About VIB Clubs

  The creator class explored emotions through creativity by building objects or scenes that represented specific feelings, inspired by the movie Inside Out. They explained their creations to the robot and observed its reactions, learning that it's okay to feel a variety of emotions. It was a fun and meaningful way to connect emotions with hands-on building and storytelling. 

 This week, the STEM students were tasked with building a hotel that met specific requirements set by the Construction Manager robot. They carefully followed the guidelines and presented their designs to the robot for approval, learning about planning and attention to detail. It was a fun and engaging way to practice problem-solving skills while working toward meeting the robot's standards. 

 The students engaged in a coding activity where they programmed robots to navigate through an obstacle course they designed themselves. The activity encouraged problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork as students completed the course successfully. By combining coding skills with engineering principles, students gained valuable experience in both technology and design. 

 Have each family member choose an emotion and act it out through charades while others guess the feeling. Then, take turns sharing a story or memory that connects to that emotion, encouraging open communication and bonding. This activity fosters creativity, emotional expression, and helps family members better understand each other’s feelings. 

Challenge everyone to design and build a “family clubhouse” using blankets, pillows, and any materials you have around the house. Set specific requirements for the clubhouse, like adding a secret entrance or including a cozy reading nook, and work together to meet them. It’s a great way to foster teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving while spending quality time as a family! 

   Try building a DIY marble run using cardboard tubes, ramps, and tape. Once the track is built, challenge each family member to design a path that makes the marble travel the longest distance or go through the most loops. This activity encourages creativity, planning, and problem-solving while bringing the family together for some hands-on fun. 

With the winter wonderland outside providing the perfect backdrop, builders created their favorite winter activities and scenes. From building  snowy landscapes, snowpersons, to winter cabins it was a week of creative fun transforming the chilly outdoors into LEGO creations. 

 This week, the builders transformed into environmental engineers, designing innovative renewable energy inventions. From alternative solar panels to energy-harnessing toilets and futuristic spaceships, their creations showcased creativity and sustainability. The builders explored new ways to harness energy and imagined a cleaner, more sustainable future for our planet. 

 The robotics students are diving into compass concepts by navigating with North, South, East, and West to uncover buried treasure! Using their imagination, they pretended the robot was a ship, charting a course to find the "X marks the spot." This fun and interactive activity helps reinforce directionality while encouraging creativity and problem-solving skills. 

Take the family outside and create tracks in the snow, seeing who can leave the longest trail. Take out the tape measure and practice measuring distances.  It’s a perfect way to bond, get active, and enjoy the winter wonderland together!

 Next time you're outside, play "I Spy" with electric cars and use it as an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of electric versus gas-fueled cars. Encourage your young builders to share their thoughts on how these vehicles impact the environment. Listen to their creative ideas about how we can use technology to create a cleaner, more sustainable future! 

  Create a fun and engaging family activity by playing a custom-coded Battleship game together! Take turns strategically placing your ships and using coding concepts to create your own version of the classic game. This interactive experience combines teamwork, problem-solving, and learning, making it the perfect bonding activity for all ages. 

 This week we traveled back in time to the Mesozoic era (252-66 million years ago) where dinosaurs roamed the earth. The creators built their own dinosaurs with defense adaptations and unique appearances.  

 In our STEM classes we have been discussing how animals respond to the winter weather. The Very Important Builders created scenes of how their chosen animals survive in winter, whether their animal hibernates, migrates or stays active during the cold winter months. 

 This week, students combined literacy and problem-solving skills to read a story about a journey through town, where events were out of order, challenging them to think critically. They used a robot to navigate from place to place. Whether using the color sensor, following directions, or making measurements, students explored different strategies to reach their destinations and solve the story's puzzles.

 As a family, create your own "fossils" by pressing objects like leaves, shells, or small toys into clay or playdough to leave an imprint. Once the impressions are made, carefully remove the objects and let the clay dry to reveal your homemade fossils. Afterward, go on a “fossil hunt” around your home or yard to discover and identify the prints, just like paleontologists searching for ancient fossils! 

Bundle up and get outside and head to the nearest park. Look around for animal life, how are the animals surviving the winter? Can you spot a nest? A den? or a burrow? 

 Create a story where each person has to navigate a "town" using only North, South, East, and West directions to visit different locations like the school, park, or bakery.  Incorporate fun elements like measuring distances or using clues to help guide the way, turning it into a creative problem-solving adventure! 

In Creator Clubs this week, we talked about and built different styles of homes from around the world. We looked at why homes are built differently and the materials that can be used. Builds took a variety of directions, including homes in trees, towers, lighthouses, castles, igloos, rock dwellings, and more!  

In STEM Club, students were presented with a bride building challenge. Given only the resources available, they test how strong their bridge could be and it must span a certain distance. Lessons they learned along the way: more bricks isn't always stronger, testing leads to learning even if your bridge failed, overlapping joints,  try laminating your build for strength.

In all our Coding Clubs this week, we challenged the students with Sensor-based decision making.  This included using colour and distance sensors, and conditional coding blocks. For new comers it was an eye opening experience as their bot started to become more autonomous. For advanced coders, they were creating awesome autonomous driving instructions.

Get the snow suits on and go outdoors and try cutting some bricks out of the hard packed snow. See if you and your child can stack them up to make some shelter walls. Not enough snow? See if you can find some sticks, twigs and branches to make a small structure. What else can you use? 

Try making a minifigure sized walking bridge using only some string and popsicles, twigs, or lego plates (the thin pieces). 

Test it out by tying it between some table or chair legs. What knots or materials work best? Remember to note observations after each test to see what you learned and what can be improved.

Go for a walk with your child. As your child takes cues from their senses (red light means stop, loud horn means they have to look around, slipping on an icy patch means slow down or change feet position/arms out in case they fall. Discuss how these "inputs" from their "sensors" can be replicated in a robotic driving device or factory machine. 

This week, the Club focused on underwater adventures and how to make a vehicle airtight. Also what would they have on their vehicle to explore the depths. 

With all the ice and snow around, it was the perfect week to discuss friction. What it is, how to create it, and how to avoid it. Students experimented with a number of ways to reduce friction. 

Newer members continued to work on understanding bot movement codes. While the veterans focused on <if..then..> with the use of sensors to move their bot more autonomously.  

Fill a sink or tub with water and drop a number of items (not electronics or valuables!) in it. See which float and which sink. Discuss why certain items behave the way they do in water. 

Have your child try on different footwear and see which one has the most friction on different flooring surfaces around the house. Help them draw a conclusion about what causes the most/least friction.

Load the LEGO Education SPIKE App on to a tablet or IPad.  Go to the Prime section. Explore the coding blocks with your child so they become more familiar each of the block sections and all that the SPIKE can do.