Marble Runs and Other Activities with Marbles for Kids

I read that April 7 is National Marble Day, but of course any day is a good day to play with marbles. Making marble runs is a great STEM activity, and you can even pull in some art activities by painting with marbles and using them in other ways, too. Check out these fun marble run ideas and other activities to do with marbles.

You can make a marble run with a cereal box (Made by Joel), or a box and craft sticks (Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls), a paper plate (Kids Activities Blog) or several (Frugal Fun again), cardboard tubes (Powerful Mothering), a geo board (love this one from The Creative Homemaker) Legos (Mama Papa Bubba), an old CD case (Bloesem) foam pipe insulation (Buggy and Buddy) or pool noodles (Little Bins for Little Hands) just to name a few. Give your kiddos a bunch of supplies and see what they come up with!

Use an inclined plane to build your marble run and it becomes a science lesson, too. Check out this one from Preschool Toolkit.

How about some art projects? This marble sun catcher from Kids Activities Blog is so pretty I want to make one myself. Mable painting is also fun for adults as well as kids, and you can learn how to do it from the Artful Parent.

Did you know you can use marbles in tie dyeing? It’s a simple technique that gives fun results. Check out the instructions on FaveCrafts. They used socks but you could of course do this with a shirt, bandana or anything else you want to dye.

If you have marbles and plastic cups you can make this super simple marble game from All for the Boys. So easy and kids can play it over and over (use a cardboard box if you don’t have cups handy).

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Learning about Women in STEM

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

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