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Smarts & Crafts: D.I.Y. Candy Building Ideas
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Jun 15, 2017 | STEM
Tools of the trade
Just looking at this colorful spread of treats will get kids’ creative juices flowing. We like to get everything out of its packaging so kids can see all their options at a glance. There are lots of different items you can use, but here are some ideas:- Thin mini pretzels
- Uncooked spaghetti
- Toothpicks
- Licorice sticks
- Thin hard candy sticks
- Gumdrops
- Marshmallows, mini and jumbo size
- Jellybeans
- Sandwich cookies, mini and regular size
- Pull-and-peel licorice
- Gummy candies
Yummy geometry
A great way to get started is with a few simple geometric shapes. Show children how to gently push a pretzel or spaghetti strand or toothpick into a gumdrop or marshmallow and connect to another pretzel/spaghetti/toothpick. Allow time for kids to explore and experiment with different rods and connectors to see which they prefer. Younger kids can work on creating squares and different types of triangles. Challenge older kids to explore hexagons and octagons.
Tasty ABCs
Ask your kids what letters they can make with the tasty tools at hand. Constructing letters is more fun when you can nibble at the pieces that are too long! Older kids can construct letters that stand up, as in our photo, and begin building simple words. For younger kids, make things easier by allowing the letters to lie flat. The youngest kids can simply arrange the rods without the connectors. Whichever way they go, they’re all getting a little bonus literacy practice in!
From 2D to 3D
To return to the geometry theme, start to explore 3D shapes. You can hold up one of the squares your child created and asked if they can make a cube or box shape out of it. Give their critical thinking skills a workout by asking them to decide how many more pasta sticks/pretzel rods they will need before they begin building. See if they can figure out the number of marshmallow connectors as well. Do the same with the triangle. If your kids are older, they can make more advanced shapes like a hexagonal prism and octagonal pyramids. Depending on their age and patience, they could even construct a geodesic dome!
Dream house designs
Kids can have fun and tap into their creativity by designing and building their own mini dream houses with the different treats. The simplest house shape is just a cube with a triangular prism on top. Our little architect above created a dream house with a “backyard Ferris wheel” and “forever rainbow.” You can definitely see imagination at work here!
Tips and tricks
After doing most of our projects with pretzel rods and spaghetti sticks, we started using the toothpicks and found them to be the best and easiest for building. Their uniform size made it easy to keep our structures square and sturdy. The gumdrops seemed to be the sturdiest material for connectors. Designing, testing and tweaking are all important steps in the STEM process, so we simply tried our earlier dream house with the new materials and were very pleased with the results.
DIY Thankful Craft!
Decorate the frame:
First, cut the colored construction paper into small strips. Have your child draw small leaf shapes on the first strip of paper.
Prepare the hanging items:
Next, use the remainder of construction paper to draw four large leaves to a page. Have your child cut the big leaves out.
Wishing everyone a happy and fulfilling Thanksgiving!
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Celebrate Astronomy Day with Kids
Each year Astronomy Day is celebrated worldwide. The stars have fascinated humanity for literally centuries, and even to this day captures the imagination of kids of all ages. Celebrate this event with them this year and don't worry if you don't own any expensive telescopes. These DIY activities use real life discoveries to inspire your little astronomers!
Track the Phases of the Moon
Bone sticks from across Europe and Africa dating back as long ago as 35,000 BCE that tracked the moon’s phases. Use a simple number line with your kids to track the phases of the moon over the course of a month, from full moon and back again. Do it for several months and see what patterns they begin to observe.
Depict a Celestial Phenomenon
A celestial phenomenon is a astrological event that involves one or more objects. The earliest example depicted was discovered in Germany in 1999. The Nebra Sky Disc dates back to 2000 BC and it depicted a star cluster, phases of the moon and the rising sun.
Use a black paper plate, or even just black paper, and encourage your children to depict their own star formations. If they can’t stay up to observe them at night, project some indoors with this Shining Stars Projector.
Astronomy to Keep Time
The Chinese astronomers kept detailed observations beginning about 600 BC, for the primary purpose of timekeeping. Their records allowed them to predict eclipses, and include the first record of events such as supernovas and comets.
On the other side of the world, the Mayans developed their own astronomical tables for predicting the phases of the moon, eclipses, and the appearance of the other planets. They used these and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and constellations to establish the Mayan calendar.
All of the above astronomy was without a telescope, and you can still observe these astronomical events with your kids today. Check out this astronomy calendar and pick a full moon, eclipse, planetary event, or meteor shower to observe as a family.
Try this simple astronomy experiment to help kids as young as preschoolers understand what makes night.
Just because ancient astronomers did all of this without a telescope doesn't mean your little ones have to! All of the above activities can be done with the naked eye but if you feel like shooting for the stars check out Learning Resources Big View Telescope. How will you celebrate Astronomy Day?
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DIY Earth Day Sensory Art
Happy Earth Day! A wonderful way to celebrate our one-of-a-kind planet, this Earth Day art project is alive with color. Engaging the senses of even your littlest conservationist, recreate this masterpiece with a just few items you probably already have at home.
You will need:
- A baking sheet with sides
- Shaving cream
- Food coloring or watercolor paints
- Chopsticks or craft sticks for swirling
- White cardstock
- An old gift card or credit card for scraping
On the cardstock, trace circles about 8-9” in circumference using a bowl or plate. Cut out and set aside.
Spray the shaving cream directly into the baking sheet. Now spread the shaving cream evenly in the pan. It almost feels like frosting a sheet cake.
Using a generous hand, drop your food coloring or paint all over the shaving cream in the pan. Then, with the craft stick, swirl the pain around. Be careful to swirl, not mix. This step is rich in sensory for the children – the smell of the shaving cream, the drag of the foam, the mixing of the color. Fantastic!
Grab one of the circles. Gently lay your soon-to-be-Earth on top of the shaving cream, pressing down gently. You want to make sure all the Earth’s surface is touching the paint/shaving foam mixture.
Grab a little section and gently peel up your circle off of the foam. Find a spot to lay it flat.
Next, using the former gift or credit card, begin on one end and scrape the paint off, getting very close to the surface of the card stock. Revealed under all that shaving cream is a beautiful, marbled, Earth-from-outer-space look!
Add some additional paint or food coloring to your mix if you feel like either color is coming through strong enough. It seems like it’s almost impossible to add too much color.
Enjoy this sensory-rich activity with all ages of kids.
Happy Earth Day!
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