Lego Robots and a Whole Lotta Drama at Malta Kids Club

Malta Kids Club has been busy with a pair of camps this month, as the local boys and girls club has hosted Lego Camp and Drama Camp in the month of July.

The PCN caught up with Lego Camp Directors Elaine Stannebein and Hope Anderson, as well as Drama Camp Director Hannah Lane.

Lego Camp:

According to Anderson, there are only two other kids clubs in the state of Montana that participate in Lego Robotics.

"They really like building with Legos," Stannebein said. "What they are discovering is that they need to program and they are discovering that programming is really fun. They are learning without realizing that they are learning and it is wonderful, and they are enjoying it."

Lego Robotics Camp and Drama Camps were broken into two groups; children in first to third grade and children fourth through high school.

Though both age groups have been working with Lego Robotics, the older group has had a more advanced program.

"They have projects that they have to do," Stannebein said. "One project that they have to do is deliver a package and put it on a doorstep."

The older kids get points for completing tasks like delivering packages. If it is a clean delivery without hitting the door, they get more points.

"If they hit the door, they get points taken away, so they have to be very careful on how they do this," Stannebein said.

The group also practiced air deliveries with their robots.

"There is a helicopter drop," Anderson said. "This is called delivery system and cargo connect. It's quite involved. Things are easy and then start to get harder."

She said that there are objects that students have to drive around simulating an item on the road.

"There is a chicken that they have to avoid on the road," Anderson said. "It's just fun."

Though it was the first year that the club featured Lego Robotics as a camp, two Kids Club members had previous experience last year.

'These kids have picked up so fast, a lot faster than an older person would," Anderson said. "This is a good time for them to learn to do this."

Malta freshman Alex Oshio was one of the first campers to use Lego Robotics last year.

"I like how you get to build it and program it the way that you want," Oshio said. "You don't have to build it a certain way. I like doing this because it helps your imagination grow."

Drama Camp:

Drama Camp has been led by Instructors Hannah Lane and Izzie Hallenberg.

Lane was asked how the camp was going after a session earlier this month.

"I believe the camp is going well so far," Lane told the PCN. "The kids are still trickling in from the 4th of July vacation. The first week we have been figuring out things the kids want to learn about theater."

At the time, the group was working on a play called "The Cheetah and the Sloth," a short play based on Justin McCory Martin's The Tortoise and the Hare.

"The goal is to have a short of what we worked on at the end of July," Lane said. "Dates and time to be announced. We will see what the month brings!"