THUNDER BAY — Local kids are getting hands-on experience to learn about mechanics, gaming, and the arts.
Quest: Tech & Gaming, said Karan Kadolph, the city’s special events developer, is an event geared toward activities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM), plus interactive gaming stations, virtual reality experiences, and creative exhibits.
“This type of event is really neat because it is that steam focus. It gets kids kind of thinking about science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, and gives them different opportunities,” said Kadolph.
“What's always neat about this one, too, is that they can look at these different things and they think that they're having fun, but they're learning while they're doing this.”
The Fort William Gardens arena had more physical activities for the kids, like a light-up indoor hockey net, a basketball hoop, a silent disco, and virtual gaming.
Inside the Curling Club, Let's Talk Science, Superior Science, Science North, Blue Note Studios, Community Arts & Heritage Education Project (CAHEP), Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and Pro Kids had booths.
“It is geared towards kids, but at the same time, it is all ages. We do hear that seniors like tech, so there are lots of different opportunities. Science North, as an example, has activities for probably toddlers and up. Anybody who wants to learn how to program a battle bot can participate,” said Kadolph.
“It's not just kids, but it's also a really great opportunity if you want to come out, say, as a grandparent, bring your grandkids. It's also a really fun time for everybody.”
She said putting together these types of events takes a lot of pre-planning, but community partners make her job a lot easier.
“Just kind of trying to find those different kinds of niche people because this event is different than, say, Live on the Waterfront, where it's more artist and music focused. We also get to engage with different types of people as well, so it's a really neat opportunity,” said Kadolph.
The Quest: Tech & Gaming is a free event which takes place on May 9 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sat. May 10 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Fort William Gardens and Fort William Curling Club.
