Quiet a Jingle Bell STEM Challenge

There are so many fun ways to use Christmas decorations in learning activities. We have a whole bunch of jingle bells and we have used them in counting and sorting games, for craft projects and more through the years.

Little Bins for Little Hands has a cute idea for a jingle bell STEM challenge: how to make a jingle bell be quiet.

You probably have all the materials on hand you need for this experiment, except maybe the plastic fillable ornament (you could just use a plastic container you already have on hand if you want, though it’s not quite as seasonal that way.

This looks like a lot of fun and allows you to talk about how sound works and why different materials might muffle sound better. In my house it would probably also turn into a craft project afterward.

[Photo: Little Bins for Little Hands.]

Check out our Online store for special buys on Educational gifts We find bulk items and end-of-stock supplies to bring you heavily discounted items. (make sure you check our store often so you don’t miss out on new stock). We also have some free printable files, including a Science PDF for learning about Microscopes.

The notion of the importance of teaching kids how to write cursive seems to wax and wane. While some schools have taken it out of their curriculum, many still see the value of learning how to write and read script. My daughter learned how to write in cursive and though she doesn’t need it often, I’m glad to know she has those skills anyway.

If you’re a teacher or you want to teach your own children how to write in cursive, I found this great resource from The OT Toolbox that I think will help. They did a whole series of 31 days of posts about writing cursive and breaking down the skills that are needed to know how to form letters in cursive. It starts with the most basic elements — how and where a child is sitting, and how their paper is positioned.

It includes gross motor activities to get kids warmed up for writing, letter families and the starting lines used to start to form letters, tips for left handed students, letter identification, pencil grasp, writing speed and assessing problems, among other things.

You’ll also find some cursive letter flash cards that can be used to help with writing practice or letter identification.

You can find the whole series at The OT Toolbox.

Looking for more tools to help kids learn cursive? I love these free cursive letter practice printables from Living Loving Lancaster, which include practicing individual letters and tracing letters to write quotes.

Or grab individual letter practice worksheets that just include the letter in upper and lower case for kids to practice. These are from Everyday Chaos and Calm and are a great way to start practicing the individual letter forms. They also include a little map at the top that shows which way to form the letter or in what order if there are multiple strokes involved.

[Photo via The OT Toolbox]

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