Welcome to the first post in a series I am calling STEM Learning at Home. A number of STEM learning concepts will be explored in this series. Some of the subjects include simple machines, boat building, and gardening. Let’s start with building pulleys.
Did you know that there are two major types of pulleys?
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- Fixed pulleys are attached to a structure or a base.
- Moveable pulleys have their rope or string attached to a structure or base. The pulley is free to move.
Before Building Pulleys You Might Want to Read About Them
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Below you will find some wonderful books about pulleys. Your children will learn more about pulleys and how they work by listening or reading one of the books.
Building Pulleys
Each of the pulleys can be made using items you have a home. You can gather the materials for the pulleys on your own if you like, but it might be fun for your children to gather them. Gathering of the building pulley materials could be like a scavenger hunt.
Each of the pulleys has been shared in its own post previously. You can click on the activity picture below or the link under it to get to the post.
The first activity features two pulleys. You will notice that two rolling pins are used to make the pulleys. If you don’t have two rolling pins, you can use something else you have at home.
For Example:
- Paper Towel Rolls
- Soda or Juice Cans
- Empty Tin Cans. (The open edges of the tin cans may need tape on them to keep your children from being cut.)
- Sections from a Pool Noodle
- Potato Chip Cans.
This fixed pulley activity was designed to go with the book Little Blue Truck. I created the truck displayed with tape, but you don’t have to. You could print out the truck I created for a math game. It is also based on the book Little Blue Truck. Then you can glue the picture of the truck to a piece of cardboard. A piece of paper might flap around as you lift it.
Your children will need to use yarn looped through straws on the back on the robot to make the pulley work. The robot template used in this activity is available on this post. If your children are not into robots, I have another post that features a similar pulley. This activity features a climbing firefighter.
