A Post from Science Demo Guy’s wife 😉
It’s been a crazy 2020 so far at our house…along with the rest of the world! With many students learning at home this fall, it’s a great time for parents to create a fun space where kids can design, build, and explore :-). What better way to do this than by putting together a Maker Space?!
This can really be as easy as filling a drawer with different creative materials and letting your kids’ imaginations run wild at the kitchen table! For a more structured, educational space, you could add STEM task cards with specific design challenges and even organized bins in a specific area of your home. Click here to see the Maker Space in my basement 😉
Maker stations can come in so many shapes and sizes. Here’s an example of a really simple box of STEM materials that I put together—it’s basically a small portable maker space. Super simple and super fun. I used a medium-size clear plastic tote and filled it with a fun assortment of materials.
Below is a list of the materials I put in our box! You might have some of these materials at home but they are almost all readily available at your local Dollar Tree. Improvising with materials on-hand can add an extra layer of creativity and keep you from having to go to the store.
• Straws
• Pipe Cleaners
• Play Dough
• Ping Pong Balls (Table Tennis Balls)
• Marbles
• Army Guys
• Paper Cups (Dixie Size)
• Kitchen Sponges
• Tape (Masking, Duct, Scotch Tape)
• Craft Sticks (Popsicle Sticks)
• Plastic spoons
• Rubber Bands
• Milk Jug Lids
• Paper Clips
• Foil
• Paper (Construction, Card Stock, Printer Paper)
• Card Board (could be cereal or other packaging boxes)
• 50-ish Pennies (for testing)
• Paper Towel Rolls and Toilet Paper Rolls
• Bubble Wrap
With the materials gathered, it’s time to get the creative juices going with some STEM Design inspiration! Try these fun ideas!
• Design and create a waterslide!
• Design & create a really fun roller coaster for a ping-pong (table tennis) ball
• Create something that will keep an egg from breaking when dropped from 4 ft. …or even higher!!
• Build a catapult that will launch a marshmallow. How far can you get it to go?
• Design & create a really fun slide for a marble.
• Make a paper airplane that can carry pennies. See how far you can make it fly and how many pennies it can carry!
• Create a floating raft for “army guys” (or other small toys). Experiment with different materials & designs. See how much cargo (pennies) your raft can hold until it sinks. Can you create a way for the raft to move on its own?
I bet your kids can come up with some fun challenges as well!
Here’s another great resource for at-home STEM projects and Maker Stations! We’ve created a set of 6 STEM task cards for each month of the year (plus a few extra) based on seasons and holidays. You can find them by clicking here!
There are a couple of free sets to try :-). Each of the 6 activities in a set uses the SAME MATERIALS! So, if you want to do all of the 6 activities in a set, you only need to purchase one group of materials. You most likely will have a number of the materials at home already, but there are also some fun seasonal items that you can pick up at the dollar store listed as well.
In the picture above you can see the Saint Patrick’s Day STEM Activity task cards along with the materials listed for the 6 design challenges. The materials are pretty simple and straight forward and the task cards can be easily printed OR viewed on screen! I laminated mine because I’m obsessed with laminating…and they’ll last longer when encased in plastic!
One of our STEM Task Card sets is even specifically geared toward at-home learning! You can find out more about this resource in another blog post by clicking here!
I wish you the best with remote learning, homeschooling, or whatever your adventure with kids is taking you! We’re all in this together!
