Snapology STEM education center opens at Samanea Mall
The interior walls of the new Snapology at the Samanea Mall in Westbury look like they belong to a castle created in a Minecraft video game.
That’s appropriate because the new education and entertainment center focuses on teaching children STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — through play with Lego blocks, XP League video game competitions, robotics teams and more.
Snapology is a franchise; this is the first brick-and-mortar location on Long Island. Husband-and-wife owners Paul Bodycomb and Nancy Setzler of Seaford have been on more than 100 school visits with their Snapology mobile STEM bus since 2017. “This is our next step,” Bodycomb says.
The location will offer after-school programs, birthday parties and summer camps. It will also include an XP League esports team; both Snapology and XP League are owned by the umbrella company Unleashed Brands.
Here's some of what to expect at Snapology, which had its grand opening June 24:
A Preschool area: The preschool area offers a colorful alphabet carpet and miniature tables and chairs. Kids ages 2 to 4 will work in pairs on STEM projects geared to their level of understanding, says Deana Alejandro, co-manager. “At this age we talk about gears and axles. We talk about how things move,” Alejandro says. “It’s a good engineering program for them.”
A Disovery Center: The Discovery Center allows for open play. It’s got Lego tables, huge soft-play shapes to build towers and forts, a design-your-own race car and racetrack to face off against others, and an Eye-Play center that projects more than 300 games onto the floor for physical play — Aliens Vs. Scientists, for example, is like playing Whac-A-Mole using your feet. A virtual reality area lets kids ride on a virtual roller-coaster, for instance. "My own children loved the virtual reality set," says Pam Gottlieb of Seaford, 38, a special-education teacher who has two children, Jack, 7, and Brooke, 4. "They liked the projection onto the floor."
The Snapology Room: This room can fit up to 24 children and will be used for classes and birthday parties. Elizabeth Schoepflin, 37, a teacher from Massapequa Park, took a sample class on robotics creation with her husband, Adam, 37, a pastor, and their three children, Lucas, 8, Sophia, 5, and Noah, 3. They built a robotic dolphin together. "They were excited when they were able to program the dolphin and see it move," Elizabeth says of the children.
A Robotics Team Room: Snapology plans to offer Lego First Robotics teams; kids build an operate autonomous robots and compete against other area teams. A teacher will be the coach, Setzler says.
An X-League Competition Room: The Westbury Warriors is the name of the X-League esports team for children ages 7 to 17 that will compete in video games such as Fortnite, Valorant, Minecraft and more with other teams from around North America, Setzler says. The team room has 15 computers and computer chairs. “We’re taking them out of their bedrooms, we’re taking them out of their basements, and we’re putting them on a team,” Setzler says. “We’re using Fortnite to teach cooperation, teamwork.” They plan to have the children wear team jerseys and get the parents involved just like they get into their kids’ soccer competitions. “We want them … rooting for their children,” Bodycomb says.
Snapology
WHEN | WHERE Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 1 to 9 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., check website for open play hours during those days; upstairs at the Samanea Mall, 1500 Old Country Rd., Westbury
COST Price for classes and monthly memberships vary by class, age and number of children.
INFO 516-785-0080, snapology.com, westbury.xpl.gg
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
