Tell me about your classes and what excites you about teaching at Anderson Ranch.
One of my classes is The Art of Legos for younger kids. I am also teaching ArtBots, which is for the older kids. The Art of Legos I love because we play with traditional Legos and the kids make a lot of little trinkets. They make farms, design their own mini figures and we dump lots of Legos on the floor and have the kids make different constructions. I give them different challenges. We then move into using the Lego “We Do” system, which is the robotic system, and so for the younger kids that’s a really nice transition.
I love to be up at Anderson Ranch. It’s a different environment than the classroom and I love having the art interns to help me. It is such a luxury to have someone there to assist me with the kids and to have access to the outside the way we do. It’s wonderful, it’s well worth it.
What are some of the projects you work on?
This year we are adding Humming Bird Robotics which is from a company called Bird Brain Technology. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. The kids will make an entirely artistic sculpture. It could be anything. Our kids have done animated maps and they have made creatures and instruments of all kinds.
Also, the kids get to make their own motorized robot to take home. They make it out of cardboard, feathers and paper pipe cleaners. Some of the kids go in the direction of transportation, so they will make an airplane, a helicopter or a car. Other kids will go into fantasyland and make a dragon. It is so exciting to see what they come up with.
Caroline Hanson will be teaching ArtBots: explorations in robotics & programming and The Art of LEGO children’s workshops this summer.
