Robots and Bio-Mimicry: Using Inspiration From Nature to Design Robots

I teach STE(A)M Enrichment classes for kids from age 3 - 9. I've taught them in-person in the Seattle area since 2014, and have been teaching online since March 2020. You can find all my lesson plans at www.InventorsOfTomorrow.com, where I cover 40+ topics, and I have  hands-on experiments, craft projects, songs, recommended books, and videos about science and engineering. 
I've got a master's in social work, but mostly I am a teacher and a writer. For the past 30 years, I have been teaching diverse topics to diverse ages from toddlers to adults - everything from medieval cooking to renaissance dance, from childbirth preparation to parenting, from toddler storytimes to sexuality education for tweens and teens. I co-wrote books about pregnancy and birth, have a podcast about birth, and I write blogs on pregnancy, parenting, and STEM learning for kids.
I'm also a parent: I have three kids, age 27, 24, and 10. All are gifted, and all are ADHD and/or autistic. So in my classes, I welcome quirky kids with intense interests and an off-beat sense of humor.
My teaching philosophy: Our kids are true digital natives, and have known how to “swipe” a touchscreen since before they knew how to walk. Technology will always be a part of their lives. But if you talk to the engineers who designed and built that technology, most will tell you of childhoods spent running outside, digging in sandboxes, taping cardboard boxes together, building blanket forts, and a lot of time with Legos, Lincoln Logs, erector sets and more.  I believe the inventors of tomorrow will come from the kids of today who have that same interactive experience with the real world – hands-on, child-led, diverse play with all their senses engaged. 
I emphasize PLAYING with science, experimenting, testing out ideas, failing and trying again. I teach songs because I know they help kids' brains develop and help them remember ideas. I read silly stories with wild flights of imagination to inspire kids. When we do crafts, it's never about re-creating a beautiful frame-worthy artwork... it's about the process of building and re-building - tinkering to get it just right. We do science because it's fun!!