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Super STEM Snacks!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 23, 2020 | STEM
Building Someone Amazing takes a lot of work! Between e-learning, craft time, and those daily walks, your children always seem up for something on which to munch.
Next time they stroll into the kitchen asking the famous “what can I eeeaaat?” question, try some of these STEM-inspired snacks. Nothing unique about these ingredients either – you’ll most likely have what’s listed here hanging around the house. Talk about real BRAIN food!
Root Beer Floats: Solid, Liquid, Gas!
You won’t have any trouble convincing kids to try this classic. All you need is:
- Vanilla ice cream
- One can of root beer
- A big mug or cup (clear is best)
- Some little bowls to separate your matter
Place one scoop of ice cream in the mug, then pour the root beer on top. 
The reaction is immediate! There are bubbles everywhere. Next, we see that scoop of ice cream float right to the top.
So what is happening? All states of matter are represented in this snack:
Root beer = Liquid
Ice Cream = Solid
Carbon Dioxide Bubbles = Gas
The root beer is carbonated, so when it comes in contact with the ice cream, carbonated dioxide bubbles are released. Also, the liquid root beer helps free the air bubbles that are trapped in the solid ice cream. That makes the ice cream float, float, FLOAT to the top!
Grape, Apple, or Cheese Structures
A STEM snack mainstay, this activity gets your little ones thinking like little engineers that could. You will need:
- Lots of toothpicks
- Cut up snacks of “fortitude” like grapes, apples, or cheese
When putting together structures like this, it gets children thinking in two ways:
- What to make?
- How to improve on something you’ve already made?
Engineering shapes and structures like these helps with dexterity, grasp, and coordination, no matter the age.
As they build, remind kids that failure is definitely an option. Their shapes may shift and their towers may topple, but that will teach them how to solve the structural problem. Attempts to rebuild are simply lessons from the first, second, or third try. 
Math Sorting Snack
This is how we play with our food! For the younger set, print out this number “place mat”. 
Have children fill in in the circles with their favorite cereal, fruit snack, or whatever small food they like. Fine motor and counting skills are practiced during snack time!
Goldfish: More, Less, or Equal?
Goldfish are a pantry staple and just ripe with counting, sorting, and graphing possibilities. For this specific activity, you will need:
- Goldfish crackers
- A printout or sheet
- Less than, greater than, and equal signs (we used felt)
- Two dice
For this game, simply print out a sheet with boxes, or handwrite the title and boxes on construction paper. With your pile of fishy crackers at hand, roll each dice and place in the box.
Count out the crackers and place under the dice. Compare the number of fish, and identify which has more, less, or whether they are equal in number. (Tell children the greater than/less than symbol represents a shark mouth. The open side will always show toward the bigger amount – the shark wants to eat as many fish as he can!) 
Make Your Own Ice Cream
The creation of ice cream is actually a scientific, step-by-step process. Maybe mix up a bag of this sweet treat one night after family dinner!
Materials:
- 1 cup of half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 cups ice
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
- Gallon-sized bags
- Sandwich-sized bags
- Ice cream toppings of your choice
Using the sandwich-sized baggie, combine the half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Be sure to combine it well by shaking it, and then squeeze out the extra air and seal it well.
Step Two:
Place the ice in the gallon-sized baggie and add the salt. The salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. This bag of salt ice will melt even when the temperature is below the normal freezing point of water. This is the same principle in the wintertime when trucks put salt on slick, icy roads.
Step Three:
Place the small bag into the ice-filled bag. Shake it vigorously for 7-10 minutes. You might need a towel or oven mitts when you shake the bag because it becomes so cold. All this shaking is a great way to get out some energy! 
Step Four:
Check ice cream to see if its consistency has hardened.
Ready to eat! If you tried this experiment without the salt, the liquid would have remained in that liquid state simply because the ice wasn’t cold enough.
This looks good enough to eat! Happy STEM Snacking!
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Posted on Mar 18, 2020
No School Brain Fuel! 4 Mom-Approved Activities
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Kids may rejoice when school’s out of session, but as a mom, you may be wondering how you can balance their day’s activities between guilty pleasures (hello, screen time!) and wholesome activities. Whether your kiddo is under the weather, or you’re stay-cationing this Spring Break, here are 4 mom-approved activities that feed your child’s brain AND are easy to do when you’re staying in.
Fine Motor Foto Fun
Are your kiddo’s scissor skills just OK? Here’s a fun way to practice the fine motor movements that help them make the cut, with the added benefit of puzzle play that enhances critical thinking and problem solving.Here’s how:
- Find a collection of photos from magazines or family snapshots, or even by printing images from your computer. If you wish, glue the photos to cardstock or laminate them for extra durability.
- Help your child draw guide lines on the photos to divide them into two or more large pieces, depending on their age and skill level. Lines can be freehanded or traced using stencils, like those included in our Trace Ace Scissor Skills Set.
- Have your child cut the pieces out using child-safe scissors, practicing following the guidelines.
- Have fun playing with your new puzzles. The more photos in your collection, the more of a challenge it will be to put each individual puzzle together!
(Photo Credit: Lina Awshee)
Letter Look and Learn
Reinforce letter recognition and sounds while building critical thinking skills with a letter scavenger hunt around the house. Plus, this activity will get them up and moving!Here’s how:
- Give your child a set of letters A-Z. Use Letter Blocks, Magnetic Letters or DIY your own set by writing each letter on an index card.
- Set your child loose inside the house to find items that start with each letter of the alphabet and mark them with the corresponding letter.
- Have your child take you or another family member on a tour of their letter hunt as they collect up their letters from A to Z.
- If you have more than one child to play, challenge them to complete their letter hunt first. Once an item has been marked with a letter, it can’t be used again, so they’ll have to find another item for that letter!
- To make the activity a little more challenging if your child is ready, have them carry a notebook and write out the name of the items they find to practice handwriting and spelling skills. Then, ask them to use each word to write a complete sentence or create a story using all of the words!
Dual Dice Duel
Everyone’s played the card game War – time to give it a math-tastic twist. If you have four dice around the house, you can have yourself a math duel. Here’s how to play:
- Give each player two dice – or for extra fun, try using one Jumbo Dice In Diceper player instead!
- Depending on the player’s math skill level, decide if you’ll be practicing number recognition/value, addition or multiplication.
- Each player rolls their dice.
- If playing for number recognition and value, each player calls out their number rolled from left to right. For example, if you roll a 4 and a 5, your number for that round is 45. The player with the higher number wins that round.
- If playing for addition or multiplication, add or multiply your two dice together. The player with the higher total wins that round.
- The first player to get 10 points wins!
- Add more dice to the game to make it even more of a challenge!
- Try Polyhedral Dice with 8, 10 or more sides for more complex challenges!
- Use multi-colored dice, and assign each color a function – Add your red dice number, subtract your blue dice number, and so on, to get your total for the round.
Magnet Match
While the kids are circling the kitchen for their fourth round of snacks, put them to work at the fridge with Magnetic Uppercase & Lowercase Letters and a homemade worksheet! Here’s how:
- Using a blank sheet of construction paper, write the alphabet A-Z in marker. Create one sheet with the letters in order and another jumbling them up at random. You can also create and print this out on your computer!
- Attach the paper to your fridge using a magnet, clip or removable tape.
- Using magnetic letters, have your child match the letter to a magnet, covering the letter on the paper with the corresponding letter magnet.
- Ready to learn upper and lower case letters? Mix in both cases using our Magnetic Uppercase and Lowercase Letter set.
- Take the game to the next level by creating additional sheets spelling out short words, or print out photos of words and have your child spell them in letter magnets.
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Spring Cleaning Tips & Tricks To Do With Your Kids
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All cooped up at home? Now is the perfect time to disinfect your home and teach your kids healthy habits to keep things clean. And, if you’re of the spring cleaning persuasion, tidy things up! But whether you’re scrubbing the floorboards and shaking out rugs or just doing your weekly cleanup, you don’t have to do it alone! Kids as young as two can help with simple chores, which gives them a sense of accomplishment and belonging! Plus, you’re priming them to pitch in as they get older. Read on for some age-appropriate chores and motivation.
Preschoolers Can…
Yes, they require a bit of supervision, but with your encouragement and guidance, two-, three-, and four-year-olds can help you:
- Pick up toys and put them in a basket – Add a layer of learning (and make it more fun!) by asking them to pick up anything red first, then blue, then green. Or anything soft, then hard.
- Take their dirty clothes to the laundry basket – Count the pieces together as they go in, e.g., one shirt, two shirts… Or shoot a quick game of hoops with your balled-up socks!
- Help feed and care for the family pets – You may not trust your little one to fill the water bowl, but they can hold the hamster while you clean the cage and fill a scoop of dry food.
*Bonus idea! Pretend play sets, like New Sprouts® Clean It!, is perfect for imaginary play and give little kids a way to enjoy the cleaning fun!
Kindergartners Can…
Again, you’ll need to be on hand to help, but four- and five-year-olds can be hand helpers when it comes to chores like:
- Keep craft supplies tidy – A place for everything and everything in its place! Putting away pencils, markers, glue, and scissors is easy with the Create-a-Space™ Mini-Center, a portable craft station that’s easy to store! If you need a more prominent organizer, try the Create-a-Space™ Storage Center.
- Setting the table – You set out the glasses and plates, then show your kiddo where to put the silverware and napkins.
- Sorting the laundry – Little kids are great at sorting the laundry! Show them what counts as white, medium, and dark, and leave the rest to them.
Big Kids Can…
Many six- and seven-year-olds are old enough to handle simple chores without supervision. A chore chart can be motivating at this age to manage tasks like:
- Making their bed – Don’t expect miracles here; practice makes perfect! Pulling the sheet, blanket, and comforter up and placing pillows at the top is an excellent start.
- Emptying trash cans – Show your kids how to start with the biggest can and carry it to the smaller ones around the house, dumping as they go.
- Putting their laundry away – You fold, they stash or hang!
Bigger Kids Can…
Older elementary-school-aged kids can do so many things! Aside from managing their schoolwork, brushing their teeth, and getting dressed for school, these kids can:
- Wash dishes – Yup! The day has come! Fourth and fifth graders can rinse and load the dishwasher and scrub dishes and silverware (skip the knives and delicate dishware).
- Vacuum and rake – Whether indoors or out, your older kids can easily run the vacuum and rake. Plus, if they’re doing it, they can’t complain about the noise it’s making when you’re doing it!
- Run the washer and dryer – You may not want them folding quite yet, but big kids can toss a load in the washer, add detergent, and turn the machine on.
In Conclusion,
Although it may be easier to do things yourself, the sooner you make chipping in with chores an expected part of your kids’ routine, the easier yours will be in the long run. A good rule of thumb is that kids can follow as many instructions as years they are old. For example, a three-year-old may be able to pick up their shoes, put them in the closet, and close the door. A timer is also a great motivator, as is a clean-up song. Choose something you love, play it loud, and work as long as it plays. When the music’s over, so is the clean-up!
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Proper Hand Washing Glitter Experiment for Kids!
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