If you're short on space and resources, my simple science in a shoebox ideas might be helpful. Each activity uses very basic materials, can be stored in a shoebox and uses a shoebox! All you need are some craft materials and a little imagination!

Once the activity is finished, you can stack the final product for storage, transport the whole experiment without bits falling off or display it nicely for everyone to admire!

Science in a Shoebox

Shoebox Catapult

The traditional shoebox catapult is a great science investigation for learning about forces and the conservation of energy.

Once the catapult is made, it can be used in many different ways. Children can experiment by catapulting different size objects and measuring how far each one travels.

Another idea is to build a target to aim small pom poms or ping pong balls towards.

Create a Habitat

A shoebox is a great size to make a habitat inside. Older children can add moving parts or create two habitats to show the possible effects of climate change or pollution on wildlife. We made a very simple polar shoebox habitat.

Floating Objects

Use a magnet to create a floating object inside a shoebox! This is a great activity for learning about magnetism and looks fantastic too. The rocket looks like it's floating as it has a paperclip attached, which is attracted to the magnet on top.

The magnetic force between the paper clip and magnet is stronger than the pull of gravity, so the paper clip stays suspended in the air rather than falling to the bottom of the box.

Seismometer in a box

My simple seismometer model shows how earthquakes are measured and is an excellent addition to an earthquake topic or a fun mini science project. It's a very simple model, but it nicely demonstrates the core principles of a real seismometer.

When the paper under the pen is pulled through, and the shoebox is still, the pen draws a straight line.

The pen draws a wiggly line when the shoebox is shaken ( simulating an earthquake ). The zigzags should be bigger if the box is shaken more vigorously.

Mini Marble Run

A shoebox is a perfect container for a mini marble run. Use cardboard tubes attached to the back wall of the box. The tubes can be cut in half or left whole.

Marble runs are great for learning how gradient affects speed, gravity and friction. Gravity pulls down on the marble, forcing it to roll down the tubes. Friction between the marble and the tube slows it down. We like to add a rough surface to the inside of one of the tubes to slow the marble down as much as we can.

A fun team building marble run challenge is for small teams to build the slowest marble run they can! This needs a slightly sloping track, just steep enough to overcome friction so the marble moves slowly.

Create a Pneumatic System

Use syringes to make a box open with pneumatics. This version is spring-themed, but there are endless creative opportunities around this idea. You could make a pirate treasure chest that opens, a picnic basket or even a toy box full of toys!

More ideas for science in a shoebox

Rainy Day Mum has a brilliant Newton's Cradle made from a shoebox frame.

Instructables has a clever smartphone projector that would make a great science project for older children and is great for a party or sleepover!

If you know of any more shoebox science experiments, please let me know, and I will add them!

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A smartphone is a great tool for science experiments with or without special apps. Make the most of your phone with these five science experiments you can do with a smartphone.

Use your smartphone for science

Make a smartphone speaker

Imagine you're in the park having a picnic and fancy playing some music. What can you do? Grab a cardboard tube and two paper or plastic cups, and you've got a mini DIY phone speaker!

Make sure the ends of the tube are inside the cups, and carefully cut a slot for your phone.

Experiment with different sizes and material tubes and cups to investigate how the sound changes.

Conduct a heart rate investigation

Use the stopwatch on your phone to conduct a simple heart rate investigation.

Make a DIY projector

Use your phone to make a projector. This would be a great class STEM challenge or a fun end to a science party.

Contribute to scientific research around the world

Download a Citizen Science app and contribute to science projects around the world. Track birds, monitor water quality and lots more!

Turn your phone into a microscope

With the addition of a small microscope camera attachment you can turn your phone into a microscope!

Explore the sky with your phone

Become a backyard astronaut with an app that allows you to explore the night sky. The Night Sky app is a good place to start.

Let me know if you have any other ideas for science with a phone!

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Bridges and buildings need to be made from strong materials and cleverly constructed too. Some shapes make more robust structures than others. These simple investigations are all great for learning about strong shapes and stable structures in a fun and hands-on way.

A structure is a building made from several different parts.

Stable structure and building investigations for kids

Most of the activities below can be adapted for different ages. Younger children will need more guidance and supervision than older children, who could have the activity set up as a more open-ended STEM challenge.

1. Build a marshmallow and spaghetti structure.

A marshmallow and spaghetti structure is a fun ( and sticky ) way to learn about stable structures. Experiment with squares and triangles in the tower to find out which makes the strongest building.

You can see in the image below that we had to place the spaghetti diagonally across the squares to stop it from collapsing.

We've also created an Easter/Spring toothpick tower version of this activity using plasticine and toothpicks to build towers for mini chicks.

2. Build a sugar cube arch

A sugar cube arch is another messy way to learn about strong shapes. You can see we slightly shaped the cubes so they fit together neatly.

3. Strong Columns

Find out why columns are often used to support buildings with an easy Greek architecture STEM challenge. The activity involves standing on paper cups, so it will keep even the most reluctant engineer engaged and maybe even surprised!

4. Strong Shapes

This simple science activity uses paper columns folded into different shapes to discover which shape is the strongest.

Simply create the columns and stack books on top until they collapse. One particular shaped column should be much stronger than the others.

5. How strong is an eggshell?

Find out why domes are such a strong shape using half eggshells! It can be a bit tricky to make the domes, but worth the effort!

6. Gingerbread Structures

Design, build and test structures made from gingerbread to find out which sticky substances hold them together the best.

7. Paper Arch STEM Challenge

This activity uses paper between books to test a flat and arch bridge to determine which can hold the most load.

8. Edible foundations - Earthquake STEM Challenge

This delicious earthquake investigation uses different edible foundations ( jelly, brownie and flapjack) to find out which best supports a toothpick tower during a simulated earthquake.

9. Candy House STEM challenge

This candy house STEM challenge is delicious and a great learning activity too! Use sweets to build a house and test different sticky materials to hold it together.

More building and stability of structure activities for kids

Little Bins for Little Hands has a brilliant paper cup building activity.

Can you design an activity to find out which materials are the most flexible?

Raising Lifelong Learners has a brilliant mini wrecking ball challenge.

For early years, kindergarten and preschool children, take a look at my science ideas for a building topic post.

The post Stable Structure STEM Challenges for Kids appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

This very simple STEM challenge is a great way to find out why arches are such an important structural shape. Bridges often have arches to make them stronger and more stable. The arch shape allows any load on the bridge to be spread outwards along the curve of the arch.

Pont du Gard is a brilliant example of a bridge constructed of arches.

Arch Bridge STEM Challenge

You'll need

Books

Paper

Paperclips or other small objects

Instructions

Set up two piles of books the same height with a small gap between them.

Place a sheet of paper over the top to make a bridge.

Carefully place paper clips on the top until the bridge collapses.

Record the number of paper clips added before the bridge collapsed.

Remove all the paper clips and bend the same piece of paper into an arch shape between the piles of books.

Add paper clips again until the bridge breaks.

Can you add more paper clips to the arch shape or the flat bridge?

You can see that the arch shape tolerates a lot more paper clips before collapsing than the flat bridge with no support.

Build a Bridge STEM Challenge Worksheet

More bridge building ideas for kids

Teach Beside Me has a brilliant popsicle stick bridge.

Experiment with different types of paper bridges.

Build and test an eggshell bridge. It might be stronger than you think!

The post Build an Arch STEM Challenge appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

This cute love bug is a great Valentine's Day STEM Challenge or fun science craft for any time of year. The cork on the motor spins around making the cup vibrate and move around. As it moves, the felt tip pens make a mark on the surface below.

Art-bots can also be made with a small pringles can or any other small, light container.

If you like this activity, don't forget to take a look at my other easy engineering projects for kids.

How to make a love bug drawing robot

You'll need

Small motor 1.5 -3 V and motor holder

Thick elastic band 2 in x ½ in or battery holder for the battery

Elastic band to hold the pens in place

AA Battery

Cork

Paper cup

Decorations

Three felt tip pens.

Two leads

Paper

Felt tip pens

Roll of paper

Strong double-sided tape or a glue gun

Drawing robot instructions

Decorate the cup with decorations.

Attach the three pens to the side of the cup with double-sided tape and fix them in place with an elastic band. Remember to leave space for the cork to spin freely.

If using a battery holder with wires attached, stick this to the top of the paper cup using double-sided tape. If using an elastic band, stick the battery to the top of the cup directly and place the elastic band securely over the top of the pens.

Fix the motor holder to the top of the cup as close to the edge as possible, and place the motor inside.

Attach the wires from the battery pack to the motor and check the motor turns. Disconnect the battery again.

Carefully place the cork on the end of the motor.

Remove the lids from the felt tip pens and place the drawing robot on a large sheet of paper.

Attach the wires from the battery pack to the motor and watch as the robot draws on the paper!

Another way to make a simple drawing robot is to use a little brush and attach a felt tip pen to one end. I used a very soft baby brush, which worked well, but it's also fun to experiment with different shapes and sizes of brushes!

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The Pont du Gard is the highest of the Roman aqueducts. It was built in the 1st Century AD to transport water to the Roman colony of Nemausus ( now Nimes ) in the South of France. The impressive bridge towers above the Gardon, a feeder river of the Rhone. It's astonishing to think it was built before the days of the large cranes and machinery we have today.

What is an aqueduct?

Aqueducts transport water from one place to another, usually from a water source to a town or city. The water is carried either through underground tunnels or overground on a bridge like the Pont du Gard. The Pont du Gard is just a small part of the 50km aqueduct which the Romans built to transport water from the start of the Eure to Nemausus.

Aqueducts use gravity to allow water to flow. The slope has to be very gentle so as not to drain the source of the water too quickly but also steep enough to keep the water moving. The average slope of the Pont du Gard is just 25cm per km and includes lots of slopes and detours to keep the water moving.

The Romans were brilliant builders with impressive engineering skills. The Pont du Gard is a fantastic example of Roman ingenuity. It has 3 levels of arches, 6 at the bottom, 11 in the middle and 47 at the top.

Pont du Gard Facts

Pont du Gard took 5 years to build with around 800 workers and construction of the entire aqueduct took between 10 and 15 years.

The stones were sized, numbered and then transported by boat to the site of the bridge where they were stacked in place.

Arches were made using a wooden frame which was removed once the stones were in place.

The bridge was built without mortar to hold the pieces in place apart from the last level.

Pont du Gard is a World Heritage Site.

Today we use pumps to force the water upwards when needed, so aqueducts are built very differently.

Why are arches used in bridges?

As you can see from the Pont du Gard, arch bridges are very strong and long lasting!

Weight on the top of the bridge is pushed outwards, spreading the load along the curve of the arch.

Modern bridges tend to be built from metal or concrete rather than stone, but still use the arch shape for strength.

Roman Arch Engineering Challenge

To continue learning about arches we tried a fun bridge STEM challenge to build an arch with sugar cubes.

It was quite tricky to build, and ours didn't stand on its own, but with a bit of liquid glucose, I think it would've held together much better.

You'll need

Sugar cubes

Grater

Liquid glucose - optional

Instructions

Look at photos of famous arches and think about the shape of the individual blocks.

Carefully ( ask an adult to help ) use a grater to change the shape of the sugar cubes so they fit together.

Try to build your arch! Ours was not perfect, but lots of fun to make.

More bridge-building STEM challenges

National Geographic Kids has a brilliant arch made with ice cubes that you might also like to try.

Learn about Leonardo da Vinci's self-supporting bridge and how to build your own!

Try a paper bridge engineering challenge.

The post The Pont du Gard and a bridge building STEM challenge appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

Lolly stick or popsicle stick catapults are very easy to make, provide hours of fun and are brilliant engineering and design projects. We made our popsicle stick catapults space-themed and turned table tennis balls into planets. There are so many different catapult designs and themes to choose from; you'll be busy for weeks! Catapults are a brilliant way to learn about energy, gravity and Newton's Laws of Motion.

Popsicle stick catapults are also great for a maths-based activity if children record how far different sizes/weights of balls travel. We've found that small pom poms fly very well as they are light.

Lolly stick catapults are simple to make and use, although young children may need some help. Once you get the hang of them, each one takes only a couple of minutes to create. They're a great kids' activity for a rainy day.

What you need for a Popsicle Stick Catapult

Wide popsicle sticks/ lolly sticks

Elastic bands

Table tennis balls

Other items to test

Double-sided tape

Milk bottle top

Tape measure - optional

How to make a lolly stick catapult

• Start with about seven popsicle sticks and place them on top of each other. Twist an elastic band around each end to hold them in place.

• Place another stick above and one below the stack of 7 so they make a cross shape. You should have more lolly sticks on the end to use for the milk top.

• Tie an elastic band around the middle of the cross.

• Twist another elastic band around the bottom of two sticks, as you can see in the photo.

• Attach a milk bottle top using double sided tape or strong glue.

• Experiment with your table tennis balls.

Popsicle Stick Catapult Investigation Ideas

Remember to only change one variable at a time

Change the design

Try adding extra or fewer sticks to the central part of the catapult.

Make the throwing arm shorter.

Change the item being catapulted

Investigate to find out if a heavier ball travels further.

Make it a challenge!

Set a challenge to find out how far you can make a ball travel!

Add some maths

Create a target with different numbers in different areas and use the lolly stick catapult to fire balls at the target. See who can score the most with a set number of balls.

How Does a Popsicle Stick Catapult Work?

Newton's First Law states that an object stays at rest until a force is applied to the object.

When you pull down on the catapult arm, elastic potential energy is stored. When you release the catapult arm, the potential energy changes to kinetic energy ( energy of motion ), which is transferred to the object, which then flies through the air.

Catapults and conservation of energy

A lolly stick catapult demonstrates energy being converted from one type to another ( potential to kinetic ) and transferred from one object to another ( catapult arm to the ball ).

If you push the catapult arm down further you are storing more elastic potential energy which means more kinetic energy is transferred to the ball when you release it. The further you push the catapult arm down ( which takes more force from you ) the further the ball will travel.

If you want to learn more about Newton's Laws of Motion, try our film canister rocket.

More Catapult Design Ideas

Can you build a giant catapult? We used this one to launch tennis balls over a net.

Another fun STEM challenge is a LEGO catapult. Ours took some engineering and lots of tweaking, but it worked very well!

Create a simple shoe box catapult. Again this is a brilliant easy engineering project for kids with lots of possible variations on the design and theme.

Try some catapult painting like Fun-a-Day.

Frugal Fun for Boys has another catapult design.

How about a snowman popsicle stick catapult? Or a pokemon catapult?

The post How to Make a Lolly or Popsicle Stick Catapult appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

What do you picture when you think of an engineer? Do you imagine someone wearing a hard hat putting various mechanical pieces together? Or someone sat at a desk all day? Do you picture a man? Engineering is so much more than just mechanics, definitely not a desk job and certainly not just for men, although there are currently many more male engineers than female.

Engineering is all about solving problems with science and maths to make life better.

It was engineers who created the first tools, the first irrigation systems, the first engines, vehicles and many, many more inventions that make our life better every single day. Engineering has been around for 1000s of years and is a huge part of human history. Steam engines powered the industrial revolution, the invention of the wheel revolutionised transport and it is engineers who will play a vital part in working through our climate crisis. Today, we need engineers more than ever before!

Types of Engineering

There are lots of different fields of engineering encompassing everything from microscopic nanobots to the biggest industrial installations.

The below are just some of the different types of engineering. You can see that there's a huge variety of options and endless possibilities for all types of engineer.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineers design, construct and maintain buildings and other structures such as roads, bridges and dams. This type of project usually benefits people, improving life for the general public.

Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering is the design and maintenance of machinery including vehicles, machines used in industry and tools.

Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineers work to improve healthcare. This could be working on things like MRI scanners, creating prosthetic limbs, or even creating robots to operate or deliver medicine.

One very exciting field of biomedical engineering is tissue engineering which involves creating tissues in the lab to replace parts of the body. Imagine if we could grow whole new organs for people!

Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineers work with materials and chemicals to create useful products. Chemicals engineers will be vitally important in the future as they try to find sustainable alternatives to plastics and help create efficient renewable energy sources.

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineers work with electricity create new and inventive products. These can include everything from the smallest microchips to large industrial systems.

Computer Engineering

Computer engineers design computer systems, networks, software and hardware.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers work to monitor, reduce and prevent pollution. They are also involved in cleaning up polluted areas.

Engineering through the ages

The Wheel

Who invented the wheel?

The oldest wheel to be discovered was a potters wheel in Mesopotamia from around 3500BC. It's not known who invented the first wheel, but this simple invention changed the world!

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is an astonishing piece of engineering dating back to around 3100BC. It seems practically impossible that Stonehenge was built thousands of years before cranes, or any kind of power. No one knows how the huge stones were transported, but it is thought they were lifted upright using wooden frames and ropes. Construction of Stonehenge took 1500 years!

Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza were built as tombs for the Pharaohs of Egypt around 2500BC. These monumentally impressive structures are an incredible feat of engineering and construction. No one really knows how they were built!

Aqueducts

Aqueducts use gravity to move water from a source to final destination. Roman aqueducts used tunnels and bridges as part of the transportation system.

The first aqueduct in Rome is thought to have been built around 310BC.

Archimedes Screw

The Archimedes Screw is a device invented around 250BC used for moving water upwards. Confusingly the Archimedes Screw was not necessarily invented by Archimedes, but is a useful device that is still used today.

You can make your own Archimedes Screw using some plastic piping and a tube.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is another incredible feat of engineering, and the longest ever piece of human construction. The oldest parts date back to around 206BC but construction continued right up to the 17th Century. The Great Wall is one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, a Unesco World Heritage Site and the longest artificial structure in the world!

The Thames Tunnel

The Thames Tunnel was the first tunnel to be built under water in the world and is still in use today! The tunnel opened in 1843 and was first used for pedestrians before being converted for use by trains. The tunnel was designed by Marc Isambard Brunel who created a device called the tunnelling shield to help with construction. More modern versions of this device are still used now.

Marc Brunel was helped by his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel with the project. Isambard later became chief engineer of the Great Western Railway which stretches from London to Bristol and Exeter. Isambard Kingdom Brunel is also famous for the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol which at the time it opened ( 1864 ) was the longest bridge in the world.

Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian railway is the worlds longest railway connecting Moscow to Vladivostock ( 5772 miles ). The railway line travels through forests, mountains and rivers which gave engineers involved in its construction many challenges to overcome. Additionally, Siberia is very, very cold so engineers had to consider the effect of melting and freezing permafrost on the track.

Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s to provide hydroelectric power, prevent flooding and give the people of Las Vegas a reliable water supply to help with the irrigation of crops. It's 200m thick at the bottom and 14 m thick at the top!

Hoover Dam straddles the Black Canyon of the Colorado River to create the US's largest reservoir, Lake Mead. The dam is a gigantic concrete curve which holds back water while transmitting the pressure into the walls of the canyon.

Water released from the reservoir drives turbines to generate electricity!

In Vitro Fertilisation

You might think IVF is biology, not engineering but biomedical engineering is a fast growing field using engineering for medical purposes.

IVF was developed in the 1960s and 70s with the first IVF baby being born in 1978!

The Channel Tunnel - 1994

The Channel Tunnel is another feat of engineering and is the world's longest, continuous undersea railway tunnel. It connects England to Northern France and is used for passengers and vehicles.

Construction took five years and the tunnel is one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World.

International Space Station

The first module of the International Space Station was launched into space in 1998. The ISS is not only a massive engineering achievement but an impressive collaboration between sixteen nations! The space station was assembled in space sometimes by robotic arms and sometimes by humans. It is a true engineering masterpiece!

Did you know the space station orbits the Earth 16 times each day and is about as long as a football pitch?

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge ( opened in 2018 ) connects Hong Kong to China and is the world's longest sea bridge. This engineering superstructure also contains an underground tunnel ( allowing ships to pass through ) and three artificial islands!

The bridge has been specially designed to withstand extreme weather and natural events such as typhoons and earthquakes!

More Human Feats of Engineering

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal was built at the start of the 20th Century to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for trade and travel purposes. Engineers had to consider differences in water levels, tricky terrain including lakes and mountains and landslides.

Bailong Elevator

The Bailong Elevator opened in 2002 and is the world's tallest outdoor elevator. It's not for those with a fear of heights as it reaches 326m high giving an incredible view over the Wuling Mountains in China.

Itaipu Dam

Itaipu Dam, located on the Brazil-Paraguay border is one of the world's largest hydroelectric power stations. The dam produces enough electricity to cover a large percentage of Paraguay's needs.

How to get kids excited about engineering?

Engineering is all about designing, inventing and testing, so hands-on creative STEM projects are a great place to begin.

My easy engineering projects are fun, challenging and use equipment you probably already have. Learn about strong shapes with paper columns or egg shells, test different edible foundations in an earthquake and lots more!

The James Dyson website also has some simple challenges to get you started.

The post What is Engineering? appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

Here at Science Sparks we believe you're never too young to develop a passion for science, engineering and learning and so have pulled together a collection of simple engineering projects for kids to inspire even the youngest potential engineer.

Did you know the word 'engine' comes from the Latin ingenium which means clever? Engineering is all about inventing things to make life easier and better, solving problems with science and mathematics.

The world of engineering is vast and the possibilities endless with advances in nanotechnology, bioengineering, AI and other technologies. With a global climate crisis and ageing population the human race needs engineers more than ever.

Fun engineering projects for kids

Structures and Stability

Edible engineering challenges

I know not everyone likes edible experiments, but if you can eat them afterwards and avoid food waste I think they are a great way to learn and often something children remember for a long time afterwards.

Edible candy house

This edible house has candy walls built with different kinds of edible 'cement' to stick it together. We found thick icing sugar was the best way to attach the bricks to each other.

If you don't want to build a whole house but like the idea of an edible activity simple towers made from sweets also work well, opening up the opportunity for discussion about choosing the best shapes for a stable structure.

These meringue towers were also great fun and a delicious dessert.

Foundations and Earthquakes

If you have an earthquake topic coming up this earthquake investigation using gum drop toothpick towers with different edible foundations is a fun activity to try. Will a jelly foundation or a brownie foundation be the strongest?

Strong Shape Investigations

Discover why domes are a strong shape using egg shells. Can you think of any structures which use domes for strength?

Find out why an egg can be almost unbreakable in certain circumstances.

How about building stable structures using spaghetti and marshmallows? Incorporating triangle shapes will make these stronger.

Experiment with different shape paper columns to find out which is the strongest shape.

Make your own paper building blocks like Babble Dabble Do.

Bridge Building Engineering Project for Kids

Left Brain, Craft Brain has an amazing DIY suspension bridge. I love the use of loom bands.

Try this simple bridge building engineering task using paper folded in different ways.

This bridge with string and craft sticks was great fun to build and can be set up as a challenge using different materials for the bridge base.

Properties of materials

Engineers have to understand the properties of different materials and consider how they behave in different situations. There are lots of brilliant engineering projects where this concept can be introduced.

First learn how to classify objects by the material they're made from. How can you tell the difference between a metal and a non metal for example?

Learn about elasticity by adding different weights to an elastic band to investigate how far it stretches.

Find out which materials work best for muffling sound with a fun activity using a cardboard tube with different materials inside it.

Design and choose the best materials to make a boot waterproof.

Find out which materials make the best superhero cape? If you were a superhero would you want a long flowing cape or a shorter cape that didn't move so much?

Discover how to stand on a paper cup without it breaking! This is also a great activity to link with a topic about Greek Architecture!

Design and build a house for the Three Little Pigs that can withstand the wolf trying to blow it down. The challenge here is to think abut which materials will withstand the wolf's puff!

Another idea is to test different materials to find out which would be best for a waterproof roof!

Simple Machines

Find out how to move water upwards with this fun Archimedes Screw.

Design a drawing robot. We used HEXBUGS to power our drawing bots. Pens can also be positioned around a plastic container or cardboard cup with a hexbug inside.

This bouncy ball invention is genius from Inspiration Laboratories.

Design and build a drinks dispenser using the power of air pressure.

Vehicles - engineering investigations

You only need paper, scissors and a paperclip to make these easy paper helicopter spinners. Experiment with different size spinners to find out if they fall faster or more slowly.

Create a bumper for a car with this bumper car STEM challenge. For this activity little engineers need to think about which materials to choose to get the most rebound back from the car.

Design and build a balloon powered car. This is a brilliant activity for learning about forces and Newton's Third Law. Once you've got it working, try to supercharge it with extra balloon power!

Or, how about a baking soda boat? For this engineering challenge you need to think about how to release the gas produced by the baking soda and vinegar reaction to get the most thrust from the bottle boat.

Rockets are an incredible feat of engineering. Mini bottle rockets use the same basic concepts to launch that a real rocket uses and are another great introduction to Newton's Laws of Motion.

Red Ted Art also has a fantastic elastic band powered tugboat.

Ideas for learning about pneumatics

We had great fun designing this K'nex pneumatic crane using two syringes and a tube.

We also used the same concept to make a chicken hatch out of an egg!

More fun engineering projects for kids

How about making a guitar and learning about sound absorption and reflection like Red Ted Art.

Try one of these easy catapults using just lolly sticks, elastic bands and a milk carton top.

Practice your design skills with this cardboard kitchen. What fun gadgets and tools can you engineer?

Frugal fun for Boys have lots of wonderful creative ideas for budding engineers, one of our favourites is this LEGO Candy Dispenser.

Engineering projects for little ones

We love this sand and pipe engineering bin from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Happy Hooligans has a cardboard construction set that looks fantastic and so simple.

This play dough and straw spiderweb from Rainy Day Mum looks like great fun.

Try some building with playdough and wooden blocks like Fun with Play at Home.

The post Easy Engineering Projects for Kids appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

Today's science investigation is a fun one! We're going to waterproof a boot - not a real one, as hopefully your boots are already quite waterproof, but a paper one! The idea is to print off the sheet, colour it in, cover it with different materials and then spray it with water to find out which materials are the most waterproof!

Which materials are the most waterproof?

What you'll need

Felt tip pens

Different materials to test – kitchen foil, paper, cloth, felt, wax crayon etc

Masking tape

Scissors

Boot Printable – or draw your own pictures

Water sprayer, or you can drip the water over the top using your fingers

INSTRUCTIONS

Colour in the boot with felt tip pens. Make it as crazy or as simple as you like.

Next, ask an adult to help you cut out small squares of the different materials.

Spend some time feeling and looking at the different materials. Which do you think will be the most waterproof? It might help to think about what each is used for.

Carefully tape the squares of material over the boot until the whole boot is covered.

Spray the boot evenly with water.

Look at the surface of each material. Do they look different? If the material is waterproof, the water will be visible in beads on the surface.

Carefully peel off the squares of different materials to check if the colours are wet.

Check to see which material is the most waterproof.

How can you tell if a material is waterproof?

Water will usually form beads on top of a waterproof material and be absorbed by a non-waterproof material.

The colouring under the waterproof materials should stay dry.

Extension tasks

Use your findings to design and create a sandwich bag that will keep a sandwich dry on a wet day.

If you enjoyed this, I also have a dinosaur waterproofing experiment!

More science experiments for kids

Design and build an umbrella for Incy Wincy Spider. This is a great activity for thinking about whether a material is waterproof and properties such as flexibility.

Find out why oil and water don't mix with these easy investigations.

Experiment to find out why some objects float and some sink.

Learn more about materials and their properties with my huge collection of materials experiments.

Don't forget to check out my FREE science experiment instruction sheets, too!

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Today's STEM challenge is to design and build a bumper car that will rebound back after a collision with a wall or another mini vehicle.

This car themed STEM challenge is a great hands-on introduction to Newton's Laws of Motion and a fun engineering and design project too.

Bumper Car STEM Challenge

You'll need

Balloons

2 wide straws

2 narrow straws

Cardboard

Thick card or 4 round objects such as bottle tops for wheels.

Paper

Glue and tape

Small boxes of plastic water bottle

Elastic bands

Timer - optional

Ramp - optional

How to make a basic car

This basic car model can be used for lots of different science and STEM projects. I use the same simple construction for my balloon powered cars too!

Cut out a rectangle from a sheet of cardboard. A box or plastic bottle also works well.

Trim the wider straws so they fit horizontally across the cardboard.

Attach the straws to the cardboard with tape or glue. I usually use double sided tape for this part.

Thread the narrower straws through the wide straws and attach the wheels.

Check the car moves smoothly.

Once you're happy with the basic car you can start adding extra design features.

Bumper car STEM test ideas

Roll a car into a wall at low and high speeds. Measure how far the car rolls backwards or how long it rolls back for.

Roll a car down a ramp into another car or wall.

Another fun idea is to repeat the collision with an egg as a passenger. This can be a boiled egg or if you're feeling brave a raw egg! Remember to ask a parent first.

The car below has a large padded bumper made from craft sticks, a toilet roll and pom poms for extra cushioning.

This car has two bumpers made from craft sticks and a straw.

This car has balloon bumpers.

Car collision tests

There are several different ways you can test your bumper car.

• Roll the car down a ramp so it collides with a wall. Record the distance the car rebounds back from the wall or the time it takes for the car to stop moving after impact.
• Roll the car down a ramp into another test vehicle. This time record the time it takes for each car to stop moving and the distance each car travels.

Questions to ask

Is there a relationship between the amount of rollback and speed of the car when it hits a wall/object?

Does a bigger car roll back for longer?

Newton's Third Law

Newton's third law of motion states:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction

Or to put it another way:

When two objects interact, the forces they exert on each other are equal and opposite.

If you think of this in terms of a rocket taking off, it all makes sense.

The downward thrust created by the hot gas rushing out of the rocket is the action and the reaction is an opposite upward thrust forcing the rocket into the air.

A rocket will continue moving upwards as long as there is a resultant upwards force. If the upwards thrust force was to stop the resultant force would be downwards.

You can see this in action with our bottle rocket!

Newton's Third Law and Collisions

In the case of a collision the force of one object on the other is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. This is why when our bumper car collides with a wall or another vehicle it rebounds backwards.

Something to think about

It's not quite so simple as two cars rebounding off each other with the same acceleration. Newton's Second Law has to be considered too!

Newton's Second Law states that:

Force = Mass x Acceleration

If the two colliding cars have different mass they will have different accelerations after the collision.

Momentum

All moving objects have momentum. Momentum is a vector quantity which means it has size AND direction.

Momentum (kg m/s ) = mass ( kg ) x velocity (m/s )

In a collision the total momentum before and event is the same as after an event. This is called conservation of momentum.

As you can see there's a lot to learn from two objects crashing into each other!

More STEM Challenges like this

You might also like my crash test eggs activity. We used eggs in this as test passengers!

A film canister rocket or a baking soda rocket is a great way to learn more about Newton's Third Law.

Finally, try to apply momentum to bouncing balls!

My STEM challenge design template might come in handy too!

I would love to see your crash test bumper cars if you make some!

The post Bumper Car STEM Challenge appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

This DIY water wheel is a great STEM challenge or engineering activity. We used a DUPLO® frame, but you could make something similar from cardboard or even rest the water wheel on two stacks of books.

It's a great introduction to hydroelectric power, renewable energy and transfer of energy for older children or just a fun construction challenge for younger children.

We made a double wheel, but just one would work perfectly well.

How to make a water wheel

You will need

A wooden skewer - take care with the sharp ends

A cardboard cylinder shape - we used an empty gravy container

4 small paper cups

Hot glue gun

A frame to hold the wheel

Jug or container

Water

Instructions

Carefully ( ask an adult to help ) push the skewer through the cardboard cylinder, so the cylinder is in the middle.

Use the hot glue gun ( ask an adult to help ) to attach four cups open side up onto the cylinder. They should be spread evenly around.

Insert your water wheel into a frame and check it spins.

Pour water into the top cup of the water wheel, it should turn! If it doesn't turn you may need to tweak your design.

What is a water wheel?

Water wheels turn the energy of falling water into power! Water falls into the cups turning the wheel. As the cups move around the wheel they empty out their water ready to be filled up when they reach the top of the wheel again.

Water wheels date back to Roman times and are not used much today, but in the past were used to help mill flour, grind wood and even supply drinking water and irrigate crops.

What is hydroelectric power?

Hydroelectric power stations use the kinetic ( movement ) energy of water to drive electrical generators creating electricity.

Water is often trapped behind a dam, this gives it gravitational potential energy which is converted into kinetic energy and finally thanks to generators inside the dam, electricity that can be used for people nearby.

Hydroelectric power is an example of a renewable energy resource.

Advantages of hydroelectric power

No harmful emissions are released.

It's very reliable and completely renewable.

Disadvantages of hydroelectric power

Fish can be impacted in the dam stops them reaching breeding areas.

Initial costs are quite high.

Plants in the reservoir created by the dam start to decompose releasing methane and carbon.

More engineering projects

Design and test paper bridges.

Another way to lift water is to make an Archimedes screw!

Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls has a great LEGO® water wheel.

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Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps most famous for the Mona Lisa, but as well as being an incredible artist he was also a scientist, inventor and mathematician.

Leonardo lived during the Renaissance which was a very exciting time period for science and art. It was an extraordinary period in history. The Renaissance spanned the 14th to 17th century in Europe and was a period of great social change as well as an explosion of art, science, music and knowledge in general. Renaissance means "rebirth" and is the period in between the Middle Ages and Modern Times.

As well as his many other inventions Leonardo designed different types of bridges. Some were very simple such as his self supporting bridge and others were more complex. One design to span across the Golden Horn in Istanbul wasn't built at the time, but the same design was used to build a footbridge in Norway! How incredible that a bridge design from 1502 was used to build a bridge in 2001.

Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Supporting Bridge

Leonardo's simplest bridge idea was arguably the most ingenious. The actual design was for logs with notches cut into them, but we managed to build some without the notches in the same way.

The type of bridge doesn't need fastening together and if built to Leonardo's design gets stronger the more weight is added.

Craft Stick Self-Supporting Bridge

This was a bit fiddly and took a couple of attempts but was worth the effort. I found it easiest to build from each side and then connect the middle, but if that doesn't work for you try building from one end to the other.

Leonardo da Vinci's self-supporting bridge made from garden canes

We made this one in exactly the same way, just using garden canes.

More Leonardo da Vinci Activity Ideas

Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards in some of his journals. If you use a mirror you can write backwards too!

More Bridge Ideas for Kids

Try this simple bridge building engineering task using paper.

We really enjoyed building this bridge with string and craft sticks.

Our bridge for The Gingerbread Man was great fun too!

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Olympic and sports day fever is about to start, so I've put together a collection of fun sport-themed science experiments and investigations. You can find out what happens to your heart rate and breathing as you exercise, make a model of a heart and lung, discover why balls bounce, test reaction time and lots more sporty science ideas for kids.

Sporty Science Ideas

Exercise

Exercise and Heart Rate

First up, is an easy activity to learn about the effect of exercise on heart rate. If using a stethoscope is too difficult, children can put their hands on their hearts to feel the beats.

This investigation is great for thinking about correct experimental design, including which conditions to change and which to keep constant.

Heart and Lung Model

Discover how the lungs work with a simple model of a lung. I also have an easy pumping heart model using a jar to demonstrate how heart valves work.

Healthy and Strong Bones

Learn about the structure and function of the human skeleton by making models of the spine and paper bone models.

Discover how to keep your bones strong and healthy with an activity to learn about foods that are good for bone strength and what happens when a bone is broken.

How much sugar?

Discover how much sugar drinks contain with a simple matching task.

Why do balls bounce?

Investigate why and how balls bounce with a super simple bouncing balls investigation.

Which material would make the best hockey puck?

This easy activity is great for starting to think about properties of materials and why materials are chosen for a particular purpose. See this version by Creative Family Fun.

Test your Reaction Time

Test your reaction time with a very simple science demonstration using a ruler.

Put your design skills to the test with a brilliant shoebox football table from The Mad House.

More sport-themed science experiments

Use surface tension to power a model canoe or lolly stick surfboard.

Build and test a football goal.

Design a sailboat with a working sail.

Design an investigation to test whether people with longer legs jump further or run faster than people with shorter legs.

Build a javelin from rolled-up paper and find out how far you can throw it.

Construct a bow and arrow using lolly sticks and elastic bands.

Build a catapult to shoot a mini basketball into a hoop.

Find out if you can jump further if you run and jump or jump without the run-up.

Experiment to find out if it's easier to bounce a ball on a baseball bat or tennis racquet.

Design a grip for a tug-of-war rope?

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Art Bots or Scribble Bots are great fun and provide many investigative opportunities. This simple version uses a small motor and pens fixed around a pot. The motor makes the arm ( glue stick or cork ) spin, which in turn makes the Scribble Bot move.

Pupils can be given challenges, such as finding a way for the Scribble Bot to draw a dotted line or left to explore, freely going through an iterative process of designing, testing and amending their ideas.

How to make an Art Bot

Scribble Bot Materials

Small motor 1.5 -3 V( U.S link http://amzn.to/2bo57nn )

Thick elastic band 2 in x ½ in

AA Battery

Double-sided tape or strong glue

Pringles can or another small container

Two leads

Paper

Felt tip pens ( U.S link http://amzn.to/2bChQ9I )

Roll of paper - we like this Melissa and Doug roll ( U. S link http://amzn.to/2bo1qhq )

Instructions for making a scribble bot

Place the thick elastic band around your battery and sellotape it to the top of a pringle can or similarly shaped container.

Attach the motor to the top of the container; it needs to be close to the edge so the arm can spin freely.

Attach the leads to the motor and battery. The elastic band is perfect for holding the wires in place at each end of the battery, as they can easily be removed to turn the motor off.

Attach a glue gun stick to the motor and test to ensure it spins.

You can experiment with different lengths of glue sticks or other items such as corks or even plasticine.

Attach four felt tip pens around the sides.

Remove the lids and let your Scribble bot loose on paper.

More Art Bot Activity Ideas

Experiment with different types of mark-making materials:

• Chalk
• Paintbrushes
• Pencils

Experiment with different materials on your motor as the arm

• Different lengths of glue stick
• Cork
• Plasticine

Investigate what happens if you move the arm off-centre; we added a piece of K'nex to the one end of the cork in the picture above, which made a dotted line. A central arm made a smooth line.

Placement of the pens

Try the pens higher and lower and investigate how this changes the drawing.

Could you add a trailing pen behind or to the side of your scribble bot?

Can you add a switch or buzzer to your circuit?

More STEM Challenges using an electric motor

Once you finish the drawing robot, the motor and battery can be used for many other STEM challenges.

Make a mini motorised boat. You'll need a small propeller for this and the motor and battery.

Design and build brushbots. These are brilliant as children can use their imagination to make the brush bots look however they want and add fun decorations and extra features.

Lemon Lime Adventures also has a brilliant motorised toy car.

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I've got another easy EGG themed STEM Challenge for you today! It's a bit of a twist on the traditional egg drop experiment.

The challenge is to build a car using K'Nex tor another construction toy to save an egg passenger. This is a brilliant egg experiment great for any time of year, but especially Easter!

Egg STEM Challenge

Design and build a car using only K'Nex with safety features that will protect an egg from breaking if it crashes into a solid object.

Materials

Egg -  boiled is less messy

K'Nex/LEGO/other construction materials

Elastic bands

Cotton Wool

Bubble Wrap

Test track area

Instructions for Crash Test Eggs

Design a car to hold the egg so it doesn't crack on impact with a solid object.

Think about how to protect the egg. 

• Build a protective cage.
• Add protective materials: bubble wrap, cotton wool etc
• Try an air bag - balloon
• Could you add some suspension?

Can you think of anything else? Would changing the type and size of wheel help?

My children came up with the design above which worked really well. The egg is set nicely back into the car so the front absorbs most of the impact, the egg is also held tightly in place, meaning it doesn't move very much.

Crash Test Eggs Extension Ideas

Try a different method of protecting the egg and design a test to investigate which method of protecting the eggs works the best.

Does your solution still work if you release the car down a ramp?

How can you make your comparisons a fair test?

More Egg STEM Challenges

If you enjoyed this activity, we've got lots more fun Easter STEM Challenges to try.

I've also got lots of brilliant egg experiments too!

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This egg experiment looks at how something we think of as being brittle and weak can actually hold a heavy load under certain conditions. We're going to investigate how strong an eggshell is by using half shells to make a bridge.

How strong is an eggshell?

You'll need

• at least four eggs ( we broke a few making the domes )
• a pen
• scissors or a sharp knife
• heavy books

How to make an eggshell bridge

• Tap the end of an egg gently on a hard surface to break it. Empty out the contents ( maybe use it to make scrambled eggs? ) and rinse the inside of the shell. You'll need four eggshells (so probably more than four eggs, as the domes can be tricky to make).  Take a moment to think how brittle and easy to break the eggshell is.

Method 1

• Draw a line around the egg as evenly as possible, then using the line as a guide, carefully score the shell. Ask an adult to do this.  It is worth spending a lot of time on this step, as we have found it frustratingly difficult.  Ensure the scoring is continuous and completely encircles the egg.

Method 2 - the easiest

• Very carefully break off pieces of shell up to around the centre point.  You need four half eggshells of the same height.  Scissors sometimes work, too.

• Place the four shells in a rectangle shape, and slowly place books on top. See how many books you can add before the eggshells crack.

Image taken from Snackable Science

How strong is an eggshell?

Some shapes are stronger than others.  Eggs which seem fragile are actually very strong in certain ways (try crushing an egg by squeezing the ends between your hands (maybe over a sink or outside!).

Eggshells naturally form a dome shape.  Domes are very good at spreading weight evenly in all directions so that no part of the dome has to support more weight than another part.  The downward force of the weight of the books is transferred evenly by the dome shape down to the hard surface

Think more: What other shapes are strong? Where can you see these shapes in buildings or nature?

Starter: Have a look at bridges.

Try our investigation using paper to find out about strong shapes.

More Science for Kids

Make an unbreakable egg or try one of my other easy egg experiments for kids, including making a naked egg, a bouncy egg and a Humpty Dumpty egg drop.

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This is a great Christmas science activity or for World Book Day to sit alongside reading The Gingerbread Man or Hansel and Gretel.

It's also a brilliant Christmas baking STEM challenge! Challenge your friends to make a house and test to see whose is the strongest!

If you don't fancy baking the gingerbread an easier idea is to use square ready-made biscuits or crackers in a tent shape like the image below.

Ask children to make predictions drawing on existing knowledge as to which substance will hold the house together most effectively.

This is also a great activity for practising designing a fair test and carrying out correct experimental procedures.

How to make a Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

Gingerbread pieces

Icing sugar/marshmallow fluff / royal icing / liquid glucose

Sweets

Investigation Instructions

The easiest way to do this is to bake a thin sheet of gingerbread and use cutters to cut it immediately after taking it out of the oven. This ensures all the pieces are exactly the same size.

We used two squares and two smaller rectangles, but you could use any shape you wanted.

Build a gingerbread house for each type of sticky substance you are testing. Try to use a similar amount for each wall on each house.

Leave overnight to harden.

Image taken from Snackable Science

Factors to keep constant

Size of gingerbread pieces

Amount of sticky substance used

Time left to harden

Type of sticky substance

How to test for strength

Pick up the house and see if it stays intact.

Roll a marble or small ball at the house. Does it fall over?

Suitable for Key Stage 1 Science

Using observations to suggest answers to questions

Performing simple tests

Using scientific language to answer a question describing how to carry out a fair test.

If you don't want to bake, try using three rectangular biscuits. You could even give them to friends as gifts. 

Biscuit houses inspired by the lovely Red Ted Art.

More Science for Kids

If you liked this idea I have LOTS more kitchen science experiments to share.

You might also like my Kitchen Science Bake OFF!!

Another idea is to add some edible glass to your gingerbread house. The easiest way to do this is to cut out a window shape before baking and place a clear mint or two inside. The mint will melt and look like a window!

Images are taken from Snackable Science which is full of awesome edible experiments for kids!

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We've had a Makey Makey for years now and never really moved beyond the banana piano ( which is very cool) so I thought lockdown would be a great time to try something a little more adventurous.

Our giant Operation game was great fun and a brilliant second project to try.

Makey Makey Operation Game

Homemade operation game - what you'll need:

A Makey Makey

Laptop

Card and paper

Thin cardboard box

Kitchen Foil

Tweezers

Small items to use as bones

Operation Game Instructions

Draw your character on one side of the cardboard box.

Carefully cut holes in 3-4 places.

Cover around the hole on both sides and lay a path down to the bottom of the box using aluminium foil as below. This needs to be done on the opposite side to the drawing.

Attach a separate crocodile clip connected to a wire to the end of each path of foil.

Decorate one side of the box and attach the other end of the wires to the Makey Makey board.

The earth wire should be connected to the tweezers.

We used the piano Makey Makey app, but for an extra challenge you could try this scratch operation game.

Test your game!

Giant Operation Game

Our mini game was so much fun we decided to go large!

We used an A1 sheet of card to make this giant version and raised it above the ground to play the game. Instead of tweezers we used giant BBQ tongues and dinosaur bones for the bones!

I'd love to see your Makey Makey projects if you try any!

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This easy science project is a great for older children and useful too!

You'll Need

Cardboard tube

2 plastic cups

Scissors

Phone with a speaker at the bottom

How to make a DIY speaker

Carefully cut a hole in the side of each plastic cup so the cardboard tube fits inside tightly.

Attach a cup to each end of the tube.

Cut a thin slit in the top of the cardboard tube just big enough to hold your phone.

Choose some music and listen to the sound in and out of the speaker.

It should sound louder when the phone is inside the tube.

Why does it work?

When the phone plays music outside the tube the sound spreads out all around, but when you put the phone inside the cardboard tube the sound is directed down the tube towards the plastic cups and out from there! The cups focus the sound waves pointing them in one direction rather than scattered all around.

A megaphone works in a similar way. When a person speaks normally the sound scatters immediately, but a megaphone channels the sound towards the subject instead. This is why people sometimes cup their hands around their mouth to shout! Find out more about megaphones with Wonderopolis.

Print Instructions for DIY iPhone Speaker

Extension tasks for the DIY Phone Speaker

Experiment with different sized tubes and cups to find the best speaker. Does it matter if you use paper cups instead of plastic?

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Do you think you can stand on a paper cup or would you expect it to break? We thought our cup might break, but checked just to be sure. We were right.

Easy STEM Challenge

How can you stand on a paper cup without breaking it?

Try spacing several cups out evenly and then place a sheet of cardboard on the top. You should find the cups can now hold your weight.

Carefully try a second layer.

Ask a heavier person to try to stand on your cup tower, do the cups hold their weight too?

Why does this happen?

When we stood on one cup it broke straight away as we expected. This is because all our weight was pushing down on the cup, compressing it.

However,  if you arrange the cups neatly spaced apart and place a piece of cardboard over the top, the weight is spread out meaning there isn't too much weight on any one cup.

More STEM Challenges for kids

If you like STEM Challenges we've got plenty!

Make newspaper shoes, a newspaper den or even a newspaper kite with these easy newspaper STEM challenges.

This collection of Fairy Tale STEM Challenges is one of our all time favourites!

Or, try one of our many other super simple STEM Challenges for kids.

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I've got a fun building bridges STEM Challenge for you to try today. Engineers have to think about many, many things when they design bridges. They have to choose a strong material that is weather resistant. The materials also need to be shaped in a way that makes them extra strong. We've learned about dome shapes being strong shapes using eggshells to make a bridge before too!

If you tried our strong shapes challenge, you'll know that paper can be strong if folded in a certain way. In this activity, you're going to fold paper differently to make mini bridges and test how much weight each can hold.

Bridge Building Materials

3 sheets of paper

Tape

Books or wooden blocks

Toys or coins to put on top

Instructions

Fold the first piece of paper in thirds and secure each end with tape.

Fold the second piece of paper into quarters and secure each end with tape.

Concertina or zig-zag fold the third piece of paper.

Build up the blocks so they form two ends of a bridge and place the paper bridges on top.

Slowly place coins or small toys ( in the same order ) onto each bridge and record how many each section can hold before collapsing.

We found our zig zag-shaped bridge was the strongest and the paper folded into thirds the weakest.

Results

The flat pieces of paper bent very easily, especially those with fewer folds. Folding or rolling paper makes it much stronger.

Bridge Building Extension Task

Instead of folding paper differently, try making bridges from different materials. Try card, kitchen foil, bubble wrap etc.

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As Halloween is approaching we thought a spider themed drawing robot would be fun to make. These are great fun to design and build and very satisfying to watch as they draw circles all over a page. The movement of the drawing robot can be unpredictable so an interesting extension challenge is to work out why the movement changes. Is it because the position of the pens changes the movement of the battery or motor?

How to make a drawing robot

You can find full instructions and links to the products you need in our how to make a scribble post post.

I used a small Pringles tub to make our spider with googly eyes and silver pipe cleaners for legs. A hot glue gun was very handy for sticking the legs and pens to the Pringles tub too.

If you don't have a cork you could attach a peg to the motor or anything else solid that will spin around.

More Drawing Robot Investigation Ideas

Experiment with the pens higher and lower to work out how this changes the drawing.

Use a larger container.

Place extra weight onto the top of the container.

Attach a trailing pen behind or to the side of your scribble bot.

Add a switch or buzzer to your circuit.

If you don't have the materials to make a circuit a Hexbug attached to the top of a paper cup with blu-tack also works brilliantly! We once had hundreds of these spinning around the kitchen floor.

If you enjoyed this activity I've got lots more easy Halloween science and even some Halloween STEM activities to try. Make fake blood, creepy slime, a spooky noise maker and lots more.

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Did you know you can make a circle from a square by folding and making a couple of tiny cuts?

Once you've got the hang of the process try it again using bigger and smaller squares.

Materials

Square sheet of paper

Scissors

Instructions

First fold your sheet of square paper in half and then in half again the other way.

Fold it in half again to make a triangle.

Next, fold over again so it looks like the below.

Cut off the top.

Open up and neaten up the top so there's no point in the middle.

Open up your ( almost ) perfect circle! What do you think?

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Mobile launch platforms were used to transport the Saturn V rockets and space shuttles to the launch pad. This activity introduces children to the concept of a mobile launch platform and uses the idea as inspiration for a fun engineering challenge.

Challenge

Design and build a mobile launch platform for a rocket. The platform should be moveable and be able to support some weight.

Materials

• Straws
• Scissors
• Model rocket
• Paper or cardboard cup or toy rocket
• Cardboard
• Plasticine
• Scales
• Wheels and dowel

Instructions

First think about the properties your platform should have. It needs to be light enough to move and strong enough to hold weight.

Before you start your design think about shapes that make structures strong. Triangles, arches and domes are good examples of strong shapes.

Once you're happy with your design, add objects to the top to test how strong it is.

My 9 year old created this example. You can see how he has used extra straws to create triangle shapes and strengthen the side of his tower.

What makes a strong shape?

A triangle is stronger than a square as it only has 3 connections and any load applied is equally spread through the shape. Engineers often add a diagonal section to a square ( making it into two triangles and therefore stronger )

A dome is very good at spreading weight evenly in all directions so that no part of the dome has to support more weight than another part.  In this example using eggs, the downward force of the weight of the books is transferred evenly by the dome shape so the egg doesn't break.

Extension task

Set a minimum and maximum height for the launcher.

How much weight can your platform hold before it collapses?

How could you make your design stronger?

Can you build a bridge using half egg shells? The shell itself is very brittle, but the dome shape makes it strong if weight is placed on top.

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Discover how force affects the motion of a projectile and how changing the launch angle affects the distance travelled with this easy catapult investigation based on the Cow Jumped Over the Moon nursery rhyme.

You can see how to build a simple lolly stick catapult in this video.

I've designed this activity to appeal to young children, but it can easily be extended for an older audience.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see such fun

And the dish ran away with the spoon!

Lollystick catapults are inexpensive, easy to make and appeal to children of all ages. I've given this one a Preschool/Early Years theme by simply drawing a cow on a ping pong ball, but you could also use a ball as the Moon and investigate the conditions needed to catapult the cow over the Moon or even draw planets and lay them on the floor as different targets.

Older children could design and make a target either stuck to a wall, a free-standing structure or as a real challenge, how about a target that flips backwards when hit?

Links to Literacy 

Write a new version of the traditional nursery rhyme, including the words catapult and force.

Write instructions for a game, including a catapult and a target.

Links to Maths

Create a target ( this could be Moon shaped ) with different numbers in different areas. The children can then keep track of either other's score over three attempts to hit the target.

Questions to ask about the cow jumped over the moon catapult

How do you think force affects the speed a catapulted ping pong ball travels?

How do you think force affects the distance a catapulted ping pong ball travels?

The greater the force, the greater the speed and distance.

How can we test this using a catapult?

The further down you push the milk bottle top, the greater the force applied to the ping pong ball and the faster it will travel.

How to work scientifically

Design a question to answer

Does the ping pong ball travel further if more force is applied?

Does the ping pong ball travel higher if launched from a greater angle?

What will happen if the centre part of the catapult is made taller using more lolly sticks?

Make a prediction - for example

If more lolly sticks are added to the catapult, the ping pong ball can be launched from a greater angle, meaning it will reach a greater height.

Design a fair test

Think about how to make the investigation fair.

• Use the same catapult
• The same person should apply the force
• Measure from the same release point.
• Repeat at least three times and find the average distance/height.

Design a method of recording data

How about a table or voice recording?

Do the observations answer the original question? Was the prediction correct? If not, why not?

How could the investigation be improved?

Extension tasks

Think about the angle the ping pong ball is launched from. To travel the furthest distance possible, a projectile should be launched from a 45-degree angle. More than this, and the projectile will go higher but cover less distance.

Can you draw this?

Projectile – an object that is launched into the air by a force.

Catapult – a mechanism that launches a projectile.

Thank you to the fantastic Imagination Tree for the inspiration for this activity.

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This wasn't actually meant to be a crane, I was supposed to be creating a robotic arm like on the ISS, but it worked so well, I wanted to share anyway.

Materials

K'nex

Syringes and tubing

A small tub

Pipecleaners

Bean bags

Lego

Instructions

Build a K'nex crane like in the picture above, the arm just need to be one long section. We used a hairband to attach one syringe to the crane and pipe cleaners to hang a small pot.

Attach the syringes as shown. When connecting the syringes up you need to make sure that one is fully extended as the other is compressed.

Challenge

Find a way to stabilise the crane so it doesn't fall over when you add weight.

We found mini bean bags worked really well!

You can see the crane in action here.

Can you improve on our design?

Learning Outcomes

Key Stage 1  - Design and Technology

Key stage 1  - Science - Working Scientifically

ELFS - ELG 16 - Exploring and using Media and Materials

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Rugby World Cup fever seems to have taken over our house in the last few weeks so we've developed some fun rugby themed science activity ideas to keep everyone busy in between matches.

First up is this LEGO rugby pitch. It's built as much to scale as we could manage.

We also engineered a kicking mechanism. My 8 year old built it using LEGO. You can see it in action in the video below.

We had to do a bit of experimenting to find the best material for the rugby ball. Blu tack was too heavy and a cotton wool ball was too light, so in the end we settled for a little craft ball, moulded into a rugby ball shape.

Can you make something similar?

Could you make a mechanism strong enough to kick a heavier ball over the goals?

Other rugby themed ideas

• Make your own rugby goals

Can you use lolly sticks, straws, blu tack, plasticine and elastic bands to make rugby goals? How would you test them to find which materials make the strongest goals?

• Learn about keeping bones healthy

This selection of activities is great for learning about the structure and function of bones, discover how to keep bones healthy and what happens if you break a bone  here.

• Make Symmetrical Flags

Can you find and draw any flags that are symmetrical from countries in the World Cup? Use a mirror to help.

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I was searching for small motors for a STEM project when it occurred to me that I could use a Hexbug instead, which has the big advantage of no wires whilst still vibrating brilliantly.

I've got lots of ideas for fun things we can make, but first up are these spinning pens.

We also tried a giant version and made a huge piece of Hexbug Powered Pen art!

Hexbug Powered Pens

You'll need

Hexbug

Felt tips

Blue Tack

Elastic band

White paper

How to make Hexbug-powered spinning pens

1. Use the elastic band to tie the top of the pens together.
2. Separate the pens out and attach together with the blu tack.
3. Attach a hexbug to the side using a bit more blu tack.
4. Turn the hexbug on and watch the drawing.

Extension Ideas

What happens if you place the pens further apart and then closer to each other?

Can you use two hexbugs?

What happens if you use longer/shorter or heavier/lighter pens?

Try placing the Hexbugs at the top and bottom of the pens and investigate what changes.

Can you go large?

Affiliate links

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Shoebox catapults are a great activity for practising correct scientific procedures or as a fun engineering project.

How to make a shoebox catapult

You'll need

Shoe box

Wooden spoon or a lolly stick and milk carton top

2 pencils or dowel

Elastic bands

Marshmallows or small light balls

Shoebox catapult instructions

Use the pencil to carefully pierce two holes in the shoe box. These need to be slightly towards one end of the box, about 2 cm from the top and at the same height.

Glue a milk carton top to the lolly stick and leave to dry ( if you are using a wooden spoon you don't need to do this step ).

Use the elastic bands to tie the lolly stick to the pencil/dowel and place the pencil/dowel through the holes.

Use the second pencil to make another hole in the box. This needs to be towards the bottom of the end of the box where the spoon is.

Tie an elastic band around the handle of the spoon and thread the other end through the hole in the box. Thread the second pencil through the elastic band to hold it in place.

The second ( green ) elastic band in the picture isn't needed.

Push down on the end of the spoon and let go. It should shoot upwards!

Test your catapult with different objects, do lighter objects move further?

Does the catapult work better if you flick the lolly stick with your finger or if you drop something onto the end.

How does it work?

When you pull down on the catapult arm, elastic energy is stored in the elastic band. When the catapult arm is released the potential energy changes to kinetic energy ( energy of motion ) which is transferred to the object which then flies through the air.

Investigation Ideas

Does an object travel further if you push the spoon down further?

Does a lighter object travel further?

What happens if you use a longer craft stick/spoon?

Remember to only change one variable at a time as you experiment.

Design and Technology

Are there any changes that could be made to the catapult to make it work better?

How can you improve your design?

More catapult ideas

Popsicle stick catapults are even easier to make!

Frugal fun for boys made a brilliant dowel rod catapult.

Or why not try to make a LEGO catapult?

Science concepts

• conservation of energy

• potential energy

• kinetic energy

The post How to make a shoebox catapult appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

These pop-up cards are super easy to make and lots of fun. We made these New Year fireworks cards in less than 10 minutes. They're also a great way to introduce children to the concept of levers and mechanisms.

Easy pop-up cards

What you need

Card

Glue or other sticky materials ( you could test glue, blu-tack, etc, to see which works the best as an extension activity ).

Pens and decorations

Method

Cut out two greeting card shaped pieces of card.

Cut two strips into one, as shown below.

Stick the other piece of card to the outside

Add your decorations

Extension activities

Experiment to see which types of glue, blu-tack etc, work the best for your decorations.

Experiment with different size pop-up parts.

Great for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Design and Technology

Introduce children to moving pop-ups and lever mechanisms.

Questions to ask

How are mechanisms made?

Why are moving parts used?

How does the mechanism work?

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Do you remember when we designed a house made of sweets and tried to find the best materials for its construction? We've followed the same concept with this fun edible science investigation to make a marshmallow Olaf from Disney's Frozen.

What are the best sweets for Olaf?

Marshmallows were the obvious choice, and we decided three would be the perfect number.

We knew we wanted the arms to be long and thin so chose candy sticks, although something brown coloured would've been better.

We used segments of chocolate mint thins for his hair and raisins for his buttons.

What can we use to fix Olaf together?

We wanted Olaf to stick quite quickly, so decided to try cocktail sticks, marshmallow fluff and icing sugar.

How can we test?

We discussed what we needed to keep constant and what needed to change, we kept the number if marshmallows constant and changed the sticky part ( icing sugar, marshmallow fluff or cocktail stick )

Our test was if Olaf would stand up on his own

Results

Icing sugar Olaf didn't stand up for long, marshmallow fluff was a little better but the cocktail sticks by far the strongest in our tests.

Extension activities

Could you try different strengths of icing sugar? Do they hold Olaf together?

What do you think? Can you think of any other materials we could've used?

Suitable for Key stage 1 Science

More Frozen Science Experiment for Kids

These frozen Elsa hands from Happy Hooligans are fantastic! Trying to melt them with a warm and cold water would be a great learning and sensory science activity.

I've always wanted to make a frozen bubble. Steam Powered Family tells us how to do it!

Build a snow volcano with blue lava!

Grow your own Frozen snowflakes with Paging Fun Mums.

Test different materials to see which make the best pretend snow!

More Edible Science Experiments for Kids

I have a HUGE collection of fun kitchen science experiments you'll love.

My book Snackable Science is also jam packed full of easy, edible science investigations for kids!

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First we thought about the features we needed to include by looking at our own kitchen and considering what we thought were the most important features.

• An area for the hob
• Tall enough to stand at comfortably
• An area to rest plates
• Kitchen cloth holder

Then we thought about what materials we would use

• Cardboard boxes
• Kitchen roll holder
• Scissors
• Pens
• Pots and Pans
• Sellotape to hold it together

My 7 year old drew a rough design labelling parts and then we set about constructing it. What do you think?

This is the cleverly kitchen roll holder. We had to use the straw to strength the design.

Once we were finished we wrote down all the changes we made, mostly just the addition of the straw and thought of improvements for next time.

How to improve

Sellotape isn't very pretty looking so we'd like to find an alternative.

The girls wanted a cupboard or some drawers, but we need to work out how to add these without weakening the whole structure.

We've also got a fun printable for you use to draw your designs.

Kitchen Design Planning Sheet 

This activity is great for:

Key stage 1 Design and Technology

Improving skills, knowledge and understanding of an iterative design process.

Design

Allowing children to design a purposeful, functional and appealing product for themselves and others.

Generating and developing ideas

Make

Selecting appropriate tools and equipment.

Explore

Exploring and evaluating existing products and using features of those in their design.

Testing their ideas.

Possibly using mechanisms such as levers and sliders.

The post Design a cardboard kitchen appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

First, we looked around the house to see if we already had anything that would work as a filter. All our colanders and sieves were too small, so we used a cardboard box to make our own. One side is for the small square brick with four nobbles, and the other is for the rectangle brick with eight nobbles.

What do you think?

Next Steps

We decided we needed sharper scissors or a craft knife to make the holes neater and more of them.

A second filter layer with smaller holes would filter out smaller bricks again, hopefully leaving behind mostly the size we wanted.

Can you think of anything else we could do to improve our filter?

MORE LEGO® Science Ideas

Try one of these 10 fun things to do with DUPLO®.

Design and build a LEGO® catapult.

Learn about gravity and air resistance with a LEGO® Parachute.

Create a LEGO® Maze.

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How about practising measuring with loom bands?

Can you investigate how to make super bouncy loom band bouncy balls?

We love these skateboards from Frugal Fun for Boys. Could you engineer them so they move fast?

Can you make a loom band sailboat? Does it float?

You could use loom bands to make a parachute.

Can you devise an experiment to see which type loom band bracelet stretches the most?

How about practising patterns with loom bands? Can you make a really simple pattern and a really complicated pattern?

Can you make a vehicle powered by a loom band? How about an elastic band-powered LEGO car?

Another idea is to make a loom band powered catapult?

Which is your favourite loom band activity? Do you have any projects to share?

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Are you ready for our 6th LEGO® activity for the summer? We made several bridges and then devised a way to test how stable they were.

First, we discussed how to test each bridge. We tried adding weights to the top, but they just fell off rather than breaking the bridge. We tried hanging weights from the bridge, but again they fell off. So we decided to roll a ball towards the bridge to see if it fell over.

You'll need

LEGO® bricks - we used DUPLO

Different size balls

LEGO base

Things to consider

The greater the force behind the ball as you push, the greater the force applied to the bridge. So if you roll a ball hard, the bridge is more likely to fall over than if you roll gently.

To reduce the variable effect of this, the same person rolled the same ball from the same distance each time, trying to keep the force behind the ball the same.

The first bridge fell over straight away, so we strengthened the base, but it still fell over.

We strengthened the bridge further with an extra piece of LEGO® in the middle, and it stayed upright.

At this point, children can think about which features of the bridge made it more or less stable.

Extension Tasks

Test a tower for stability using a pendulum.

Can you build a structure using marshmallows and spaghetti? This activity gets a bit messy and sticky but is brilliant fun!

Make a sweetie house and test for the best 'cement'.

Find out why domes are strong using eggshells. A brittle eggshell may be stronger than you think!

Make a colourful Twirligig like Teach Beside Me!

Or, try one of my many other engineering project ideas for kids!

The post How to build a stable LEGO Bridge appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

This was great practice for designing an experiment and for starting to think about which variables to keep constant and which to change.

They decided that the ball with the most bands would bounce the highest, and devised their own experiment to find the bounciest ball.

Conditions to keep the same

Height to drop the ball from and time dropped.

We were careful to use no force when dropping the balls, do you know why this is?

How to measure

One person was to drop the balls while the other watched how high they bounced.

How could we improve the accuracy?

We found it was quite hard to tell by eye alone which ball had bounced the highest as they tended to shoot off in different directions, so for our second attempt we marked a certain height on the wall, and dropped the balls one at a time from the same height trying to make another mark at the height reached on first bounce.

This was still a little tricky, but more accurate than our first attempt.

Results

The children correctly identified the ball with the most bands in, and as predicted more loom bands inside made a bouncier ball.

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We love LEGO® here at Science Sparks and can't wait to share our latest science and LEGO® creations. First up is a catapult.

Catapults are great for learning about gravity and transfer of energy. When you pull down on the catapult arm, elastic potential energy is stored. When you release the catapult arm, the potential energy changes to kinetic energy ( energy of motion ), which is transferred to the object, which then flies through the air.

How to make a LEGO Catapult

First, think about how to build your catapult. What features does it need to have? How stable does it need to be? How big should it be?

We went through several iterations of our design before finally settling on this.

• The base is wide and has extra bricks on the sides to stop it from falling over.
• The arc brick above the catapult arm helps to keep the arm in place.
• Extra bricks around the LEGO® girl stop her slipping.
• The elastic was a last-minute addition that stopped the catapult arm from flying off and gave it an extra springy boost.

Can you think of any other ways we can improve our design? How would you improve your design?

Extension Ideas

Measure and record how far different catapult loads travel.

Find out what happens if you use a longer or shorter arm.

Create a catapult with craft sticks and compare the two designs.

Finally, don't forget to try my other science experiments using LEGO®.

Science Concepts

Energy

Gravity

Forces and Motion

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What you need:

• Different types of loom bands to test, we used a normal band, a fishtail and a starburst.
• A ruler
• A weight
• Somewhere to record your results

Have a think about what you expect the results to be, which band do you think will stretch the least? Does this mean it's the strongest?

Method

• Decide on a set distance to test, we used 6 cm. Place two sticks at each end, we used a wooden spoon and a loom band hook.

• Add a weight to one end and measure the length of the loom band between the two points.

Compare the results for the three different types of bands, do the results match your expectations? We found the normal loom band stretched the most, which was what we expected as this is the band with the least number of bands so we thought would be the weakest and stretchiest.

Extension Activities

Can you vary the weight? Does more weight mean the bands stretch further?

How much weight does it take to snap the bands?

Suitable for Key Stage 1 Science

Brilliant for starting to learn investigative skills.

Properties of Materials.

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Every Superhero needs a cape, but which material flies best in the wind? this super simple science activity allows kids to channel their inner superhero and make the perfect flowing cape!

This activity is also part of my playful science series full of simple and playful science for kids!

Superhero Cape Experiment

Challenge - to make a wonderful flowing cape for a superhero

Planning the experiment

Variables

Materials to make the cape with - paper/foil/cotton/fleece

Size of superhero cape.

How to test?

Run wearing each superhero cape and record how high it flies

Which factors do we need to keep constant?

Size of cape

Speed of running - distance ran

Person testing

Possible causes of errors

Changes in wind

Properties of a good cape

Light, strong, flies well in the wind when running.

Can you think of anything we've missed?

We made 4 superhero capes the same size using different materials and then a couple of bigger and smaller ones to see if that made a difference. Observations were recorded after watching the cape fly when running.

Some were a little more heavily decorated than others, the extra weight of this one made it not fly very well.

This smaller cape didn't fly so well.

The super light foil cape, flew better than anything else.

We concluded that the best capes for flying were light and long, the foil cape flew the best, but this cape was also weak and broke easily.

More superhero science experiments

Find out how to make a superhero float!

Make disgustingly icky Superhero Slime!

The post What's the best material for a Superhero cape? appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.

My 6-year-old came out of school last week incredibly happy and excited as he had spent the afternoon building a candy house. As soon as we got home, he wrote me a shopping list of what we needed to do a similar activity at home. This would also be great for a Three Little Pigs experiment or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed science investigation.

We discussed what we wanted to achieve and decided to split our project into two stages, building on the knowledge he'd already gained from school.

If you like this activity, there are 60 more easy edible experiments in my book - Snackable Science

Candy House STEM Challenge

What are the best sweets for 'bricks'?

We decided marshmallows were too soft and not the best shape, but fudge rectangles would be perfect.

What can you use to stick the candy together?

We decided the material used to stick the sweets together needed to be sticky and harden over time, so we thought we'd try very thick icing sugar and marshmallow fluff.

How can you test how strong the house is?

We didn't want to waste too much fudge in our testing ( although it did all get eaten ), so we decided to build two small walls to test our sticky substance.

We discussed what we needed to keep constant and what needed to change.

Variables

• Icing
• Marshmallow fluff

Constants

• The amount of fudge.
• The amount of sticky substance
• Time left to harden

We used the same number of fudge pieces for each wall and tried to use the same thickness of icing or marshmallow fluff roughly, but this wasn't entirely accurate.

Both walls were left overnight to harden.

How to test for stability/strength

1. Pick up the wall and see if it stays intact.

2. Roll a marble to the wall -  try to roll at the same speed and in the same direction for each wall.

Candy House Results

Observations

The icing sugar hardened completely, while the marshmallow fluff stayed soft and sticky.

Marble Test

The icing sugar wall fell over.

The marshmallow fluff wall stayed upright, but possibly because it was so sticky, the marble stuck to it, losing some of its momentum.

The pick-up test

The icing sugar wall remained in one solid piece when picked up.

The marshmallow fluff wall fell to pieces.

How can we improve this test?

Neater application of the marshmallow fluff so the outside of the wall was less sticky.

Place both walls in the fridge overnight to encourage the marshmallow fluff to set.

Next steps

Build a complete house, finding a suitable material for roof tiles.

Suitable for Key Stage 1 Science

Brilliant for starting to learn investigative skills.

Extension tasks

Try to build a stable structure using building blocks or straws and plasticine.

Build a spaghetti and marshmallow structure.

Think about how to construct a strong roof.

Making a gingerbread house and testing that for strength is also a fun variation of this activity.

More edible science experiments

Try one of my other edible science activities, STEM Challenges and experiments.

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When I brought out the spaghetti and marshmallows, I think my children thought we were having some kind of weird and wonderful dinner, not building structures.

This is a great STEM activity for children of most ages, as you can tailor it to their understanding. I let my 2-year-old build whatever she wanted, and she had a great time working out how to put the spaghetti in the right places. With my 4-year-old, we were a bit more structured and tried to build a tower.

Older children can think carefully about which shapes are strong shapes and will support their structure the best.

How to build a marshmallow tower

You'll need

Spaghetti ( uncooked! )

Marshmallows

Instructions

Snap the spaghetti into smaller pieces.

Push the ends of the spaghetti into the marshmallows to build different shapes for your tower.

We started with a cube, but when we put weight (Pooh bear in our case) on it, it started to lean very precariously to the right, and one of the vertical spaghetti pieces snapped. We then discussed what we would do to make it stronger. We decided to add some diagonal pieces, which seemed to do the trick.

We thought it would be fun to try lots of different shapes to see if we could break them. Straight lines and marshmallow corners tend to lead to triangles, but we had a lot of fun with other shapes, too.

Extension task

Make it a game. Challenge friends or family to see who can build the tallest tower!

Try miniature and then giant marshmallows. Which are easiest to build with?

Stable structure secrets

Triangles are great for making a stable structure.

Consider where the centre of gravity is in your tower. A wide base helps stability, giving a centre of gravity low down and central.

More engineering challenges

Discover why domes are so strong with this eggshell bridge!

Build a famous monument with newspaper!

Build bridges with different shaped paper and cardboard to investigate which is the strongest!

Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls has a fantastic LEGO bridge building challenge you might like too!

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