Saturday, May 15, 2021 is Astronomy Day! This day is a great time to learn more about astronomy and do fun activities inside or outside. Astronomy is the study of the universe beyond the Earth including the sun, moon, stars, and more. To learn more about astronomy, use your MPPL library card to access the many web resources…
STEAM Saturday
STEAM Saturday: Water Pollution Experiment
Water that you find in nature is not necessarily clean or pure; you would not want to drink pond water, for example. There are ways to clean water, though, and you can try this experiment at home! First, take a clean jar with a lid and fill it with water from a lake, pond, stream,…
STEAM Saturday: 3-D Printing for Kids
3-D Printing is available again at the Mount Prospect Public Library and kids can submit print files to be printed. For kids to print, permission is required by a parent or guardian. How Does 3-D Printing Work at MPPL (Condensed Version): Design your 3-D print and save it as an .stl file. Go to the 3-D Printing…
STEAM Saturday: Ice Experiments
Did you know that salt lowers the temperature of ice water? To see this process happen, try making ice cream with only a few ingredients. Materials Needed: 1 Gallon Zip Bag 2 Sandwich Zip Bags 1/3 Cup Rock Salt 1/2 Cup Whole Milk 1 Tablespoon Sugar 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract Ice (enough to fill 1/2…
Insects in Winter
How do insects survive the long, cold winter? In several different ways! Some Overwinter as Eggs Praying mantids spend the winter as eggs, waiting for the warmer spring temperatures to hatch. Both the native Carolina Praying Mantis and the Chinese Praying mantis are found in Illinois. Carolina Mantis egg case Chinese Mantis egg case Some…
STEAM Saturday: Chromatography
Chromatography is the process of separating mixtures. Combine science and art and learn about how colors are made with this fun project presented by Miss Claire. You will need: Coffee filtersMarkersPencilWater + containers https://youtu.be/PpOyyqqiRC4…
STEAM Saturday: Virtual Museum Visit
Exploring works of art helps children understand the world around them in many ways. Art gives kids an opportunity to talk about design (colors, shapes, lines) and learn about history and cultures through the art's subject matter. Art appreciation can help younger kids describe what they see, learning to put their thoughts into words. The…
STEAM Saturday: Ant Experiments
Try looking for an ant colony on your driveway or sidewalk and setting up an ant experiment. Find different types of food such as crackers, sugar, or fruit. Break the food into small pieces and place it in different places near the ant colony. You can even make a hypothesis about what will happen and even which kind of food will be…
STEAM Saturday: Lightning Bugs
Lightning Bugs, or fireflies, are a native species of beetle. There are over 2,000 different species all over the world, with over 125 native to the United States. Once you start to look more closely, you can notices differences between how different lightning bugs flash. Each species has a different pattern and speed that they flash. Color also…
STEAM Saturday: Messy Outdoor Activities
The Artful Parent is a great resource for art activities appropriate for a wide range of ages, toddler through school age children. Check out the website or the book. Warm days are the best time to try messy hands-on activities outdoors. Three favorite messy activities from the Artful Parent are making oobleck, melting ice, and playing with cloud dough. Oobleck 1 ½ -2 cups…
