from the kids and talk with other adults. 

Overall, we were really satisfied with this first program.  People were excited and grateful for our efforts. People wanted to know more about the program and were eager for more. We were encouraged to plan the next program and thought about linking the activities more closely with the book we read.  For instance, providing similar objects from the story to play with the wind tunnel. We still wonder if we need to be that direct, or just have faith in and encourage children to make their own connections.

Why STEM in Public Libraries

Jun 24 

Written By Amy Kraemer

We know:

• People look to libraries for quality resources and informal learning opportunities. 

• Libraries provide trusted resources and programming to the whole community free of charge. 
• Out-of-school time is important learning time. Library programming can be offered at times when children and their families can attend together.
• Library programs can be for mixed age groups and provide a collaborative learning environment.

““Libraries can design hands on programs that can be more self-directed by the participants themselves based on their interests.””

STEM and science have been a priority in libraries as far back as 1994, when the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and author Maria Sosa published Great Explorations: Discovering Science in the Library.  Sosa’s work highlighted the unique role that public librarians could play by offering a more personalized constructivist approach to science learning in support of standards-based science learning in schools. She also encouraged family involvement; “Libraries can help make parents more aware of the importance of science. They can also provide opportunities for families to participate in informal science experiences that provide a strong foundation for learning science.” (Sosa, 1994)

The Little Makers program is designed to do just that. Provide opportunities for families to learn together to create a strong foundation for lifelong learning.

Why STEM learning opportunities for very young children in the public library?  The question really is why not?

Introducing Little Makers at the Keene Public Library

Oct 1 

Written By Amy Kraemer

Introducing Little Makers

With support from a National Leadership grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Keene Public Library is beginning Little Makers: Library STEM and Maker Activities for Very Young Learners, a program occurring every-other Saturday offering STEM, tinkering, and making activities for children ages 2 to 6 and their parents or care providers. Our mission is to facilitate an engaging hands-on environment where children and their adult caregivers can participate as co-learners, using tools and materials with support from staff.

Caption: Completing the circuit with an energy stick