Make a Snow Storm in a Jar

Here’s an easy STEM project for when it’s too cold to go outside, or if you don’t have any real snow where you live to play in.

This snowstorm in a jar activity is pretty low prep, and similar to making “lava lamps,” though with an extra fizzy ingredient. You might have all the materials you need to do this one already. If not a trip to the grocery store will get you everything you need.

There are several scientific things happening in this experiment that give you a chance to talk about density and chemical reactions, but I’ll leave that to the blog post where you can find the how to and the why, at Little Bins for Little Hands.

[Photo: Little Bins for Little Hands.]

Stick Raft Building STEM Activity

Egg Drop STEM Challenge

STEAM activities (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) provide numerous benefits for children. These activities can help kids develop a wide range of skills, including:

Problem-solving: STEAM activities often involve solving complex problems, which helps children develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Creativity: The arts component of STEAM activities encourages children to think creatively and express themselves in unique ways.

Collaboration: Many STEAM activities require children to work in teams, which helps them develop teamwork and collaboration skills.

STEM literacy: By participating in STEAM activities, children gain exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts and develop their STEM literacy.

Career readiness: STEAM activities can help children explore different career paths and become more prepared for future jobs in STEM fields.

Confidence and motivation: Through STEAM activities, children can build confidence, improve their motivation, and increase their interest in STEM fields.

Overall, STEAM activities can be a fun and engaging way for children to learn important skills and explore their interests.

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

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