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

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

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.

The bright orange fruits make cute decorations and are fun to use in a variety of pumpkin STEM activities.  

If you’re carving pumpkins this year, use one to make a simple pumpkin volcano.   It’s a fun fall twist to an old favorite science experiment.

If you have toddlers or preschoolers, you may want to let them explore whether or not your pumpkin sinks or floats before trying this activity.  

Older kids might enjoy some of these other Halloween STEM activities. 

Pumpkin Volcano Experiment

Materials Needed:

• Pumpkin
• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Dish soap
• Sharp Knife
• Food coloring (optional)

To begin with, use the knife to remove the top portion of your pumpkin, much like you would when carving pumpkins.  This portion of the activity should be done by an adult.

Then let your child remove the seeds and pulp from the pumpkin.  They can use a spoon or their bare hands, adding a bit of sensory play into the activity.  

Once the pumpkin is hollowed out, sprinkle a healthy dose of baking soda into the bottom of the pumpkin.  How much you need will depend on the size of your pumpkin.  We used 2 Tablespoons for our small pumpkin.  You’ll want to use at least 1/4 cup for a larger pumpkin.  

To increase the amount of bubbles produced, squirt a little bit of dish soap into the bottom as well.  

If desired, you can add a drop or two of food coloring as well.  We chose to leave ours plain. 

When you are ready, slowly pour your vinegar into the pumpkin.  We used 1/2 cup on our small pumpkin.  Larger pumpkins may need a bit more.  

You’ll have an instant volcano in a pumpkin.

For even more fun, try adding pumpkin seeds to the bottom of your pumpkin.  

When the vinegar is added the foam will cause the pumpkin seeds to bubble up and spill out with the pumpkin volcano’s lava.

Does your child love being hands on?  Grab a spoon and let them try stirring. 

Mixing it helps more baking soda react with the vinegar and you get a second eruption.  

This pumpkin STEM activity is so much fun! 

Why Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano Works

The vinegar is an acid.  The baking soda is a base. 

When these two materials mix, a chemical reaction happens.   

One part of this reaction is that carbon dioxide forms.  This gas causes the bubbling reaction that spills over the sides of the pumpkin.  

For a more detailed explanation, check out this post on why vinegar and baking soda reacts.  

I warn you, this simple Halloween science is addicting.

If your kids are anything like mine, the will ask to do it over and over again.  

We used half a box of baking soda and quite a bit of vinegar before I had to call it quits.  

This simple pumpkin volcano is so easy and so much fun to do in October.  

Other fun fall activities to try:

• Pumpkin Activities — Discover 10 fun activities with real pumpkins. 
• Apple Wrecking Ball STEM Activity — Challenge your child to make a wrecking ball with an apple.
• Vanishing Ghost Experiment — Kids of all ages will have fun with this STEM for Halloween.
• Apple-Scented Bubble Dough— Find out how to make amazing smelling play dough with just 2 ingredients.

Originally published 9/11/2015.

The post Make a Pumpkin Volcano! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

There are so many fun solar science activities you can do with the kids.

This solar still experiment is one of our favorite STEM activities for summer.

Learning how to make a solar still isn’t just a fun summer science experiment.

Solar stills are also a simple way to purify water for drinking, making it a great survival skill to learn.  You could use it as part of a survival themed camp, along with our buddy burner tin can stove.  

Or, try it along with some of our other fun summer backyard camp activities for kids.

How to Make a Solar Still

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

Materials Needed:

• Clean Glass Jar
• Wide Plastic Bucket or Bowl 
• Plastic Wrap
• Small Rock
• Rubberband or Tape
• Water

Find a sunny spot to place your solar still.  It should be a spot that gets sun almost all day.

Start by pouring an inch or two of water into your large plastic bucket.

To really demonstrate how a solar still can be used to clean and purify drinking water, we decided to use water from our pond.  You could also add a bit of dirt to tap water or just use clean water to begin with. The choice is yours.

Place your clean glass jar in the center of your bucket.  Be careful not to get any of the dirty water inside the jar.

Cover the bucket with plastic wrap.  

Your plastic wrap needs to form a good seal around the bucket.  Some brands of plastic wrap will cling tight, but if yours doesn’t want to stay put try using a large rubberband or a bit of tape.

Finally, place a small rock on top of the plastic wrap, right over the jar.

Then let your solar still sit undisturbed for several hours.

Use the time to learn trail marking in a no-prep scavenger hunt with the kids.  Or, try to make s’mores with a solar oven!

With the help of the sun, the water will evaporate and then collect on the plastic wrap.

The water droplets will then run towards the center because of the rock and fall into the jar, producing clean water that is safe to drink.

Another fun twist to this experiment is to try it using salty water.  The water that collects in the jar won’t taste salty and will be perfect for drinking.

While this isn’t the fastest way to purify water, this DIY solar still is effective.

We let our solar still experiment sit in the sun all day and wound up with about an inch of drinkable water.

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

• How to Build a Shelter
• Make Solar Oven S’mores
• Summer Science: Make a Soda Pop Geyser
• Fun and Foamy Elephant Toothpaste Experiment 

First published on July 17, 2017.

The post How to Make a Solar Still — Simple Summer STEM Activity first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Spring is the perfect time to study weather, especially the wind. 

Your child will have fun discovering how to make an anemometer with cardboard and paper cups. 

Once you finish this diy anemometer, you can continue studying the weather with some other weather unit activities. 

Study the types of clouds and learn how to make a cloud in a jar, or try out this super simple rain cloud activity.

How to Make an Anemometer

Affliate links have been provided below for your convenience.  

Materials Needed: 

• 4 Paper Cups
• Corrugated Cardboard
• Thumbtack
• Hot Glue Gun or Stapler
• Scissors 
• Colorful Tape 
• Your Choice of Items for Spinning Portion (See directions below.)

To make your homemade wind gauge, begin by cutting your corrugated cardboard into 2 strips that are approximately 1.5 inches wide and 12 inches long (3.8 x 30.5 cm.  

Use hot glue or a stapler to connect your 2 pieces of cardboard together so they form a cross.    Try to center the pieces as much as possible so you have an equal amount of cardboard on each side.  

Once that is finished, use your colorful tape to decorate one of your paper cups.  You could also use a paper cup that is a different color but is still close in size to your other cups.  (This is what we did.)

Then staple or hot glue each of the paper cups to the ends of the cardboard cross.  Make sure the cups all face the same direction!  

How to Make a Wind Gauge

To make the spinning portion of your homemade anemometer you have a couple choices.   The first choice is what worked best for us.  

Choice 1:   Use an old pen and dowel rod.  

• Take apart an old pen and slide the hollow plastic portion over the end of a thin wood dowel, making sure there is enough room for the pen piece to spin around the dowel.  
• Use your thumbtack to fasten the center of the cardboard cross to the end of the pen casing.  
• Then stick the free end of the wood dowel into a lump of clay or playdough.  (We left our playdough in the container.)  

Choice 2:  Use a new pencil and a plastic container with lid.  

• Check your recycling for a plastic container that is at least 2 1/2 – 3 inches (6.3 – 7.5 cm) tall with a lid.  Use the tip of your scissors to make a hole in the center of the container’s lid.  The hole needs to be just a tiny bit larger than the width of your pencil.  
• Use your thumbtack to attach the center of your cardboard cross to the pencil’s eraser.  
• Stick the free end of your pencil into the hole of your container’s lid.  

DIY Wind Meter

Once your homemade wind gauge is built, you can take it outside to check out the speed of the wind.  

We set ours up on the picnic table.

To measure the wind speed, set a timer for 1 minute and count how many times your different colored cup goes around in a circle.  

If your cup goes around 10 times in that 1 minute, the wind speed is approximately 1 mile an hour.  If it goes around 20 times in a minute, the wind is 2 miles an hour, etc.  

Learn more about weather by creating a tornado in a jar.   

I hope your child has as much fun learning how to make a wind anemometer with cardboard and paper cups to measure the wind speed as we did.   

You’ll also like these posts:

• How to Make a Water Wheel 
• Make a Cardboard Tube Marble Run
• Build a Rubber Band Shooter 

Get more fun ideas like this delivered to your email by subscribing to our newsletter.

The post Make Your Own Wind Anemometer first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

As they get older it is important to keep that love of science growing, and there is no better way to do it than with fun experiments.

This soda and Mentos experiment is one that your child will beg to do over and over again.  Making a soda pop geyser is one of our favorite STEM activities to do outside.

This soda pop experiment is best done outdoors, preferably in a grassy area.  

You can use either regular cola or diet cola for this experiment.  Diet cola is often chosen because it is less sticky and therefore easier to clean up.  It also has the most explosive reaction.  

The brand doesn’t matter a lot, so feel free to buy a cheaper brand, which is helpful if you want to do the experiment several times.  (Trust me, your kids will want to do it several times.)

Looking for more explosive experiments?  Check out how to make elephant toothpaste.  

Affiliate links have been used below for your convenience.  See my full disclosure for more details. 

Soda and Mentos Experiment 

Materials Needed: 

• 2-liter bottle of cola
• 1 roll of Mentos mints
• clear tape

To begin the Mentos geyser science project get out 7 of the mints (half the package) and line them up so they are touching each other.  

Pull off just enough tape and secure one side of the mints to the tape.  This will enable you to get all the mints into the cola quickly, while still leaving enough surface area of the mints for the experiment to work.  (You can also buy this special Geyser Tube to help get the Mentos in all at one time.)

Once your mints are ready, position your pop bottle firmly on the ground so it won’t tip over.

Then carefully open the bottle of soda pop.  Try not to shake it, as this will reduce the effects of the experiment.  

Drop the tape holding your mints into the cola and quickly back away.  Watch the amazing soda pop eruption!

Why does the Mentos geyser experiment work?  

Carbon dioxide is pumped into pop bottles at the factory.   This is what causes bubbles to rise to the surface when you first open the soda.

Mentos candies actually have tiny pits all over the surface.  These pits are the perfect place for those little carbon dioxide bubbles from the cola to collect.  

Since the Mentos are heavy, they quickly sink to the bottom of the bottle.  Eventually all those little air bubbles that collect on the candy work to push the cola up and out of the bottle in a dramatic way.

Extensions for the Coke and Mentos Experiment 

Want to take the experiment even further?  

• Have your child guess how high the soda pop will erupt.  Then measure to see how close they are.  Mark distances with sidewalk chalk or tape on an outdoor wall and place your bottle against the wall to see how high it goes.
• Determine whether temperature affects the results.  Try the the soda pop experiment with a cold bottle of soda and a warm bottle.  Does one react better than the other?  
• Experiment to find out which type of soda pop has the biggest reaction with Mentos.  Try cola, diet cola, orange, and a clear soda pop.
• Experiment with the candies used.  Do you get a bigger reaction if you use more Mentos?   What if you use a different flavor?  

Making things explode is definitely one of my son’s favorite types of science experiments.  

Luckily I planned ahead and had enough materials to do the soda and Mentos experiment several times.  It was definitely a huge hit.  

Other kids science experiments you may like:

• How to Create Beautiful Egg Geodes 
• Amazing Rising Water Experiment 
• Ivory Soap Explosion 
• How to Make a Rubber Egg
• Make a Cloud in a Jar

   

You can find this fun experiment and many more in our co-authored book, Up! 

Originally published July 25, 2016

The post Super Fun (and Explosive) Soda Pop Geyser Experiment first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.