Students involved in Kid's Innovation Playground, a nonprofit after-school program that leads STEAM activities, will be displaying its Santa's North Pole Village from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at the North Trails Public Library, located at 1553 W. Sunbury Road.

Lorraine Shaffer, executive director and founder of Kid's Innovation Playground, said the event will include the viewing of the students' created village and cookies with Santa.

Fourteen students spent four weeks in the Arts and Bots program, where they planned, programmed and created the village. Featured models will be of snowmen, Santa popping out of a chimney and even a Starbucks coffee shop.

“The kids come up with their ideas,” Shaffer said. “They brainstormed for an hour and a half and thought about what they wanted with movement and lights. They were able to be themselves and we helped them.”

Shaffer said most students were interested in being involved in the construction of the village after going through a program called Arts and Bots Intro, where they learned about block coding, Humming Bird robotics kits and light and motion sensors.

Students in the programs are weaving multiple school subjects together in STEAM activities, according to Shaffer.

“They're using angles, programming, art, learning to do mechanisms. We're pulling things into one big happy party and the kids don't even realize,” Shaffer said. “Everything we do mixes these things seamlessly ... it teaches them troubleshooting.”

The Kid's Innovation Playground was created for groups of students who have nothing to do after school. Shaffer said often it's the students who were falling behind in the classroom that thrive in these activities.

“My kids that were flying behind, you get them into this situation and they're engineers and inventors ... there are kids on the autism spectrum that are amazing at this,” Shaffer said. “Parents are thankful because 60% to 70% of kids don't have an after-school thing. This is so cool to make a place for these kids.”

Families have been invited to see the product of the students' hard work. The event is free and open to the public as well, and Shaffer said this has students excited.

“When they feel they have that purpose, they really want to do a good job,” Shaffer said.

Having previously been a teacher in the Moniteau School District, Shaffer said she anticipates some of her students finding future careers based on their interest in the STEAM program.

“I'll be anxious to see where these kids end up in 10 years when they pick a career,” Shaffer said.

For more information on the Kid's Innovation Playground and Santa's North Pole Village event, visit kidsinnovationplayground.com or see the Kid's Innovation Playground Facebook page.