FREMONT – Kids can build ships and boats, learn creative construction and make their own roller coaster this summer during the Frohman Summer Series: Hands-on History at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.

The three-part series, which promotes learning about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through local history, will take place in-person during three sessions.

There also will be 10 take-home kits available per session for those who would rather complete the activities at home.

The in-person programs and take-home kits are free. Kids can attend or obtain take-home kits for one, two or all three sessions.

In-person sessions are from 10 a.m.-noon.

Registration for in-person attendance or to receive a take-home kit that can be picked up at Hayes Presidential is required. To register, contact Julie Mayle, curator of manuscripts, at 419-332-2081, ext. 239, or [email protected].

This series is geared toward 6 to 11-year-olds.

Sessions for each month are:

• June 15 – Cedar Point Roller Coasters: Students can learn about speed, strength, gravity and other principles of physics and engineering by building a roller coaster using a variety of materials. From 1892 to today, coasters have been a top attraction of Cedar Point amusement park generation after generation. Using the Charles E. Frohman Collection photographs, drawings and documents, students will analyze and build models of 19th and 20th-century coasters, comparing them to today’s coasters.

• July 13 – All Hands on Deck — Ships and Boats of the Great Lakes: Students will learn about buoyancy, flotation, displacement and other principles of physics and engineering by building different types of boats with a variety of materials. Using the Frohman Collection photographs, drawings and documents, students will learn about the Great Lakes commercial shipping industry, as well as the passenger vessels that occupied the area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• Aug. 17 – Thinking Outside the Box — Engineering and Creative Construction: Using the Frohman historic photographs and documents, students will learn about the innovative cardboard box manufacturer, Hinde & Dauch Paper Company. The business successfully operated from 1880 to 1981 in Sandusky. Students will gain an understanding of basic engineering principles and use that knowledge to construct functional bridges, containers and towers.

Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner for the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection.

For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org.