by Brittany Burns, Children's Services Specialist December 2022
A new year brings all sorts of new things. In my case, every new year I make a goal for myself that I then have the year to work on. In 2022, my goal was to improve my drawing skills. I’m still trying to figure out what 2023’s goal will be. Here are some great options if you want to make learning a skill your new year goal.
A great goal for the year is getting involved in the Pinewood Derby. It is a great activity that you can do all year round. It is also a lot of fun! A good place to start is Getting Started in Pinewood Derby: Step-by-step Workbook to Building Your First Car by Troy Thorne. It walks you through building your own pinewood derby car from start to finish. That is not all you can do though. You get to decorate your car, build tracks to test it, and make modifications to make it go faster!
You don't have to learn something new all on your own; why not learn how to cook with your family? Everyone loves to eat and there is no greater feeling than making something new and seeing the faces of your family as they enjoy what you created other than getting to eat it yourself. A couple of great places to start are The No Cook Cookbook and Bake, Make & Learn to Cook: Fun & Healthy Recipes for Young Cooks. Both of these walk you through the basics of cooking so anyone can do it.
Do you like to play games? Try to create your own! With coding, you can create your own video game that friends and family can test for you. You can also create your own board game. You can decide the rules, pieces, and playing field. A great place to start is Invent a Game!:And More Coding & Strategy Challenges by Megan Borget-Spaniol. This book focuses more on online or video games but the strategies used could also be used to create tabletop games as well.
Finally, you can learn about the stars. The universe is vast and things are happening all the time. Start discovering what the universe has to offer now. A great place to start is Stargazing for Kids: an Introduction to Astronomy by Jonathon Poppelle. You can also learn to make your own telescope at home so you can get a better view of the wonders of the universe.
These are just a few of the many things you can learn and make your goal to master for 2023. The best part is that whatever you decide to do, the library is almost guaranteed to have books on the subject to help you out.