Mousetranauts!

Hanna Collins is the Youth Services Librarian at Slinger Community Library 

In July I had the privilege of attending the Make Play Learn Conference at UW Madison. This two-day event offers a variety of sessions, including many about playful learning, hands-on activities and STEAM. As a youth services librarian and member of the PBS Kids Library & Community Learning Cohort, I was excited to get more ideas to implement. 

One of my big takeaways I’d like to share was a session presented by the New York Hall of Science. A group of educators from this interactive museum of science and technology created the STEAM Stories Pre-K Activity Guide. This guide is a fantastic collection of STEAM activities to do with preschoolers with each tied to a children’s book. 

The activity we tried out at the conference was the Mousetronaut Design Challenge (page 27), which featured the book Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker. I was excited to try it with the 4K preschool class I see once a week, and it did not disappoint! The challenge: design a rocket ship that can safely launch a mousetronaut into outer space. 

First, we read Roaring Rockets, and I also added Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly. Using ½ inch pipe insulation foam tubes and a variety of supplies (listed in the activity guide), the children used their design skills and imaginations to create rockets for their mice. They experimented with the effects different materials had on the aerodynamics of their rockets, launching them several times with a stomp rocket. The teachers and I posed questions like: 

• What materials could you use for the nose of the rocket? 

• How are you going to attach the mousetronaut to your rocket safely? 

• How do you think you could get the rocket to go farther? 

The children were delighted to launch their rockets multiple times and see what effect their changes had on the distance it traveled. While I cannot report all the mice would safely make it to space, I can report that this was a fantastic STEAM activity! The teachers and I were so impressed with the children’s thinking and problem-solving skills, even at the tender age of four. I also adapted this idea for an elementary-aged program in October. The kids were challenged to launch a small foam pumpkin the farthest/highest. They also enjoyed decorating their rockets with pumpkin-themed stickers and décor. 

I am making more plans to use other activities featured in the STEAM Stories Pre-K Activity Guide. I encourage you to check out this free guide!