Shop UK Site 
DIY STEM Snowflakes!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Nov 26, 2018 | STEM
We are walking in a winter wonderland with this snowy STEM craft!
Cutting paper snowflakes is a time-honored tradition and can make for some seriously beautiful holiday decorations! Glue them together to make a wreath, string them to make a garland, add a hook and you’ve got an instant ornament. Plus, all that snipping stimulates STEM learning.
So let’s get started! Follow the step-by-step instructions below to create beautiful paper art AND spend some quality time with your crafty kiddos.
First, gather your supplies. This should be easy – you really only need paper and scissors. You can make snowflakes out of any kind of paper, really, but it has to be square and thin enough to cut when folded several times. Printer paper is probably easiest for beginners.
Before you get too serious with the instructions, let your child experiment a bit on their own. Fold a sheet of paper in half and have them cut a triangle shape out of the folded edge. It’s a triangle now, but what happens when you open the paper? Diamond!
Fold a square once, then again, and cut another triangle on the fold. Open the paper to reveal not one, but two diamond shapes (or a great Halloween mask!).
Older kids might even be able to begin making some mathematical predictions. If folding the paper twice and cutting one triangle results in two diamonds, what will happen if they fold the paper three times? If your kiddo guessed four diamonds, you’ve got a total STEM smarty on your hands (hint, the number has to do with the number of panels you’re cutting).
Okay, back to the instructions. To make a basic snowflake, here’s what you’re going to do:
Cut your piece of paper into a square large enough to fold several times. (Hint – bring the bottom corner of the paper across the sheet until the sides meet perfectly. Cut the paper above the folded edge off.)
Fold the triangle in half, corner to corner, to make a smaller triangle. Younger kids may want to stop folding here and start snipping, being sure to leave some areas of the folded edges in tact to keep all of the layers from falling apart. This is also the way to create a square or diamond-shaped snowflake. To create a more complex, round snowflake, follow the remaining steps.
Fold the edges of the triangle inward, roughly in thirds, as shown below.
Cut the bottom off this tall triangle to leave a flat edge.
Start snipping! Use any shapes you like – triangles, circles, squares… Encourage your kids to experiment with shapes – they’ll be surprised at the different patterns different shapes make when the snowflake is open. Again, just remind them to leave some of the folded edges intact.
Carefully unfold the paper to reveal your one-of-a-kind snowflake pattern! Share with your kids that each real snowflake is also completely unique. Water droplets freeze onto dust particles creating ice crystals that vary depending on the temperature and humidity. No two are ever the same!
Making snowflakes is endless fun. Once your kids have the basics down, take it a step further and watercolor your paper in winter colors or make STEM snowflakes out of wrapping paper!
DIY Space Sensory Bin!
READ MORE
Ultimate STEM Day Activity Bundle! National STEM Day is November 8 – a day designated to the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and math. To help you celebrate STEM in style, we’ve put together three of our very favorite, holiday-themed STEM smarts & crafts activities perfect for your Thanksgiving Day festivities and winter break fun.
Simple Physics Turkey Races
Add some get up and go to your gobble gobble with these crazy-fun turkey races perfect for perking up the party on turkey day!Here’s what you’ll need:BalloonsConstruction paperTapeStringPlastic strawsChip clips or binder clips
Here’s what you’ll do:Blow up one balloon per racer but don’t tie off the ends. Instead, twist the end, then attach a kitchen “chip clip” or binder clip to keep the air from escaping.
Cut your construction paper into feathers, waddles, and googly eyes and tape the pieces to your “turkeys”.
Set up your race course by placing two chairs about 8 feet apart (you’ll need one set of these chairs for each racer). Cut a 9-foot section of string for each racer and tie the loose end of a length to one chair.
Thread a straw through the untied end of the string, then pull the string taught and tie to the opposite chair.
Using tape, attach the top, center of the balloon to the straw. Make sure to line the straw up with the release point of the balloon, for straighter, faster flying.Pull the balloons back so the ends are touching the chairs, pinch the balloons above the chip clips, and remove the clips.
Call “On your marks, get set, GO”, let go of the balloons, and watch as your turkeys race to the finish line!
Let’s talk turkey about physics! Remember that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (thanks, Newton!). When you blow up the balloon, you are filling it with air. When you release the chip clip, you are releasing the air, creating pressure out of the back of the balloon. This release creates an equal and opposite pressure on the front of the balloon, propelling it forward. Crystal Snowflake Christmas Ornaments
Celebrate the coming winter with crystal snowflakes you make yourself!What You’ll Need:Pipe cleanersBoraxFood coloringWide mouth glass container like a measuring cupPencil, craft stick, or spatulaString or an extra pipe cleaner
What You’ll Do:Cut your pipe cleaners in half, then cut some of them in half again.
Twist the pieces together to form one-of-a-kind snowflake patterns, making sure that your snowflakes will fit into your container without touching the sides or bottom. (Trim the ends with scissors if need be.)
Tie one end of the string to the center of your snowflake and the other to your pencil or craft stick and check to make sure your snowflake will fit without touching the sides or bottom of your container.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. For every cup of water you pour into your container, add 3 tablespoons of Borax and stir (this is a job for a parent as the water is boiling hot!). Add more Borax and stir to dissolve, continuing until the water won’t accept any more Borax (it’s okay if there’s some left in the bottom of the jar). Then add a few drops of food coloring and stir.
Hang your snowflake in the water by balancing your pencil or craft stick across the top of the jar. If your string is too long, twist it around your pencil until it keeps the snowflake from touching the bottom.
Leave your snowflake overnight. Carefully pull your snowflake out of the jar and shake off the excess crystals to reveal your crystalized snowflake!
Borax can be beautiful! Hot water molecules are moving really quickly, which leaves room for the Borax to dissolve between them. As the water cools, the molecules move closer together, “squeezing” the Borax out. Winter Marshmallow Dens
Turn those cocoa fixin’s into a science lesson about the winter habits of some of your kids’ favorite animals with this tasty activity!What you’ll need:ToothpicksMarshmallowsPaperCrayons or markerSnowy Animal ToysWhat you’ll do:Ask your kids to imagine where they might go to hibernate if they lived out in the wild. Have you kids draw their ideas on paper.
Set out the marshmallows and toothpicks and challenge your busy builders to construct their drawings.
Once they’re done, see if someone can build a snow den, an igloo, or a walled fort. The possibilities are endless (and delicious!).
With snow covering the ground, fewer plants are growing, which means less food for hungry animals like bears, bats, and squirrels. Hibernating slows down these animals’ metabolisms and reduces their body temperatures, which means they need less energy to survive and can go without eating for several months at a time. Hibernating animals need a safe, hidden spot to snuggle down for the winter months, similar to the caves and burrows you just built! HAPPY STEM DAY!
READ MORE
Beaker Creatures DIY Halloween Slime!
October marks the beginning of our favorite time of year! We pull out all of our Halloween decorations and transform our entire house for a month before we transition to Fall and finally holiday décor. Along with the festive setting in our home, I also begin themed activities to excite our girls and encourage them to get into the holiday spirit. One of their favorite Halloween projects is creating various types of spook-tacular slime! This is an incredibly low prep activity that results in hours of fun sensory play.
The three base ingredients are water, glue, and liquid starch.
Liquid starch can be found in the laundry section of your local store and only costs a couple of dollars. As for the glue, you can use either white or clear glue. White will result in opaque slime, while the clear will be more see through. In addition to the base ingredients, choose any food coloring, glitter or add ins that match the theme! My girls chose orange and purple food coloring, various glitter, googly eyes and our beloved Beaker Creatures.
First, empty two, 5 ounce bottles of glue into a bowl. Once they are empty, fill the bottles with water and pour that into the bowl as well. Stir the mixture until it is smooth.
At this point, add in your food coloring. This is the only step you can do this at, so make sure you add enough! As you will see below, our first batch looked very orange initially, but I should have added more food coloring. By the end, it was a faint orange color (but the girls didn’t care).
Pour in any mix-ins – my oldest chose googly eyes and green + purple glitter. Stir until the items are mostly incorporated.
Next, add in 8 ounces of liquid starch and begin to stir. The mixture will begin to turn into a hard blob
.
At this point you can help your child and begin to knead the slime with your hands. If it’s pretty sticky, add in a little more starch. Knead some more and continue adding starch until the slime can be handled easily. It will still have some stick to it, but you should be able to pull it off the table in one piece. Depending on the brand of glue you use, the amount of starch will vary. I’ve found that 8 ounces is always the best amount to start with.
We added in our Beaker Creatures and the fun began! My youngest daughter also created a batch of purple slime from white glue. That batch made it’s way into the party as well.
My daughters will play with slime for hours! We store our slime for a few days of play in a Ziploc bag. If it’s a little sticky, just add some liquid starch again. We hope you enjoy this spook-tacular sensory activity as much as we do!
Save it for later!
READ MORE
