STEM Archives - Page 13 of 20

January STEAM Activity Calendar 2021

December 29, 2020 By Deirdre

After so many of you enjoyed the December 2020 STEAM calendar, I created a January 2021 STEAM Calendar. This calendar features a number of snow-themed STEAM activities. The calendar also contains activities and experiments that focus on January holidays. Some of the STEAM activities are from right here on JDaniel4’s Mom. Others come from some of my favorite websites and blogs. While the activities on the calendar appear on a specific day, you can explore them on any day you would like to.

Building Background Before Starting an Activity

Books with a Snow-Theme

Links below are affliate links.

You may want to read your children a book related to the STEAM activities you choose to do. Below you will find some wonderful books that would go along with STEAM activities.

Books That Celebrate January Holidays

Getting the January STEAM Activity Calendar

The January STEAM Activities Calendar 2021 is a PDF. Once you have downloaded the calendar, you will need a PDF reader to open it. (I use the application Acrobat Reader.)

Exploring the January STEAM Activity Calendar

You will be able to access the directions needed to explore each activity when you click on each day’s hyperlink. After you get to each activity’s blog post, you will find a supply list and the step by step activity directions. Some of the activities offer free printables or recording sheets. You can use what they have for you to download or create your own versions of the activities if you like. Remember the idea was to inspire you to explore STEAM activities with your children. You know what they can handle and how they like to explore concepts and activities.

A variety of different types of STEAM activities have been included on the calendar. You may find that some are more appropriate for older children while others are great for children of all ages. I think that some of them could be done with a partner or parent. However some of you may have children that want to complete them on their own.

More STEAM Activities

STEAM activities are so much fun. They are a great way for children explore and learn so many math, science, engineering, art and technology concepts. After exploring the activities on the calendar, I hope you will explore the activities below.

The Best Coin to Use in a Coin Spinner

Tin Foil Penny Challenge

Leap Frog Straw Challenge

Make a Paper Horse that Walks

STEM Learning at Home- Building Pulleys

March 23, 2020 By Deirdre

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?

- 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

Links below are affiliate links.

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.

STEM Building Task Cards that Explore Numbers and Math Concepts

March 22, 2020 By Deirdre

Many of us learn and come to understand math concepts like numbers, tally marks, and shapes through hands-on learning. Below you are going to find a series of STEM building task cards that you can download for free.

Exploring the Math Concepts

There are several ways your children can explore the math concepts on the cards. First, they can place crayons over the crayons on the cards. Second, they can place their building creation beside the card. Finally, they can place the crayons below the card. The last two options will allow your children’s eyes to scan left to right or up and down.

Wait! Do We Need to Use Crayons?

If you don’t have crayons available, you could use any of the following items to build with:

craft sticks
Q-tips
straws
plastic spoons
pencils
toothpicks (You may want to cut off the sharp tips of the toothpicks before you have your children use them.)

Exploring Math Concepts in Books

Below you will find a children’s book at explores one or many of the math concepts featured on the cards. You may want to read one of the books to your children before they start this activity.

Links below are affiliate links.

Getting the STEM Task Cards

You can click on the link below each of the task card set pictures it will take you to the post that shares more about each of the sets. You will find a hyperlink to the PDF file for each set of task cards on the post.

As I mentioned the sets are in a PDF format. You will need to have a PDF document reader like Adobe Acrobat to open the sets.

Once you have downloaded the set that you want, you can print them out. I would recommend printing them out onto cardstock if you have it available.

Building Shapes with Crayons STEM Task Cards

Greater Than and Less Than STEM Task Cards

Learning Numbers 1-10 with Crayons STEM Task Cards

Learning Numbers 11-20 with Crayons STEM Task Cards

Exploring the STEM Task Cards

You can have your children build on their own or you can build alongside them. Whether they build what is on each card on their own or with you, you will want to have your children describe to you what they have built and how they built it. Breaking down the process they used step by step will help them use higher-level thinking skills.

There is one more task card set in this series. It focuses on letters of the alphabet.

Learning Letters with Crayons STEM Task Cards

Pool Noodle Shark with Rubber Band Launcher

June 27, 2019 By Deirdre

A number of years ago I shared with you a shark-themed pool noodle craft. Recently my friend Caren can up with a way to use my craft idea to make a flying shark with a rubber band launcher. Your kids are just going to love it. It will be fun to make during Shark Week, an ocean-themed birthday party, or an ocean unit at school. While your children will love shooting into the air, I have listed a number of ways that your children can use their shark to explore math concepts at the end of this post.

Before your children start creating their pool noodle sharks, you may want to read them a book about sharks. It will help them gain some background information on sharks and what they look like.

Links below are affiliate links.

Creating the Pool Noodle Shark with Rubberband Launcher

Getting the Supplies Ready

You will need to gather and prepare the following supplies:

6-inch section of a pool noodle
Clothespin with a spring in the center
Thick rubber band
One whole popsicle stick
One half of a popsicle stick
3 fins cut out of a blue foam sheet
2 rows of teeth cut out of a white foam sheet
Black Sharpie marker
Serrated knife
Exacto knife

Getting the Pool Noodle Ready

1. You will need to cut a mouth section out of one end of the pool noodle.
2. Then you will need to cut slits on either side of the pool noodle. The slits need to be right across from each other. You will want them to be about 3 inches from the front of the pool noodle.
3. Next, you will need to place a slit on the top of the pool noodle about 3 inches from the front of the pool noodle.

Finally, you will need to create slits to place the teeth in inside the mouth. You will need a slit at the top and one at the bottom.

Putting the Shark Together

1. You will need to place the rubber band long ways around the clothespin.
2. Place the clothespin in the mouth of the shark. You will want it just barely stick out of the shark’s mouth.

1. Then you will place the whole popsicle stick through the side slots in the shark. A section of the popsicle should stick out on both sides of the shark. (This popsicle stick will hold the rubber band in place too.)
2. A fin will then be glued onto each end of the popsicle stick.
3. Next, you will place the half section of the popsicle stick into the top slot.
4. The final fin will need to be glued onto the half section of the popsicle stick.

Next, you will need to draw eyes on the shark.
The teeth will need to be slipped into the mouth slits.
Finally, you will remove the clothespin from the rubber band.

Playing with the Pool Noodle Shark

Children will need to hold the shark in one hand. Then they will place the pointer finger on the other hand into the rubber band end that is sticking out of the shark. They will need to pull the rubber band forward and the shark back. When they feel the tension on the rubber band, they will let it go and it will fly off their finger.

Math Concepts You Can Explore

Your children can try launching the shark at various angles.
Children can measure how far the shark flies with a measuring tape.
Your children can skip count or count up to a specific number before launching their shark.

Here are some more shark-themed activities!

How to Do Sharks Float?

How to Make a Pool Noodle Shark

How to Draw a Shark with an Algorithm Worksheets

Easter STEM Activities with Plastic Eggs

March 22, 2019 By Deirdre

With the temperatures getting warmer you can explore the Easter themed plastic egg STEM activities indoor or out of doors. Your children will have fun using leftover plastic eggs from last year! Maybe you would rather use a new set of eggs at the store to use for this super cool experiments!

Easter STEM Activities with Plastic Eggs

You are going to have a hard time deciding which of these to try first! Each of the STEM experiments invites your children to explore a different science concept.

Plastic Egg Sink or Float Activity from No Time for Flashcards

Easter Egg Rockets from STEM Laboratory

Plastic Egg Greenhouse

Wobbly Eggs on a Ramp Experiment from And Next Comes L

Magnet Powered Egg Cars from Science Sparks

Seed Germination Activity- Will the Color of the Egg Affect Seed Growth

Easter Egg Rockets from Inspiration Laboratories

Plastic Egg Submarines from There’s Just One Mommy

Building a Plastic Egg Tower from The Educator’s Spin on It

Creating Plastic Egg Parachutes

Magnetic Science with Plastic Eggs from Modern Preschool

Plastic Egg Gutter Ramp Exploration from Adventures with Adam

STEM Plastic Egg Zip Line from Science Sparks

Plastic Egg Stacking Challenge from Lesson 4 Little Ones

Building a Fence to Keep Peter Rabbit out of the Garden

My Favorite Plastic Eggs

The links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Your children will have fun exploring the Easter STEM activities with plastic eggs featured in this post. #jdaniel4smom #plasticeggs #STEM #Easter

St Patrick’s Day STEM Challenges for Kids

March 12, 2019 By Deirdre

There are some many symbols of St Patrick’s Day and Irish legends. that lend themselves to St Patrick’s Day STEM challenges for kids. Below you will find some of my favorites. Some of the STEM challenges come from right here on JDaniel4’s Mom. Some challenges come from other incredible blogs.

Before you check out the St Patrick’s Day STEM challenges with your kids, you may want to read a book with an Irish-theme. It will help your children build background information on Ireland and Irish legends.

Links below are affiliate links.

St Patrick’s Day STE Challenges

Rainbow STEM Challenges

Your children will have such fun creating a rainbow with celery stalks. Coffee Cups and Crayons

used this experiment to explore how plants “drink” water from the ground.

Buggy and Buddy has a rainbow reflection activity using a CD that your children will enjoy.

Creating a Skittles Rainbow as Raising Life Long Learners did will be fun. Your kids will probably want to taste test some of the Skittles before you start the experiment.

Little Bin for Little Hands sure had fun creating LEGO rainbow challenges. Completing the challenges will be fun for your kids too.

Building a rainbow with craft sticks and play dough as Preschool Powol Packets did could be tricky. Children will have to do some planning to get the sticks to lean at the correct angles to create a rainbow.

Leprechaun STEM Challenges

Your children will have fun creating magic rocks filled with gold coins. Leprechauns may decide they want to hide their coins the way that Gift of Curiosity did.

Children will have fun creating leprechaun traps like the one JDaniel and I did.

It is so much fun to make straw rockets. Leaping leprechaun straw rockets are great to make for St. Patrick’s Day.

Housing a Forest held leprechaun balloon rocket races. Your children will love creating rockets and racing them.

Fizzing leprechaun pots like the ones create by Little Bins for Little Hands are sure to be a hit with your kids.

Shamrock STEM Challenges

Your kids will love making fizzing shamrocks like Gift of Curiosity did.

A squishy circuit shamrock challenge will brighten your kids day. They will love building a circuit in their homemade shamrock just like Schooling a Monkey did.

Your kids are going to love growing crystals in a shamrock shape like Housing Forest did.

STEM Challenges Based on the Irish Culture

In Dublin, Ireland there is a bridge called the Ha’penny Bridge. What fun it would be to build a bridge for pennies like the ones on Kids Activities Blog.

This pot of gold themed sink or float activity from Little Bins for Little Hands uses pennies too.

Your children will have to weave paper arcs above and below each other to form a Celtic knot when the explore this activity.

STEM Challenge – Building a Colander Trampoline

March 5, 2019 By Deirdre

Today I have STEM trampoline challenge for you. Your children will have fun building a trampoline using a colander. They can use a full-size colander or a child size one.

If your children are not familiar with trampolines, you may want to read them one of the children’s books below. Each one has a trampoline theme.

Links below are affiliate links.

Getting Ready for the STEM Challenge

Each of your children will need the following building supplies:

Rubberbands
Colander
Felt
Toothpicks

You will also need to print out a copy of the STEM Challenge- Building a Colander Trampoline.

Building the Trampolines

The first thing your children are going to need to do is to fill out the planning document. It will ask them to decide the following things.

How many holes they will use in the colander?
How many rubber bands will you need
The number of toothpicks you will use.

Next, they will draw and label a diagram of their trampoline on the planning document.

Finally, they will construct the trampoline by doing the following things.

Trace the shape they want the mat to be onto the felt. (Optional)
Cut out the felt shape.
Attach each end of the rubber band to the colander with a toothpick.
Repeat the steps to attach each of the other rubber bands to the colander.

Testing Out the Trampoline

Your children will need to drop a ping pong ball or another type of small ball onto the trampoline. If it bounces off the trampoline, you have successfully created a trampoline.

If it doesn’t bounce, try shortening the rubber band by twisting it around the toothpick.

More STEM activities you will love.

Building Alphabet Letters on the Barn Door Activity

STEM Snowman Activity- Building Shapes

Building Shapes with Crayons Task Cards

How to Make a Leprechaun Trap

How to Make Oobleck Algorithm Coding Activity

February 24, 2019 By Deirdre

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is Bartholomew and the Oobleck. I remember my mom reading it over and over again to me. When I look at the illustrations of oobleck in the book, it looks a lot like slime. Your children will probably think so too. I thought it would be fun on Read Across America Day also known as Dr. Seuss’ birthday to make oobleck slime. You could actually make it on any day you like.

While you could give your children a recipe for oobleck slime, it might be fun to give them an algorithm for the steps needed to make it. The How to Make Oobleck algorithm worksheet will walk children through the recipe steps. Before your children make the slime, you will want them to connect the steps in order on the algorithm activity worksheet. Below you will see what the completed worksheet looks like.

Getting Ready for the How to Make Oobleck Activity

The links below are affiliate links.

First, you will need to download a copy of the How to Make Oobleck Slime Recipe Algorithm Worksheet.

Second, you will need to open the PDF in Acrobat Reader.

Third, you will need to print out a copy of the worksheet for each of your children.

Fourth, you will want to get a copy of Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Fifth, you will want to gather together the recipe ingredients. You will need liquid starch, food coloring, and clear glue.

Finally, you will need to gather the creation utensils. You will need bowls, a mixing spoon, and measuring cups.

Creating the Oobleck Slime

Before your children start creating the slime, you will want to read them the book about oobleck. Then you will need to walk your children step by step the slime recipe. Older children can work through the recipe on their own. The key to making slime is to thoroughly mix the ingredients.

Hint: If your children don’t feel comfortable touching sticky things, you could have them wear plastic gloves.

Here are some more slime activities your kids will love:

How to Make Liquid Starch Coding Activity

Exploring Your Five Senses with Jello Slime

Patriotic Slime and Graphing Activity

Saline Slime Recipe and Coding Activity

How to Build an Igloo for a Penguin STEM Activity

January 12, 2019 By Deirdre

This fun STEM activity invites children to discover how to build an igloo for the shape penguin displayed on each of the work mats. There are four mats in the How to Build an Igloo for a Penguin set. Your children will have to come up with creative ways to stack cotton swabs to make igloos in a variety of shapes. It will be interesting to see how different each igloo will look. Each child working this building activity will come up with their own way to construct the walls and roof.

Building Background Before Starting the STEM Activity

You may want to read your children books that contain illustrations about igloos before you have them build theirs. Below you will find some wonderful books that feature igloos.

Links below are affiliate links.

Getting the Supplies Together for the STEM Activity

Getting the Work Mats

First, you will need to download the How to Build an Igloo for a Penguin

Then you will need to decide which shape or shapes you want your children to explore.

Finally, you will need to print out the planning work mats.

Gathering Other Supplies

Your children will need cotton swabs and liquid glue to build their igloos. Rather than count out a particular number of cotton swabs, you may just want to put out a whole box. That way your children can take as many as they need.

Conducting How to Build an Igloo Activity

You will need to decide if you want your children to glue each of their igloos to the work mat or build it so it can be lifted off the work mat. Either way will work.

Please remind them that they that their igloo needs to be the same size as the shape around the penguin. It can be a little bigger or smaller, but the goal is to try to keep in the same size.
Each igloo will need to have walls and roof. If your children want to add windows or a door, that would great. We found the structures stay more sound without windows and a door.

If you like this STEM activity, here are some more you will love

Drawing a Magical Creature Based on an Algorithm

Building the Numbers 11-20 with Crayons

Telling Time from Sunrise to Sunset STEM Activity

Creating an Olympic Flame in a Bottle

Creating a Snowboarding Halfpipe

Flying Snowman Pulley Activity

STEM Christmas Building Shapes with Stickman Activity

December 6, 2018 By Deirdre

The wonderful Christmas book The Stickman inspired this fun STEM Christmas building activity. Your children will have fun building basic shapes with sticks from outdoors, Lincoln Logs, or popsicle sticks on the free set of shaping building mats.

Links below are affiliate links.

If you have not read the story Stick Man to your children, you will want to read it to them. They are going to love hearing about all he goes through as he tries to return to his family. By the end of the book, Stickman does make it home just in time for Christmas. Your children will be cheering him on from the beginning of the book to its very end.

Getting Ready for this STEM Christmas Activity

The first thing you will need to decide is what type of stick your children will use to build. As I mentioned above they could use Lincoln Logs, sticks from outdoors or popsicle sticks.

You will notice that we used popsicle sticks for this activity. They were ready to use and didn’t take any preparation work.

Next, you will need to download the STEM printable set Learning Shapes with Stickman. You can open the setup with Acrobat Reader.

Finally, you will need to decide if you want to print them in color or black and white. If you print them in color, the details of Stickman, the sticks and the border will stand out.

Exploring the STEM Christmas Activity

Your children can work on building the shapes in the set in a variety of ways. Let me share with you some of the ways I came up with. You will probably come up with a number of ways on your own too.

Center Activity

You can set out a bunch of sticks and the mats you want your children to work on in a center. They can work on building them on their own or with a partner.

You Build and I Build

Young children might have fun building each of the shapes with you. You can take turns placing a stick on one side of the shape. They may have trouble placing them right on the stick on the mat. That is totally okay! The goal of this activity is to learn what each shape looks like.

Talk and Build

You can give each of your children a bunch of sticks and the same work mat. As they build you can have them share how many sides each shape has. You can also have them talk about how long each side it. Once the shape is built, you can ask them to share with you things that they think of that are that shape. They may suggest objects they remember seeing in the book.