STEAMLabs Hackney: After School Clubs

The children used gears and cogs to experiment how they interacted with each other and how they could be used to make things turn in different directions. They added illustrations to explain the effects: bees around flowers, planets orbiting, dogs chasing cats, etc. Some very creative ideas were seen…

Using a plastic bottle and some K’Nex building blocks the children made rocket cars that we could race using our pneumatic launcher. Aerodynamics and friction were studied.

The children got to grips with coding the Sphero Bolts to move in a square. Then, using a cup with a pen attached, they were able to draw a square on paper with the robot. Once achieved they could embellish the activity with different shapes, animated screens and vocal messages

Thinking about bioluminescence in the oceans, the children created underwater scenes using chalks and pens that fluoresced under UV light. Some beautiful images were created.

The children were challenged to produce a work of art based around the solar system. They were asked to try to keep the planets in the correct order from the sun and to make an attempt at keeping the relative sizes consistent with the real solar system. Brilliant collages and art works.

Using Lego and/or Strawbees the children were given various challenges: build something that moves, flies, a hat for a super-hero, the longest bridge, a house for a beetle, etc. Wonderful imagination and creative skills!

The children explored how the human eye perceives colour and how it can be tricked with optical illusions. The produced their own versions of the Ishihara test patterns and were able to trick our resident colour blind leader.