Kids of all ages will have fun with this craft stick bridge STEM challenge. 

Younger kids will enjoy building and then playing with the end product.  Older kids can use this activity to learn about the different forces acting on bridges and why they are designed the way they are.  

When it comes to STEM supplies to always keep on hand, craft sticks are a favorite.  They are versatile, can be used for numerous projects, and are inexpensive.  (I love getting ours at the Dollar Store.)

Besides using them to build bridges, a favorite for kids of all ages is making a craft stick catapult. If you haven’t tried that one yet, I highly recommend it.  

Before starting this project, you may want to discuss a few different types of bridges with your child.  This is perfect to do while driving — there are so many different types of bridges you can see!

A truss bridge is actually one of the oldest forms of modern bridges. 

The sides on a truss bridge consists of a series of triangles, making it very strong. 

Craft Stick Bridge

Materials Needed:

Affiliate links have been used below.  See my full disclosure for more info.

• Craft Sticks  (You need at least 80.)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors 

To create your own truss bridge with craft sticks, you will start by making 6 triangles.  

Do this by arranging 3 craft sticks together to form a triangle, with their ends slightly overlapping.  Hot glue them together.  (Quick drying tacky glue is a great alternative for this STEM project, especially if you want to test how much weight your bridge can hold once it is built.)

Make 5 more triangles, just like the first one, until you have a total of 6.  

Once you have your triangles made, set them aside.  It’s time to make a base for the triangles to connect to.  

Lay 3 craft sticks, end to end, in a straight line.

Cut another craft stick in half.  Hot glue half of that craft stick on top of the first craft stick in your line of 3, making sure their curved ends are flush together. 

Take 2 more whole craft sticks and glue them onto the row, covering up the seams where the bottom craft sticks meet each other.  

Finally, glue on the other half of the craft stick you cut in half.  

Repeat this process, so you have 2 rows of craft sticks that have been glued together.

Once that is finished, hot glue the bottoms of 3 triangles to one of your rows of craft sticks.  Repeat with the other 3 triangles and craft stick row.   

To make the tops of your bridge’s sides, you will do a similar process.

Start by laying 2 craft sticks end to end.

Cut another stick in half and hot glue half of it on top of one of your 2 full craft sticks, making sure the curved ends match up.  

Hot glue a full craft stick, making sure it touches the edge of your half stick and coveres up the seam of the bottom 2 craft sticks.

Then glue on the other half piece.  

Repeat this process so you have 2 short rows of craft sticks glued together.  

Now glue these short rows to the top portion of your triangles.  This will complete your bridge’s sides. 

Once your sides are complete, it is time to start building the bridge’s base.

Stand your sides up and hot glue one craft stick in the middle of your middle triangle on one of the sides to the other side.  Make sure the craft stick lays flat. 

Hot glue a few more sticks across the bridge’s bottom.  I suggest placing one in the middle of each triangle, and one at the corner of each triangle.  These will be supports for the bridge deck.    

(The pic below was taken BEFORE we finished adding in all of the craft sticks at the bottom.)

To make a solid bridge deck that toy cars can travel on, you wil need to build a bridge deck.

Hot glue craft sticks perpendicular across those supports you just added.  Make sure they touch side to side.

It took us 9 craft sticks to go from one side to the other.  

You will repeat this process 3 times to make a solid base that is the entire length of your bridge.  

For added strength at the top of your bridge, add a craft stick going across the middle.  Then add a few more, spaced out evenly, going towards each end.    

Once your bridge is complete, it’s time to test it out. 

It’s perfect for driving small cars over. 

But to make it even more of a STEM activity, you may want to challenge your child to see how much weight it can hold.  

Craft Stick Truss Bridge

To test the strength of your bridge, place the bridge so its ends rest on 2 chairs.

Tie a small bucket to the middle of the bridge’s base. 

Slowly fill the bucket with small weights, such as ankle weights. 

If small weights aren’t available, you can also use sand to test how much weight it can hold.  Just weigh the bucket of sand afterwards to determine how much it weighs.  

Want to extend the activity?

Challenge your child to make a longer bridge and see how much weight it can hold. 

Can they figure out how to construct it so it can hold the same amount of weight?  Can they make it stronger?  

How a Truss Bridge Works

Bridges have lots of forces that act on them.   Gravity is one of those forces since bridges don’t have ground under them to help support them.

Bridges also have to deal with changing loads, not only do they have to support their own weight, but also the weight of whatever may travel over them, which is constantly changing.   The triangle shape on a truss bridge helps with this.  

Truss bridges use triangles to help make them stronger.  Triangles are a very strong shape because the force added to a triangle gets spread out evenly on all 3 of its sides.  

There are also several other factors that act on a bridge, such as tension (a force that stretches and pulls outward) and compression (a force that squeezes inward).  In a truss bridge the triangle shapes help distribute these.

You can find out more about how different types of bridges work at Bridge Masters Inc.  

If you liked this craft stick bridge STEM activity, you will also like:

• Craft Stick Rubber Band Shooter
• Mechanical Hand Made with Straws
• How to Make a Lemon Battery
• Build a Paper Cup Water Wheel

The post Engineer a Truss Bridge with Craft Sticks first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Then they are absolutely going to love these Dragon STEM Activities.

Stories and paintings of dragons have captured the imagination of people for centuries.  It’s no wonder that kids are often fascinated by these mythological creatures.  

These dragon activities are sure to delight and inspire your child’s imagination.  

Your child will also love this homemade dragon pinata’ — fun to build and perfect for celebrations.  

Why Do STEM Activities?

STEM activities encourage experimentation and hands-on learning.  STEM gives kids a chance to apply previously learned knowledge and can help them better understand concepts and ideas they may be learning in school.  

Not only that, but STEM (and STEAM) projects give children a chance to explore ideas, work together, and to problem solve.  These are skills that are needed as children become adults.

On top of all the great benefits, STEM is fun!  

Dragon STEM Activities

Flying Dragon —  Part craft and part STEM, and so much fun to play with!  Make your dragon craft “fly” up the string in this dragon STEM project.  

Crystal Eggs Experiment — Imagine what a dragon egg might look like.  These beautiful crystal-covered eggs look like ones a dragon may guard.  Kids of all ages will be delighted with the results of this experiment.  

Chomping Dragon — With just strips of cardboard and a few brass fasteners, your child can create a dragon whose mouth can open and close.   

Green Dragon Fire — What color fire does a dragon breathe?  In this dragon science experiment you will learn how to make green flames appear.  You might even learn a little chemistry along the way.  

Foaming Dragon — Start off building an adorable dragon craft.  Then add science to create a foamy mixture that erupts from the dragon’s mouth.  This one is perfect if your child loves the elephant toothpaste experiment. 

Build a Dragon — Challenge your child to use marshmallows, toothpicks, and drinking straws to build their very own family of dragons.  

Smoking Dragon —  Create a dragon head with a Styrofoam cup.  Then discover how to use dry ice to make puffs of smoke come from your dragon’s mouth.  

Lego Dragon — Follow the simple instructions to engineer your own mini dragons using the building blocks you already own.  Then, challenge your child to design their own dragons.  

When you finish with these awesome STEM activities with dragons, you may want to celebrate with this DIY dragon cake. 

Or, try a few of these other fun ideas:

• Paper Plate STEM Activities
• STEM Activities for Preschoolers
• Halloween STEM Activities

The post Dragon STEM Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

What is elephant toothpaste?

It’s a super fun, and inexpensive, science experiment that results in a foamy explosion.  

It is similar to the soda pop geyser, but because you only need small amounts of the materials used, you can do the experiment over and over again without breaking the bank.  

It’s also less sticky, and cleans up quickly and easily if done outside.  

Science experiments like this one can easily be turned into a more well-rounded STEM project.  

Math is already involved, since your child will be measuring ingredients.  And, of course, the chemical reaction is science.  

After trying the experiment with the plastic bottle, you may want to encourage your child to engineer a different container to do the experiment in.  Can they create a volcano with Legos?  In the fall they can even use a small pumpkin for this twist.  

If your child loves STEM, they may also like some of these fun STEM activities for kids. 

Elephant Toothpaste Recipe

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Materials: 

• A Clean 16 oz. Plastic Bottle
• Liquid Dish Soap
• 1/2 Cup Hydrogen Peroxide 
• 1 Tablespoon Dry Yeast
• 3 Tablespoons Warm Water
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Small Cup
• Funnel
• Spoon

For the ultimate reaction, which can produce foam that shoots 5 or more feet into the air, you need to use what’s called 20-volume (or 6%) hydrogen peroxide.  This peroxide is stronger than what you find at the grocery store.  In the U.S. you can find this at hair salons or online.

We couldn’t wait to give it a try, so we used the standard 3% peroxide we had in the medicine cabinet.  

Although the reaction wasn’t as extreme, we were not disappointed with the results.

Why Is It Called Elephant Toothpaste?

The chemical reaction in this experiment is often referred to as “elephant toothpaste” because when it foams out of the mouth of the bottle it looks a lot like when you squeeze toothpaste out of a tube. 

Some joke that if it were really toothpaste, it would be the amount an elephant would need.  

Obviously, since liquid dishsoap is used, it should NOT be ingested. 

To make it look even more like toothpaste, you can squirt a few drops of food coloring along the inside walls of your empty bottle before doing the experiment.  This causes stripes to appear, similar to what you may see in several major brands of toothpaste. 

How to Make Elephant Toothpaste

Like I mentioned earlier, this experiment can get messy.  It is best done outside, where you can clean up easily with a hose.  

Begin by squeezing 4-5 drops of food coloring into your empty plastic bottle.  This step is completely optional, but the color does make the reaction even more fun to watch.  

Add 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap and swirl the bottle around to mix it with the food coloring.

Add your hydrogen peroxide to the bottle. Swirl it again to make sure it mixes well.

IF you want stripes, you can add a second color of food coloring, this time making sure your drops run down the inside walls of your bottle.

In your small cup combine the warm water and yeast together and stir for 30 seconds, making sure the yeast is dissolved as much as possible.

Use the funnel to quickly pour the  yeast mixture into the bottle.  

Remove the funnel quickly, as the reaction will start almost immediately.  

If you use the 6% hydrogen peroxide it can shoot several feet into the air, so be sure to get out of the way quickly.

How Does Elephant Toothpaste Work

Yeast contains an enzyme called Catalase.  This enzyme breaks down hydrogen peroxid (H₂O₂) into oxygen gas and water (H₂O).  

The oxygen gas gets trapped in bubbles made by the dish soap, producing that fantastic foamy solution that erupts out of the bottle.  

Once the foamy explosion is finished, you will notice the bottle and foam are warm to the touch.  That’s because the experiment not only causes a chemical reaction that produces the foam, it also causes an exothermic reaction — meaning it produces heat as well.  

If you use the standard 3% hydrogen peroxide, then the foam is safe to touch.  (I’ve heard 6% hydrogen peroxide can cause skin irritation to those with very sensitive skin.)

If your kids are anything like mine, they will find it hard to keep their hands out of it.  Mine spent a good 15 minutes playing in the foam afterwards.  

More Fun with Elephant Foam

Try some of the ideas below to take your child’s learning even further.  

• Does the amount of yeast used change the amount of foam produced?  Try using more or less yeast to see what happens.
• What about using more soap?  Experiment with different amounts to see what happens.  
• Does the reaction still work if you don’t mix water with the yeast before adding it to the soap mixture?

If you liked this post, you’ll also like:

• Simple Vanishing Ghosts STEM Activity 
• Make Scrumptious S’mores with a Solar Oven 
• Amazing Rising Water Experiment 

Originally published June 29, 2017. 

The post Fun and Foamy Elephant Toothpaste Experiment first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

If you have kids, chances are at some point they’ve collected pockets full of small rock treasures that sometimes wind up in the washing machine.

As adults we don’t always understand why that tiny grey rock is so special.

But when it comes to sparkling geodes, everyone seems to agree.  Geodes are amazing to look at.

You and your child can learn about how geodes form by making your own salt crystal egg geodes, a favorite when it comes to STEM activities because of the beautiful results.

Egg experiments like this one are always popular in the springtime.  

If you are looking for other ideas, you’ll want to discover how to make a rubber egg.  It even glows!

Your child may also enjoy doing the egg drop challenge.  

Crystal Egg Geodes

Affiliate links have been provided below.  See my full disclosure for more details. 

Materials Needed:

• 3-4 Raw Eggs
• Craft Glue
• Epsom Salt
• Food Coloring
• Small Containers
• Small Paint Brush
• Toothpick
• Water
• Small Pot and Stove
• Small Screw Driver (optional)

To make your egg geode, carefully crack your egg at the narrow end. 

We found that this was easier to do if we tapped the end with a small screw driver. 

Slowly widen the hole in the egg until it is a little larger than a quarter.

Empty the contents of the egg into a bowl.  You can use it later to bake some fabulous muffin recipes with the kids.

Rinse the egg shell out. 

Then gently rub your finger around the inside to remove the egg’s membrane.

Once the membrane is removed,  you can dye the egg shell if desired.  Or, you can skip this step. 

Either way, make sure the shells are dry before proceding to the next step.  

To dye the shells, use a few drops of food coloring in white vinegar.  Simply let them sit in the color for 3-5 minutes.  Then remove the shells to let them dry.

Dying the shells allows you to create geodes with 2 different colors, one for the shell and a different color for the crystals inside.  

Once you’ve dyed the shells, turn them upside down on a paper towel and let them dry completely before moving on to the next step.

How to Make Geodes

Once the shells are dry, use a paint brush to coat the entire inside of the shells with a thin layer of craft glue.

Then sprinkle Epsom salts onto the glue, shaking off any excess.  This will act as a starter to help grow your crystals in your homemade geode.

Let the glue dry completely.

Once the glue is dry, boil 1 cup of water.

Remove the water from the heat source and stir ins 1/2 cup of Epsom salt.  Stir it until it s completely dissolved.

Continue stirring in 1-2 tablespoons of salt at a time until it not longer dissolves.  Your super-saturated solution should be thicker that water when you stir it.

Place each hollow egg in a small container.  You could also use a Styrofoam egg carton for this part.

Use a small ladle to fill each egg with your super-saturated salt solution.

Add a drop or two of food coloring and stir it with a toothpick.

Place the egg shells somewhere where they won’t be disturbed for several days.   We had to put ours on top of our refrigerator to keep the cat from messing with them.

Check your egg experiment daily, and use a toothpick to break any thin solid layers that may form on top.  You want the water to be able to evaporate.

After a few days, the water will evaporate, leaving behind beautiful homemade geodes!

You may even want to display them in one of these geode holders.   

How Geodes Form

Actual geodes are rocks with open spaces, or cavities, inside that are lined with crystals.

The crystals form through a process called sedimentation, where particles (solute) are suspended in fluid (solvent) and then come together, accumulating to form crystals as the fluid disappears over many, many years.

When creating your salt crystal geodes, the Epsom salt acts as the solute and the water as the solvent.  The water is so saturated with Epsom salt that the salt particles fuse together, forming crystals as the water evaporates.

Love geodes?  We fell in love with these beautiful geodes with mini air ferns. 

These egg geodes are fun to make and display.  

You may also enjoy:

• Egg Geodes Using Alum from STEAM Powered Family
• Plastic Egg Submarines
• Salt Painting 
• Make a Rubber Band Boat 

Updated from May 1, 2019.

The post How to Make a Crystal Egg Geode first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

The egg drop challenge is a favorite when it comes to STEM activities for kids.  

The idea behind it is designing a container that can hold a raw egg and keep it from breaking when dropped from a high place.

It’s simple enough that younger children can participate, but it can easily be modified and made more challenging for older kids.

The egg drop is fun when done on its own.  But it’s also a great Horton Hatches the Egg STEM activity.  

And with spring just around the corner, it is the perfect time to get outside and give it a try.

Affiliate links have been provided below.  See my full disclosure for more information.

Horton Hatches the Egg Activity 

We decided to pair this STEM activity with one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books, Horton Hatches the Egg. 

It fits perfectly with the story, as Horton is faithful in his promise to protect the egg.  The message of being faithful and doing what you promised, even when it isn’t easy, is so important.

We had fun making nests that would protect the egg, just as Horton promised he would do.

It has become one of our favorite Dr. Seuss STEM activities, and it’s perfect if you are looking for Dr. Seuss activities for older students.

If you have enough materials you can challenge your kids to each make 2-3 different egg drop containers to see what works best. 

If you are doing it with a large group of children you could have them work in pairs.

You can find a variation of this and 50 other engineering projects in my new book, Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids.

Egg Drop Challenge

For this activity you will want to have scissors and tape on hand, plus a variety of building materials for kids to explore. 

You will also need a few raw eggs for this STEM project.

Suggested Materials: 

• Small Boxes
• Cardboard Tubes
• Plastic or Paper Cups
• Shredded Paper
• Bubble Wrap
• Packing Peanuts
• Cotton Balls
• Plastic Shopping Bags (can be used as parachutes or for packing)
• Drinking Straws
• Yarn
• Pipe Cleaners (Chenille Sticks)
• Craft Sticks

Part of the engineering process is experimenting with different designs and materials.

Let your child test their ideas out and make changes if needed.  

Remind them that this is how scientists and engineers learn.  They make mistakes and they come up with new ideas to try.

Once the egg drop containers are built, and the eggs are safely tucked inside, it’s time to find a high spot to drop them from.   

If you have a ladder handy you can carry the containers up and drop them from the top of the ladder.

You can also stand on a sturdy picnic table like we did or even drop them out of a second story window.

Once they’ve been dropped, carefully open each container to see if it was successful.

Egg Drop Ideas

Once your child has been successful, you can increase the difficulty level and have them try it again.  

• Allow kids to only choose 2-3 items from your box of materials.
• Try dropping the containers from increasingly higher positions to discover which containers continue to work.
• Assign the items and the quantity they can use.  (For example, “You may only use cardboard tubes and 3 feet of tape.”)

This egg drop activity makes a perfect Horton Hatches the Egg STEM activity to go with the classic Dr. Seuss book.

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• Marshmallow Peeps Catapult Game 
• Engineer a Coffee Filter Parachute
• STEM Challenge:  Build a Boat That Floats
• Build a Shelter Outdoors 
• Simple Gardening Activity for Kids 

Updated from February 26, 2018.

The post Classic Egg Drop STEM Challenge first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

When the kids were little they had fun building mailboxes and getting cards to give their friends at our annual Valentine party.  

Just because they’ve gotten older doesn’t mean we have to skip all the festivities. 

We may not be having a party this year, but we are still having fun with some of these awesome Valentine’s Day STEM Activities for kids.

Looking for other fun ides for February?

It’s not too late to start your own 14 Days of Love.  They’re simple ways to make kids feel loved.  

And, if your child loves STEM, be sure to check out these Dr. Seuss STEM Activities that are perfect for March.

Valentine’s Day STEM Activities

Frozen Hearts — This one is perfect for preschoolers and fans of Disney’s Frozen movie.  Can you melt the frozen heart?  What helps melt it faster?  

Paper Heart Structures —  This easy Valentine’s Day activity uses just paper hearts made from paper strips and glue.  How high can your child make their structure?  

Sparkly Valentine’s Day Slime — Explore chemistry by making your very own homemade slime.  This recipe is super simple and would be fun to play with at home.  It would also make a cute homemade gift to give a special Valentine.  

Fizzing Hearts — This is fun experiment that teaches students about chemical reactions. No matter how many times kids mix baking soda and vinegar, it is always fun!

Geometric Heart — Upper elementary and middle school kids will have fun engineering a 3-D heart using paper straws and pipe cleaners.  

Sweet-Smelling Valentine’s Science — Take the classic fizzy science experiment to a new level of fun with this sweet-smelling addition.  

Grow a Candy Heart — This mesmerizing science activity is a fun way to use up some of those leftover candies.

Candy Catapult — Build your own craft stick catapults and use them to see how far you can fling those candy hearts.  How can you change your catapult to get the candy to fly further? 

Light-Up Circuit Valentines — Introduce kids to the science of circuits by building your very own onversation hearts that can light up an LED bulb.

Static Electricity Flying Cupids — This is an easy Valentine STEM activity where the kids make Cupid fly using static electricity. 

Valentine Thaumatrope — Thaumatropes are simple optical illusion toys that are fun to make and play with.  This one uses materials you already have around the house and is easy enough for a 5 year old to make.  

Engineering Hearts — Discover 5 simple and fun ways for preschoolers to build hearts with materials you probably already have at home.  

Valentine Coding —  Introduce kids to basic coding skills, without using a computer!  Learn to use the binary alphabet in this simple STEM activity for Valentines Day.  

Salt Crystal Hearts —  Kids of all ages will have fun learing about crystals and creating their very own sparkly hearts with this simple chemistry activity.  

It’s always fun to celebrate the holidays with kids. 

These Valentines Day STEM Activities are a great way to connect with your child while they’re having fun exploring and being creative.  

You may also enjoy these posts:

• STEM Activities for Preschoolers
• Heart Activities for Kids
• Valentines Heart Relay Race
• Paper Plate STEM Activities

The post Valentine’s Day STEM Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.