Kids: Detectives for a day at the Woodinville library

For one day, 8-year-old Kimberly Horton got to play detective. She dusted for fingerprints, looked for clues under a black light and made mold casts.

But the fingerprints were her own. The clues under the black light were from other children's hands and the molds were taken from her own thumb.

Horton and her 5-year-old sister Elizabeth joined about 50 children at the Woodinville Public Library on Tuesday to learn how much fun science can be, with the help of the King County Sheriff's Office and its "Science on Patrol." "I hope they do this again next year, because kids get to learn about a detective's work," she said. Her favorite part was the mold of her thumb print that she got to take home.

The demonstration was part of a series sponsored by the Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) division of the sheriff's office. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation and is usually done over several sessions in elementary and middle schools. It began last year and is expanding this year to several other King County schools.

Lori Horton said she thought the event would be a fun way to have her daughters meet law enforcement. Girls are ideal candidates for the program because they are generally harder to get interested in math and science, said Sgt. Reid Johnson, who helps organize the program.

In the fall, when schools are back in session, students will have the opportunity to learn how police process crime scenes and bag evidence. Eventually, Johnson said, he hopes students will get to hold mock trials to further explore the field of criminal justice.

The sheriff's office program coincided with this year's summer reading theme, "Get A Clue," at the Woodinville Public Library, and library representatives were quick to ask for a condensed version during its summer program. It was a great success, said children's librarian Bigie Unger.

"It gives them a hands-on understanding of how detectives work," she said.

For Elizabeth, who can now detail to others the types of fingerprints there are, it was an interesting day.

Jody Tamura-Deerring, who manned the AFIS fingerprint dusting table, told her, "You did a great job."

"Thanks," she responded shyly before hurrying to show her mother her project. "But Mama, don't touch the black stuff. It's not dry."

Nancy Kelsey: nkelsey@seattletimes.com