The Moorestown Library will celebrate NJ Makers Day with plenty of fun activities. Since 2015, New Jersey Makers Day has provided libraries across New Jersey an opportunity to highlight STEM and maker culture, enhance community engagement in libraries and promote opportunities for innovation and hands-on learning (njmakersday.org/about). This year, the library will celebrate Makers Day with special events on March 25 and 26. All events are sponsored by the Friends of the Moorestown Library.
For kids and families, the maker fun kicks off on March 25 with Grab and Go STEAM projects for kids, tweens and teens. Kids can pick up a Rocket Pulley to color and build at home. Color the rocket ship, then set up the pulley system and pull the strings to help your rocket blast off! Available while supplies last.
Tweens and teens picked up a kit to make a Catch and Release Cartesian Diver. In this project, makers build two divers with simple supplies, place them in a bottle of water and experiment with Pascal’s Law and Archimedes’ Principle to try to make one diver sink down, catch the loop on the other diver and raise it to the top of the bottle. Available while supplies last.
Makers of all ages can drop in between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on March 25 and 26 to help color giant posters of the United States and the world. Posters will be set up on large tables and the completed masterpieces will be displayed in the library’s Children’s Room.
On March 26, kids can stop in between 10 a.m. and noon for a Make and Take Extravaganza. Maker tables will be set up for young children to make Cheerios bird feeders and older kids can try their hand at creating balance sculptures.
The library’s large-scale building toy Rigamajig and straws and connectors will be available in the Story Time Room from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 26. This event is part of the library’s ongoing STEAM Saturdays program, so if you miss it on Makers Day, come back any Saturday to join the fun.
New Jersey Makers Day isn’t just for kids! There are exciting opportunities for adults to create and explore as well. On March 26, the Adult Services Desk will offer projects such as making a solitary bee hotel out of reused materials for yards or gardens. Solitary bees are important pollinators, are not aggressive and are losing habitat to development. Learn about how you can help these important insects and recycle materials to give them a home.
When you have your bee hotel in hand, check out an Adult Discovery Pack. We are introducing backpacks for Nature Journaling, Bird Watching and Sky/Stargazing. These backpacks are filled with books, journaling materials and observational equipment for each activity including binoculars, a magnifying glass and a desktop telescope. Visit the amazing open spaces in Moorestown or get into your own yard and see nature at work.
For more details, visit MoorestownLibrary.org. If you can’t make it into the library to pick up a project or participate in an event, don’t forget that our website is full of resources for learning and exploration. Visit our newly revamped STEM page at moorestownlibrary.org/kids/stem for tons of fun and interactive sites to help foster kids’ curiosity about science, technology, engineering and math.
