A giant smile spread across Sophia Ferrara's face as she enthusiastically glued washers onto a bicycle tire tube, transforming it from a worn-out piece of rubber into a belt.
"This is so much fun," said Sophia, 10, and a fifth-grader at St. Matthew the Apostle School in River Ridge. "I'd much rather be doing this than sitting at home watching television or playing on the computer."
Sophia was among the children ages 9 to 12 who participated in a recent program called "Steampunk Accessories" at the Wagner Library in Metairie.
Steampunk is an imaginary style of creating objects with spare parts. A sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history and speculative fiction, Steampunk came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power was still widely used, usually the 19th century and often Victorian-era Britain, that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy.
The event, organized by Andrea Heingarten, the children's librarian at Wagner, explored what it would have been like if people living in the 1800s had tried to build cars and other objects with spare parts.
Participants used bicycle inner tubes, rubber cement, hot glue, washers and scissors to create belts.
For 12-year-old Hannah Guichet, the idea of taking a bicycle inner tube and making a belt out of it was a fun way to spend a summer afternoon.
"I love decorating and creating things," said Hannah, a sixth-grade student at Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies in Metairie.
Hannah's father, Chip Guichet, said the Steampunk event was a positive way for his daughter to develop her creative interests during the summer.
"A program like this helps keep Hannah mentally active in the summer while she is out of school," Guichet said. "Hannah is creative, so she loves activities like this."
Metairie resident Chase Jouglard said the Steampunk project was a way for him to learn something new.
"I've never done anything like this before," said Chase, who is 9. "And I like doing stuff that's new to me."
Kayla Cook, 9, said creating a belt out of a bicycle tube and exploring the Steampunk program was "more fun than computer games."
"And I also like creating things that are pretty," Kayla said.
Kayla's mother, Dawn Cook, said she saw the Steampunk program as an opportunity for her daughter to learn how things are made and created.
"This was a hands-on project that helped children figure out how things are made," Cook said. "I think it is important for children to know that it isn't always easy to make things and that things don't just come to you automatically."