They’ll also be sending little mechanical critters called hex bugs over bridges and through mazes they built.

Those are two of the hands-on activities designed to help young people sharpen their skills in the realms of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) that are included in kits that will be mailed to 200 families this week.

“These include a lot of fun things that will hopefully keep them engaged,” said Kelly Bergman, the north central regional manager of the Iowa STEM Council, a government agency created in 2011.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Art was added to the equation for the Fort Dodge project.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Some of the contents of STEAM kits being sent to 200 Fort Dodge families are shown in this box. Volunteers assembled the kits Tuesday at the East Campus of Iowa Central Community College. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

Bergman, who was in Fort Dodge Tuesday to help assemble the kits, said kids are at home a lot now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing these kits, she said, will give them the chance to innovate and practice problem solving skills at home.

The kits include the materials for these actvities:

• Building bridges for the hex bugs.

• Creating mazes for the hex bugs.

• Building rockets out of straws.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A hex bug rests on a table Tuesday morning. Building bridges and mazes for these toys to navigate are among the activities included in STEAM kits being distributed to 200 local kids.

• Painting with a pendulum.

• Putting together paper puzzles called tangrams.

Some booklets and book marks are also included.

English and Spanish versions of the kits were created, with activities suitable for children in kindergarten through middle school.

Flyers advertising the kits were distributed through the Fort Dodge Community School District and St. Edmond Catholic Schools. Families had to sign up to get a kit. All of them were claimed within 24 hours.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A carton full of boxes of toys called hex bugs was ready Tuesday morning for volunteers who would put them into STEAM kits to be distributed to 200 local children. Building bridges and mazes for the hex bugs are among the activities in the STEAM kits.

The Iowa STEM Council and Iowa Central Career Connections are paying for the kits.

A small group has been working on the STEAM kit project since September. It includes Bergman; Dawn Larson, economic development specialist for the city of Fort Dodge; Megan Kruse, work-based learning coordinator at Iowa Central Community College; and Ed Birkey, robotics teacher at Fort Dodge Senior High School.

Marissa Hamilton and Aubry Salgren, owners of the Artist Warehouse in Fort Dodge, helped to create the painting element for the kits.

Bergman, Larson and Kruse worked Tuesday morning at the East Campus of Iowa Central Community College to assemble the kits. They were joined by Matthew Stephan, an operations manager at the Cargill plant in Webster County who serves on the Regional STEM Advisory Board.

“I was benefitted by being involved in STEM in school,” he said. “I feel very strongly about it as a career path.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
These boxes were filled with items that children can use to enhance their skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.