Odin Howk and Aiden Altman work with librarian Catherine Tatnall to design a boat for billy goats to cross the river.
NEW ULM – Kids developed a way to make goats float as part of the library’s Wacky Wonders program.
Wacky Wonders is a once-a-month after-school activity for kids in grades 2 through 5 that focuses on arts and crafts and STEM projects.
Every month kids learn something new with Youth Service Librarian Catherine Tatnall. Last month, Tatnall and the students created a miniature volcano using a pumpkin. This month, children have developed different ways of transporting goats across the river. The project was based on the Billy Goats Gruff story. Tatnall asked the children to use their imaginations to find a way other than a bridge to move the goats across the river.
Many different ideas were formed including a stealth technique to sneak through the dwarf. Other ideas included a lever or goat firing mechanism.
Eventually, third graders Odin Howk and Aiden Altman settled on designing a boat.
Goat boat floats.
The biggest challenge in designing a boat for three goats was making sure it didn’t capsize.
Howk and Altman developed the design of a square boat that could float goats.
Tatnall said Wacky Wonders originally started in January 2020 but has been put on hold due to the pandemic. It was returned in September. The idea of the program is to teach basic STEM skills.
Next month, Wacky Wonders will be implementing a technology-based program.
Aiden Altman attaches a wooden rudder to his goat boat.
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