Tag: STEM

Balloon Rocket

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If you checked out our Fun with Flight Kiwi Crate adventure, then you saw Travis and I made an indoor balloon rocket. We wanted a chance for a repeat outside, and decided it merited its own blog!

This time we made a few significant changes. First, we stretched our string between two fence posts, allowing for a longer space for our “rockets” to fly.

The next innovation was a wide straw (look for “milkshake straws” at the grocery store). This flies much more smoothly come time to launch! Thread the straw onto one end of your string.

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Blow up a balloon – but do not knot – and tape it to the straw. Release the balloon and watch it fly.

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This was just so beautiful outside in morning sunlight, too!

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“3, 2, 1, Go!”

 

Fabric Parachutes

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It was on a Memorial Day a few years back that Travis first saw parachuters and he’s been obsessed ever since. Here’s a cute craft you can put together to take flight right at home!

Trace around a large dinner plate with felt-tipped markers on fabric; we had lightweight fabric swatches from the craft store that were perfect, and I let Travis choose his favorite pattern for the parachute.

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After he traced, cutting out the circle out was a mommy step, since fabric is still tough for my preschooler’s fingers.

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Note: Travis thought the fabric markers were so neat he wanted to color on the scraps after we cut out the circle!

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Mark 8 dots with pen evenly spaced around the parachute. Cut pieces of thread that are about 12 inches long and and sew these to each of the 8 dots.

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I let Travis have a turn with the needle and thread which made him feel so important!

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Stretch the threads to a wooden bobbin and secure with masking tape. Bright green tape added a fun pop of color.

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Now it’s time to launch!

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The higher you stand, the better the parachute soars (more time to catch the wind). First I had Travis try climbing on top of our step ladder. It worked great, but was extremely short-lived.

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So next we headed to the playground, and launched from the highest platform!

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Maraca Craft Challenge

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Last month, Travis’s Highlights magazine challenged him to make robots with only a few simple items. This month, the challenge was maracas!

I laid out: empty plastic water bottles, dried beans, tape, and craft sticks. “How would you make these into a maraca?” I asked him.

“Let’s add beans first,” he decided right away.

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He began dropping in the beans one-by-one. When I added a few faster to a second bottle, he admonished, “No, copy the way I do!” My teacher for the day!

Next, he needed to figure out how to use the craft sticks. He requested a piece of tape and soon had a handle.

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Then he decided a double-handle in the shape of an X was sturdier.

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Finally, the caps were reattached, and we could shake up a storm! I loved watching him puzzle through this challenge. What does your child’s maraca look like? Please share in the comments!

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Rubber Band Launchers, Two Ways

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Ok, we’ve launched marshmallows from cups and rockets from straws, so now it was time for Travis to play around with how he could launch things with rubber bands!

First up, thanks to a renewed fascination with bugs, was a Spider Launcher. This project was a little tricky; we had to redo it twice before we got the elastics right!

First, cover a sturdy cardboard tube (such as an empty roll of packing tape) with construction paper.

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We chose orange because, well, spiders and Halloween and all that, but any color would work. Glue or tape the paper on.

Glue 4 lollipop sticks around the tube so that they form a square.

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Leave these to dry for at least 2 hours, so your structure is sturdy. Full disclosure: we did have one pop off, and I duct-taped it back on.

To make your “web,” slip an elastic over all 4 posts. Loop it around each post, then push down to the bottom of the sticks.

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Slip a second elastic over the post. Completely lift the first one up and over the second elastic (so only your second elastic is now looped on the lollipop sticks, if that makes sense).

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Repeat with a third elastic, slipping it around the post, and then lifting the second elastic completely up and over it.

Repeat with a fourth elastic, slipping the third elastic completely up and over it. Confused yet? I hope the visual helps!

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Now place a toy spider in the middle. Pull back on the tautest, center of your web. Snap the elastic back, and spider flies!

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This was tricky for my four year old, but he could do it with help for bigger launches, and by himself for shorter launches.

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Even better, his bug toys now had a web to call home, so overall it was a success!

Since this turned out to be so complicated, I also asked him if he wanted to make a much simpler rubber band launcher, using just with a couple of elastics and a cup. Here, then, is the Rubber Band-Powered Cup Launcher.

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Put two rubber bands on a sturdy paper cup so they form a cross.

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(Note: It may help to stretch your rubber bands out a few times to loosen them, or your paper cups will crumple).

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Place a third rubber band around the cup to hold the other two in place.

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Press this cup down over a second paper cup. The elastics will go taut, and when you release… Boing!

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This one is simple enough to do with a crowd of kids, and would be a fun one outdoors, perhaps for any upcoming Memorial Day barbecues!

Bubbling Bath Fizzies

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If you’re still wondering what to make for grandmas, moms, aunts, or any other special mother-figure this mother’s day, Travis and I have got you covered with this treat for the toes from Highlights magazine. The gift is equal parts craft and science, which makes it a fantastic way to engage kids in the spirit of gift-giving.

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In a large craft bin, Travis mixed up the following ingredients:

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup citric acid

1/2 cup Epsom salts

3/4 cup corn starch

Make sure to tell your child that the mixture isn’t edible, even though most of the ingredients are, especially if you’re used to cooking together!

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In a small bowl, we whisked together 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon water. Add the liquids to the mixture slowly, stirring until combined. Kids will want to wear goggles (or sunglasses, in a pinch!) to protect their eyes, since it will bubble as you stir.

We also added blue food coloring for a pretty tint and a few drops of vanilla extract for a nice smell. The downside was that this made our mixture a little too liquidy (you want it to be slightly dry and crumbly). It seemed all right at first, but as our bath bombs dried, they puffed out. Note Travis in his too-cool-for-school sunglasses, ha!

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Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out each portion, and pack down tightly. Gently release onto a paper towel and let dry for a full 24 hours.

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Package the bath bombs in any pretty tissue paper or parchment paper.

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We also added a little gift tag with instructions for treating those tootsies!

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And of course we saved one to test out at home! Travis loved watching it fizz, before putting his feet in to soak. Don’t forget to give a quick explanation of why it all fizzes up – the baking soda and citric acid reacting together once in water, of course, which releases CO2 gas (ergo, bubbles).

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Straw Rockets

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Straw Rocket (8)Travis and I have been launching all kinds of things lately, from marshmallows to disks. Today, we made little rockets that could have races!

Cut squares of construction paper that are 3 inches x 3 inches. Make as many of these as you’ll want rockets.

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Wrap each piece of paper around a straw, making sure it is loose enough to fly off the straw when needed. We secured these with tape.

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Although there’s no need to, it was fun to add decorations. Travis soon was swirling pipe cleaners into all kinds of creations!

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I helped with one that was recognizably a “rocket,” as well as a few silly ones. Definitely have fun with these; we even had a little alien with googly eyes.

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We used hot glue to affix our pipe cleaner creations to our paper pieces. Now our rockets were ready to launch!

Lift the straw to your lips and blow, and see how far it flies.

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You can even turn it into a race, and see whose rocket flies furthest.

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Cardboard Tube Marble Run

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This DIY marble run is a fantastic way to get your kids engineering and learning about laws of motion – all while they just think they’re playing!

I saved up cardboard tubes (from toilet paper and paper towel rolls) for a few weeks, until we had a good-sized collection.

First we needed to decorate our tubes. Travis loved covering them with washi tape, and insisted on being in charge of snipping off the pieces of tape we would use.

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Next, we cut the tubes open, which he also loved doing!

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If your child wants to, decorate the inside of the tubes with marker or crayon. But at this point, Travis was so excited to design our marble run that he said let’s skip the markers!

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We headed over to a blank portion of wall, and I taped up the first tube with masking tape. Slowly, we decided where each tube needed to go.

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This part will involve a bit of trial-and-error, and a few test runs! Check to see where marbles bounce out or fall off tubes, and adjust accordingly.

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I recommend placing a small container with sides at the bottom to catch the marbles.

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We were so proud once we had a run that perfectly deposited the marbles inside our container.

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Marshmallow Launcher Redux

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Every once in a while, it’s fun to repeat an activity at one- or two-year intervals, and see the differences in the way your children play at different ages. Travis and I first made a marshmallow launcher nearly two years ago, but with some extra Dandie’s marshmallows in the pantry, today we decided to do a repeat!

First, cut the bottom from a few paper cups, one for each launcher you want. At nearly 5 years old, Travis can handle the scissors himself, unlike at age 3!

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I tied the end of a balloon into a knot, then had Travis help snip off the top of the balloon.

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Stretch this balloon over the cut end of the cup, and secure with an elastic.

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Place 1 marshmallow in the cup; pull down on the knot of the balloon and release. Boom!

Needless to say, we soon had marshmallow bombs all over the apartment, and an eager little boy who had to run and grab all the ammo.

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For some experimentation, we tested what happened when we put multiple marshmallows inside, but unsurprisingly, they didn’t launch as far. Then we tried to hone our aim, using some unwitting Ninja Turtles as target practice. Here’s a quick clip:

All in all, what fun!

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Newton’s Tower

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Yesterday, Travis and I marveled at some good old laws of physics and inertia, making pennies fall into a cup. We wanted a repeat of this magic today, so made this tower named in honor of Isaac Newton and his first law of motion: that an object will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force.

The idea here is to hit only the bottom box in a tower of boxes. The bottom box is moved by an external force, but not so the others. So what would happen to these higher boxes?

You’ll want to use small boxes for this experiment. I had some old gift boxes that were probably about as big as you want to go; smaller would be even better.

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To make them pretty, I wrapped each in a separate shade of construction paper.

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To start, Travis and I tested if we could make the experiment work only three levels high. Zoom! The orange got whacked away with a dowel, and the red and yellow stayed put.

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Could we make it work with four? It worked perfectly – not the orange box off to the side, now.

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Notice the orange off to the side there.

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Needless to say, Travis loved a science experiment that involved whacking things with a stick. I taught him that the secret is to whack the bottom box as hard and as fast as you can. Finally, we challenged ourselves with all 5 boxes.

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Boom!

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As always, there’s something a bit magical about this every time it works.

Motion Magic

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Motion Magic (%)

You’ll stun your kids with the way a penny doesn’t move in these games, a fantastic illustration of inertia. You can give a quick physics lesson – basically, things that aren’t moving want to stay put – but whether they grasp the concept or not, they’ll be amazed by the results.

We tried out the motion magic in two ways. For the first, we cut a square of cardboard as a base (using a bit of our Kiwi Crate from the Disk Launchers set). Place the cardboard over a glass, and put a penny on top.

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Quickly flick the cardboard away (from the side, not from underneath). The cardboard will fly away but the penny…

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…falls in the glass! This got a whoa from Travis, who then tried himself and was so proud it worked.

There is something sort of magical about inertia, even for grown-ups. Logically we want that penny to fly away, and every time we heard the clink of the penny in the glass, we were excited.

For the second method, we cut a strip from cardstock. Form it into a circle and staple the edges.

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Place the circle over the glass, with the penny on top.

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Very quickly, put a finger inside the cardstock circle and flick it out of the glass. Where did our penny go?

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Down inside!

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Want to really up the wow factor? Try the classic trick of pulling a tablecloth out from under a plate (you might want to use a paper plate, just in case).

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Is it magic? Nope, it’s inertia of course.