Hello everyone!
Every week, NH-DI is going to publish a newsletter for families, which we hope will be full of educational resources and inspiration during this challenging time.
We will feature a hands-on educational activity, which will be developed by our volunteers. We hope these will vary quite a bit from week to week, but they might take the form of an instant challenge, a mini-lesson, an experiment, an art project, or a game.
Additionally, we will collect and share other online resources that have inspired us! Each week, we’ll curate a list of cool activities, performances, and more.
In case you missed last week’s Weekly Roundup, we’ve added a link to the bottom of the Weekly Roundup main page.
Creating Colors: Part 1
This multipart workshop, created by NH-DI volunteer Craig Richardson, is all about color!
- How our eyes make it possible for us to see in color
- How new colors can be created by combining light sources, or mixing paints and dyes together
- The different ways in which animals (and some people) see color
Secret Codes: Part 2
Want to learn how to send secret messages and crack codes? Check out the second episode in our Secret Codes series by clicking on the video below. This week’s episode explores Morse Code and even shows you how you can create your own telegraph at home!
(If you missed the first episode, fear not! You can still find it here.)
Special thanks to NH-DI volunteer Steve Greenwood for developing this series!
Some fun activities:
Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Challenge
All ages are invited to participate in the contest which asks participants to “Drop a Bar of Soap into Someone’s Hands” using 10-20 steps. The deadline for submissions is midnight May 31, 2020. To learn more–and find a bunch of resources–head to the Rube Goldberg website. Check out this NY Times article on the competition!
Getty Artworks Recreated with Household Items by Creative Geniuses the World Over
The Getty Museum issued a playful challenge on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to recreate your favorite art using just three objects lying around home. And wow, did people respond! Thousands and thousands of re-creations later, we’re in awe of people’s creative powers and sense of humor. The challenge was inspired by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and a brilliant Instagram account called Between Art and Quarantine, but adapted with the invitation to use digitized and downloadable artworks from Getty’s online collection.
Head to The Getty’s website or social media accounts to check out some awesome examples (or check out this article)…and we challenge you to complete your own!
Camp Hello Bello
They have singing, dancing, storytime, and everything else you’d get from counselors by a lake in the summer. Except it’s not summer. And we’re indoors. Okay, so this is a different kind of camp…but it’s all free! They are offering classes each week to help add some extra creativity to kids’ days (and fill up some time for the parents too!) Check out the schedule on their website.
Some STEAM activities to try:
Elephant Toothpaste
Make a paper horse that walks
A cloud in a jar
Make a stop motion video
A few websites we recommend:
826 Digital
Writing is an act of joy and freedom. Through our pencils, pens, markers, and keyboards, we can conjure universes, build understanding and empathy, and catalyze change. As our communities take to their homes to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19, the 826 National Network is bringing together young writers and some of their fiercest champions online. We highly recommend creating a free account so you can access a ton of resources, including the A Good Time To Write: Remote Learning Kit. Also check out their YouTube channel, which features video writing prompts from staff and celebrated authors.
HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks got its start in 1998 at a college professor’s kitchen table. From there, it quickly grew into an award-winning source of unbiased, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works.
Instructables
Instructables is a place that lets you explore, document, and share your creations. With step-by-step instructions, they make it easy to learn how to make anything, one step at a time. From the stovetop to the workshop, you are sure to be inspired by the awesome projects that are shared every day.
Share what you’ve created!
Share what you’ve created!
Were you inspired by any of the activities or resources in this Weekly Roundup? What did you build or create? We encourage you, with a parent or guardian’s help and permission, to share your creations on our Facebook or Instagram pages! (Just add your photo as a comment on our weekly post!)
And please share NH-DI’s Weekly Roundup with your friends! Ask them to sign up for weekly emails (if they’re 13 or older), or send them a link to our main Weekly Roundup page.
That’s all for this week, but we look forward to sending you more soon! And as always, if you have ideas for the Weekly Roundup, email Emily Richardson at emily.richardson@nh-di.org.
Published weekly by New Hampshire Innovation and Creativity Connection (NHICC), the nonprofit organization that operates New Hampshire’s Destination Imagination, Camp Gottalikachallenge, and Girls Engineering the Future programs. Learn more about us…