An Easy Way to Set Up Engineering Challenges

Whether you want to offer some STEM related playful learning at home or you’re setting up a center at school for kids to use, there are a lot of simple materials that can be used in a variety of engineering challenges. (I’ve written on my blog about how just gathering up the recycling can make a STEM challenge, for example.)

Sarah at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls offers four great engineering challenges your kids can do with just three kinds of materials: plastic cups, craft sticks and little wooden blocks.

You can challenge them to do these particular tasks, or just give them the materials and see what they come up with. Or both! I love seeing how my daughter uses different materials and learns about how to balance a structure or make it taller as she goes. It’s so fun to watch kids’ minds work.

Do you keep materials on hand for engineering challenges? I’d love to hear what’s in your building box.

[Photo via Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.]

Next Plan Idea:

St. Patrick's Day STEM Project Ideas

Whether you have snow where you live or are on the wrong side of the world for that, these snow glob crafts for kids are a lot of fun to put together at home or in the classroom.

If you want to keep it super basic, you can download some snow globe coloring pages from Monday Mandala and have kids drawn in their own images (or color in what is there for the ones that are already filled). This could be a fun way to play with different media, having kids paint in one, draw in another, or use crayons in one, colored pencils in another, etc.

Or you can add your kid (or a classroom full of kids) to snowglobes with this craft from Twitchetts. It’s easy to make and fun for kids to help with, too.

You can also make snow globes with paper plates pretty easily, and there are lots of different options out there that should give you some ideas. This one from In the Playroom uses blue glittery pompoms as the snow and has a snowman in the background (though you can use whatever you want).

Mas and Pas uses a clear plate on top of a regular plate to make its snow globe, and Daydream into Reality just uses a paper plate to make the snow globe shape but there’s no snow involved. Their template includes different images you can put in the snow globe, or draw your own.

If you want to make a snow globe without the watery (so potentially less mess) you can make a waterless snow globe out of a plastic cup with this tutorial from The Pragmatic Parent. It uses tiny foam balls as the snow. Tidy Mom’s version uses a real glass jar and fake snow to flurry around.

And if you’re OK with using liquids in your snow globe, which will allow the snow to flutter like in a real snow globe, check out this version from 123 Homeschool 4 Me, which uses water and baby oil.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply