STEM | There's Just One Mommy

New Years STEM Activities

OneMommy — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 03:16:45 +0000

The end of the year is almost here.

This year ringing in the New Year may be a bit different. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

Plan your own mini party at home this year with the kids. All you need are some fun finger foods and a few games and activities to do together as you count down to the New Year.

When it comes to planning things to do, STEM Activities for kids are always popular.

These New Years STEM Activities would be a fun addition to any New Year Celebration.

We had so much fun with our Christmas STEM activities that we couldn’t wait to check out a few perfect for celebrating the New Year.

Pair a few of these New Year’s STEM challenges with some fun games, like party blower pom-pom races, and

New Years STEM Activities

Fizzy New Year’s Science — Surprise your child with this super fun, glittery science experiment. Set up in a fancy party glass, it is perfect to do with the kids to celebrate the New Year.

Confetti Popper — Kids love throwing confetti. This homemade confetti popper will allow them to shoot it up in the air, over and over again.

Ball Drop STEM Challenge — For many, watching the famous ball drop in New York is a part of the New Year tradition. Young engineers will have fun creating their very own ball to lower as the New Year rings in.

Confetti Canon — This amazingly fun STEM challenge has two levels of difficulty. In both they will create their very own device to shoot confetti up in the air. The first way is perfect for younger kids and doing in group settings. The second way allows kids to get creative and explore the power of air.

Fireworks in a Jar — This super simple experiment brings the bright colors of fireworks indoors. And, the best part is you most likely have everything you already need in your kitchen: oil, water, and food coloring.

New Year’s Slime — This sparkly, easy to make slime is perfect for celebrating the New Year. It would be perfect as an activity to do as you count down to the big moment, or to make on New Year’s Day.

Lego Ball Drop — Have a child that loves building with colorful Lego bricks? Challenge them to engineer their very own ball drop!

Fizzing Fireworks Painting — This New Year STEAM activity allows kids to capture beautiful fireworks on paper, all while playing with simple chemistry and fizzy science.

These simple STEM activities for New Years would be fun to do as you countdown to midnight.

You could also do them on New Year’s Day.

Melting Snowmen STEM Activity

OneMommy — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 21:01:56 +0000

Brown cardboard packages are plentiful in the winter. Along with the treasures the boxes hold inside, there are often packing peanuts as well.

Why not use those packing peanuts to keep the kids entertained?

Our first biodegradable packing peanuts activity was such a huge hit, we decided to use the peanuts again, this time in a fun winter STEM activity.

This simple Melting Snowman Activity is a huge hit with kids of all ages.

Packing peanuts are always fun for kids to play with.

Mine love to fill a large box with them and then snuggle into it.

They also have used toothpicks to build simple Styrofoam structures.

The starch packing peanuts that dissolve in water make this melting snowman activity lots of fun.

Melting Snowmen STEM Activity

Affiliate links have been provided below for your convenience. See my full disclosure here.

Materials Needed:

Biodegradable Packing Peanuts
Black & Orange Permanent Markers
Small Bowl
Water

Use permanent markers to draw a snowman face on each packing peanut. Remember, they MUST be biodegradable packing peanuts. (That means they are made of starch, not polystyrene.)

If your child is anything like mine, they will want to do this activity several times, so be sure to have plenty of snowmen ready.

(Our original activity was with vanishing ghosts.)

Once you have a collection of snowmen, for your snowman activity, it’s time to make them melt, with a bit of science “magic.”

Fill a small bowl with room temperature water.

Have your child place one snowman on top of the water and watch what happens.

Almost immediately you will start to see small bubbles appearing on the sides of your snowman. In minutes the snowman will completely melt right before your eyes!

Your results may depend on the type of biodegradable packing peanuts you use. Ours dissolved within just a couple minutes.

If it seems to be taking too long for the snowmen to melt, try using warm water to help speed up the process.

This melting snowman experiment would be fun for a Frozen-themed party. (Think Olaf’s song about summer.)

It would also be great at the end of winter/beginning of spring.

Why do Packing Peanuts Dissolve in Water?

Here’s the science behind the melted snowman activity. The new packing peanuts are made from biodegradable corn starch, which means they break down easily instead of just sitting in the garbage dump for years and years like the older style ones.

The water helps break them down even faster.

Regardless of when you do it, this melting snowman activity is sure to be a hit.

The Must-Have STEM Supplies You Need at Home

OneMommy — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 19:35:46 +0000

If you are the parent of a school aged child, or if you work with kids, you are probably familiar with the terms STEM, and the new and improved acronym: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math).

The projects done at school are meant to engage students in fun learning activities that challenge them to be creative thinkers.

Setting up a STEM area at home for your child will give them the independence to experiment and be creative whenever they wish. It will also enable them explore concepts at their own pace.

Most STEM activities for kids can be done with a handful of must have STEM supplies you probably already have. Putting them all in one spot encourages kids to start exploring, without having to search the house for needed supplies.

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

When it comes to younger kids, STEM challenges inspire curiosity. They engage kids in hands-on projects that get them excited about learning.

With older elementary students, the projects can expose students to electronics. They give students an opportunity to explore physics and chemistry.

No matter what age you are working with, start by setting up your makerspace with some basic craft supplies: scissors, glue, construction paper, and markers.

Then add some of the other basic supplies used for STEM activities. You might also want to add a great book of project ideas, like my Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids.

If you have older elementary children, you may want to add a few of the more high-tech items. They make great gifts!

STEM Supplies

Craft Foam
Pipe Cleaners (Chenille Stems)
Masking Tape
Electrical Tape
Ruler
Index Cards
Wood Craft Sticks
Rubber Bands
Binder Clips
Paper Clips
Drinking Straws
Push Pins
Paper Cups & Plates
Thin Dowel Rods or Wood Skewers
Toothpicks
Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
Brass Fasteners
Yarn or String
Cotton Swabs
Old, Unwanted CD’s
Balloons
Coffee Filters
Thin Copper Wire
Magnifying Glass
Magnetic Wand
Plastic Pippettes
Recyclables (cardboard tubes, boxes, plastic bottles, & lids)

STEM Materials for Older Kids

5mm LED’s
Test Tubes
Microscope
3-D Pen
Snap-Circuits
Coding Robot

How to Organize STEM Supplies

Putting together a dedicated space for your child to experiment and be creative doesn’t have to take up a lot of room.

We have a plastic storage drawer unit in the corner of the kitchen that contains all the art supplies. The top 2 drawers house items for STEM activities. For STEM on the go, there is a caddy where they store items they use most often.

Don’t have a lot of room? Get a rolling art cart, which can easily be stored in a closet and brought out when needed. Add a few clear shoe boxes or baskets to organize supplies. Labeling them will help make locating items and clean up a breeze.

If you have a bigger area, you could organize supplies in clear shoe boxes on a bookcase. Add a small table and chair to make the work space complete.

Once you’ve gathered all your STEM materials in one spot, your kids may enjoy trying these ideas:

The post The Must-Have STEM Supplies You Need at Home first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Halloween STEM Activities

OneMommy — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 01:46:37 +0000

October is the month for decorated pumpkins, bats, and Halloween.

As kids gear up for the big day, get them excited with a few fun STEM activities for kids with a Halloween twist.

These Halloween STEM activities are perfect for October.

These STEM challenges would be fun in the classroom, at home, or even as a kids Halloween party idea.

Halloween STEM Activities

Candy Corn Catapults — Design and build your very own catapult and test how far you can fling candy corn pieces.

Ghost Pom-Pom Poppers — Kids will have fun creating these pom-pom poppers and testing to see how far they can get the pom-poms to fly.

Build a Ghost Tower— How tall can you engineer a tower in this ghostly structures STEM activity?

Candy Pumpkin Tower — Here’s another fun Halloween engineering activity for kids. How tall can they make their tower?

Grow Halloween Crystals — Use chemistry to create beautiful crystals shaped like pumpkins, spiders, and more.

Googly Eye Slime — Try your hand at a bit of chemistry with this simple slime recipe. Add googly eyes to make this monstrous eyeball slime.

Marshmallow Peeps Disappearing Ghosts — Kids will love experimenting with this tasty science activity.

Screaming Ghost Balloons — This super simple Halloween science activity will entertain kids while making spooky, screetchy noises they’ll love.

Build a Pumpkin Battery — Discover how you can make a working battery using pumpkins!

Pumpkin Catapult — Kids of all ages will love building their own craft stick catapult and using it for a fun game in this STEM challenge.

Halloween Eraser Stacking Challenge — This engineering challenge would be fun to do solo or as a competition to see who can build the tallest tower.

Flying Witches — Mix a bit of science into crafting and discover how levers work. Kids will love this cute idea.

Pumpkin Volcano — Carving pumpkins this year? Put that Jack-O-Lantern to good use and build your very own volcano.

Flying Tea Bag Ghost— Use the same science principles used in hot air balloons to make your very own flying ghost with this fun ghost experiment.

Monster Eye Science — This Halloween science experiment gives a fun new twist to the classic oil & water activity.

Spiderweb Slime — It’s sticky, stretchy, and lots of fun! Add a few spiders and this slime is sure to be a favorite.

Spider Drawing Bot — Learn how to build your own drawing bot, and give it a spooky twist that’s perfect for October.

Inflating Ghost Balloon— Give the classic baking soda and vinegar balloon experiment a fun holiday twist with this idea.

Bone Bridge — Build a “bone” bridge and test how strong it is. Who can make the longest bridge?

Pumpkin Float — Do squash float or sink? Find out in this simple pumpkin exploration.

Marshmallow & Toothpick Spiderweb — Kids of all ages will love using marshmallows and toothpicks to form their very own spiderweb.

Dissolving Candy Corn Experiment — What dissolves candy corn the best? Make a hypothesis, experiment, and discover the answer for yourself.

Fizzing Eyeballs — Kids love fizzing science! Plastic eyeballs help give this classic experiment a spooky twist.

Pumpkin Pulley — Explore how pulley systems work by building your very own pulley.

Ghost Rockets — Engineer your very own film canister rockets with the perfect twist for Halloween.

Fizzy Ghosts— There is just something that kids love about fizzing science. Take that love to new heights with this fun ghostly twist.

Dancing Ghost — Use science in this ghost STEM to make your own tissue paper ghost magically dance without you touching it.

Flying Bat Straw Rockets — Print off the adorable bat template and use it to engineer your very own flying bat rockets. Who can make their bat fly the farthest?

Diving Ghost Experiment— In this diving ghost activity, science and ghosts combine in a spooktacular STEM activity.

Vanishing Ghost STEM— This simple STEM for Halloween is perfect for kids of all ages. They will be amazed to see their ghost disappear right before their very eyes.

These Halloween STEM Activities will keep your child engaged and having fun all October.

Christmas STEM: Graphite Circuit Christmas Tree

OneMommy — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 22:22:32 +0000

December is a busy month.

There are gifts to buy, parties to attend, family visiting from out of town…. Plus, there are all the usual commitments like school, work, and running kids to various activities.

This year seems like it’s been extra busy.

Somewhere in all the chaos we’ve managed to squeeze in a few new Christmas STEM activities.

One of our favorites is making a Christmas-themed graphite circuit and creating pictures that really light up!

Graphite circuits are one of our favorite STEM activities for kids.

This STEM project is really a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) activity that is perfect for elementary kids and tweens.

You may also like our Elf on the Shelf STEM Activities.

Christmas Tree Graphite Circuit

Materials Needed:

Graphite Pencil
Computer Paper
9 Volt Battery
Mini 5 mm LED Bulb
Clear Tape
Colored Pencils

Start by having your child draw a simple Christmas tree on the paper.

Graphite is a weak conductor, so the light bulb will light up better with a smaller tree. I suggest making the tree no taller than 6 inches for the best effect.

Once the tree is drawn, have them color it however they wish. We settled on simple red ball ornaments, but your child might want a variety of ornaments and garland decorating their tree.

The next step is to use your graphite pencil to draw a thick line around the tree.

You want the line to be close to 1/4 inch thick, with no white spaces in the lines as you draw.

Leave 1/4 inch space at the bottom and the top of the tree where you don’t use the graphite pencil.

Use a small amount of tape to fasten each of the wire leads from your LED bulb to the graphite outline that is at the top of the tree so that the bulb straddles the empty space.

We discovered that the mini LED Christmas lights we have worked great for this activity. Just take the bulb out of the plastic casing.

Flip your 9 volt battery upside down and place it so it straddles the gap at the bottom of the tree, with one prong on each of the black graphite pencil lines.

The bulb on top of the tree should light up. If not, turn your battery around so the positive and negative prongs touch the opposite sides of the tree.

Why does the graphite circuit work?

Graphite is a conductor, which means electricity can travel along it. When you place the battery at the bottom of the tree and the LED bulb at the top, you close the circuit. This allows electricity from the battery to travel along the graphite lines to the LED bulb, making it light up.

We had lots of fun with this Christmas STEM activity and are looking forward to experimenting more with graphite circuits in the future.

Get more fun ideas like this and a free Christmas Scavenger Hunt delivered to your email by subscribing to our newsletter.

You’ll also like:

The post Christmas STEM: Graphite Circuit Christmas Tree first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Super Simple DIY Geoboard

OneMommy — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 01:27:14 +0000

Oh, the toys! If you aren’t careful they can take over, which is why I was helping my daughter clean her room. I was hoping she’d agree to part with a few she no longer plays with.

We picked up plastic animals, tiny Barbie shoes, and Monster High. When we got to the closet, there was the Lite Brite she got for Christmas years ago, long forgotten and ignored.

And, scattered all over her closet floor were hundreds of rainbow-colored rubber bands.

I thought about slipping that board and all the plastic pegs into a bag and getting rid of them. But then I realized we could use it for fun STEM activities.

We gave it new life as a simple DIY geoboard.

Geoboards seem to be popping up all over the place lately.

I’ve thought about making our own several times. But with all the measuring and making sure the nails are all lined up properly, and then the hammering…

Being a mom means you are always busy. Who has time for that?

This version is quick and easy to make, perfect for simple STEM.

Lite Brite DIY Geoboard

Affiliate links have been used below. For more details, see my full disclosure.

Materials Needed:

Lite Brite Screen and Pegs
Mini Rubber Bands (We used Loom Bands)

Forget the hammer and nails. Making homemade geoboard is super simple.

Stick the pegs into the screen in straight rows, leaving 2 empty holes between each peg.

Continue making straight rows across the screen, leaving equal spaces between the rows.

Once the pegs are in place you are ready to create on your Lite Brite geoboard.

Use the rubber bands to create shapes by stretching them around the pegs.

Geoboards are perfect for working on fine motor skills.

Young kids can use the geoboard to explores shapes, creating squares, rectangles, triangles, and more. They can also use the rubber band to form letters or numbers.

Older kids will have fun creating their very own art.

The fun part about using a Lite Brite as a geoboard is that you can light it up while getting creative.

I’m so glad I didn’t get rid of the Lite Brite when we were decluttering the toys. Our super simple DIY geoboard has already seen hours of play. (And as a bonus, all the tiny little rubber bands are no longer on the floor.)