Maker Lab Kids

This week we introduced 2 new programs: our CSI "Who Stole the Cookie?", and Magnet Explorers. We are incredibly thankful to Parker-Chase West Cobb and Parker-Chase Sprayberry Academy for giving us the opportunity to share these activities with their kiddos!

In our CSI program we compared fingerprints, footprints, and bite marks using rulers and calipers... used magnifying glasses and a microscope to examine hair samples... saw color chromatography in action as the students made their own coffee filter "flowers", and even decoded the secret invisible ink to solve the crime of who took the cookies (and where they put them)!

In Magnet Explorers, students made their own magnetic wands and used them at a variety of stations to explore what household items are magnetic (and aren't), saw how magnetic fields curve, played in the "tabletop zen garden" moving a hidden magnetic ball through the sand, learned about north and south poles and felt how they attract/repel...and at the end Mr Quincy showed how a magnet traveling through copper pipe generates its own electromagnetic field!

We know the kids had a blast (overheard the kiddos talking about how awesome "The Magnet Guy" was), and we are grateful for the feedback and lessons learned of how to continue to improve!

Snooze Alert: non-STEM business update ahead....

It's not particularly fun or educational, but this is incredibly important (at least for us)... TODAY we were able to pay the business credit card bill using the *business checking* account funds. Until now we've been covering all our costs personally, so the fact that Maker Lab Kids has grown enough to cover its own expenses is a HUGE milestone!!!

Maybe it's a social media "faux pas" to talk about $ publicly, but so many of you have been with us since (and before!) the very beginning, we just had to share and THANK YOU for your continued encouragement and support. 💛

Day 1 (of 5) of our 3D Design & Printing class at the Mountain View library went great! All students designed their own name tag, and we did the prints overnight so students will arrive to Day 2 with their own custom creation. It's always risky working on borrowed laptops, inconsistent wifi, and 3rd party software... never mind potential 3D printer challenges - but everything went very smoothly!! Special thanks to our amazing librarians for their support :)

Jam-packed week coming up... we start off with rockets at a new preschool (yay!), and jump right into our week-long 3D design & printing courses at the Mountain View library every afternoon. We add more rockets at our free community event at Mabry Park Wednesday, plus *most likely* rockets in the evening up at UNG Dahlonega for their Gen Cyber Warrior academy for high schoolers. And finally we wrap up the week with a VBS rockets finale at Westminster.

This is the first time we have 9 (!) events in the same week. It will certainly be a logistical learning experience... and good practice since we will have multiple days this summer with bookings at different locations with only about 90 minutes in between!

FYI - Compressed Air Rockets in the Park are back for summer. Here's our schedule - we'll create separate FB events for each and update those posts in the event of rain.

It's a wrap! Day 2 of Cobb County's STEMapalooza is over and we couldn't be more pleased with how things went. We had fewer teacher visitors today, but we made a lot of meaningful connections, received great encouragement and advice from other vendors, and got invited to the Clayton County Schools STEM festival in July!

Day 1 of STEMapalooza is done, and it was great! Met so many amazing teachers... And other vendors. We even ran out of space on the sign-up sheet for our 3d printing class! Looking forward to a great final day tomorrow.

Final supplies... safe & secure

And we're in! After a few challenges about booth dimensions and height limitations, we have a different, but equally amazing setup at STEMapalooza. We'll bring in the flare, marketing materials, and decorate our whiteboards early tomorrow morning.

(Checkout the pic down the long hallway... we might stand out *just a little bit* from the others...)

Next up: final supplies and the coolest laptop holder/display I've ever seen...

What a difference a day (or 2 or 3) makes! A few more laser cuts remain, and then we're ready to pack up to move in at Kell HS for 2026 STEMapalooza!!