POTTSTOWN PA – Volunteers at the Pottstown Children’s Discovery Center put an emphasis on learning Saturday (March 4, 2023) with activities geared toward science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. That’s known by the acronym “STEAM” among educators and, undoubtedly, the dozens of children and parents attending the event learned plenty.
Truth be told, though, the kids were there having fun. By the look of it, so were the adults.
The center’s expanded venue, at 95 S. Hanover St. in space made available by Montgomery County Community College, filled several rooms with interactive entertainment from 10 a.m. to noon.
Its volunteers cleverly disguised an exercise in fractions to look like simple hopscotch. Connecting large-diameter plastic pipes (above) turned out to be the delight of future engineers. Budding artists designed greeting cards to be presented to loved ones, and decorated cups in which they will later grow plants (at top). There were several other activities, too.
Possibly most popular and messiest of all was a craft table (above and at right) at which youngsters were guided to make bird feeders from cardboard tubes. They were slathered with shortening and embedded with seeds. College-level ornithology classes are unlikely to hold as much fascination.
Discovery Center founder and Executive Director Beth Desch and members of its board of directors, all wearing bright colored promotional T-shirts, were available seemingly everywhere. They answered questions, directed visitors to exhibits they may have not yet seen, or pointed them to activities yet to be tried. One of them, the newest, was a huge Lego wall (above) built by Luke Johnson Construction of Pottstown.
The center’s next scheduled event is a “Cardboard Build,” planned for April 1 (2023; Saturday) at the Hanover Street location. “We’ll provide the supplies,” the center told parents, and “you bring the inventors.”
Photos by Debbie Zlomek for The Post
