LIMA — Children were learning and having fun Saturday at the OSU-Lima campus.
“I love it. It is an amazing atmosphere, everybody’s just so willing to help the kids. There’s just so many different opportunities to explore science and technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. It’s awesome that it’s free and just a great event for families,” said Holly Fuller, mother of Leah Fuller, who was thrilled to learn about the science of bubbles.
STEAM on the Quad is a partnership with the Ohio State University at Lima and OSU Extension.
“STEAM on the Quad stands for Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Math and it’s a free family-fun event for all ages. They can walk around the campus and have hands-on experience in all of those different areas,” said Amy Langhals, a co-organizer of the event.
Children in the 4-H programs in Hardin, Putnam and Auglaize counties were instrumental in helping man the stations.
“Part of why we’re able to invest in a program like today is that we have after-school groups called Tech Wizards. In fact, our Hardin County Tech Wizards are here and they’re actually manning a lot of the stations, so a lot of the technology we bring into our county come through a grant and allow our rural-based youth to have the experiences that some may have in urban cities,” said Mark Light, 4-H Youth Development Educator out of Hardin County.
It’s important to start children thinking about these areas early on.
“We really want to see them starting really early, as young as 5 because science, technology, arts and math are really huge in the job market right now and we need more scientists and things like that, so we’re really excited to have them out doing hands-on things so we spark that curiosity,” Langhals said.
“They are learning a lot of things in science. They’re doing robotics. They’re exploring fossils. They’re making things like ice cream and building bridges, learning about roller coasters. Then they’re doing art projects and learning about math and just something for everybody,” she said.
This is the second year for STEAM on the Quad.
“We’ve seen a big increase in attendance this year. So far we’ve had over 430 people come through and we’re hoping that it grows every single year,” she said.
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