Ways to Code with Botley 2.0: Mazes, Mazes, Mazes!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On May 15, 2020 | STEM
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Time to bring outdoor fun indoors during this springtime sequester. Make the best of it by planning a family camping adventure inside with the three “F’s” of fun: forts, flashlights, and food. With no bugs and access to running water, sounds like a perfect combination for some memorable family time!
Below are ideas to plan your overnight, indoor excursion – complete with a delicious S’mores recipe!
If your family is already campers, you can always pop your outdoor tent inside. Fill it up with sleeping bags and you’ve got a home away from home…inside your home.
No tent? No problem! Build your own fort. Have the kiddos grab these supplies for creative, engineering fun:
Set up chairs about 4-5 feet a part, backs of chairs facing each other. Throw blankets down on the “floor”. Make it as fluffy and comfortable as possible. Drape a sheet over the chairs as a roof. Secure the ends of the blanket wit heavy books or clips. String up twinkle lights as your stars, or grab your Primary Science® Shining Stars Projector to shine the heavens on the walls of your fort.
Turn of the lights and let the fun begin. Have the kids grab their flashlights or lanterns and host a shadow puppet show or flashlight scavenger hunt. Shine the lights across each other and play flashlight limbo (the light beams serve as a pole). And if space allows, play everyone’s favorite nighttime summer game: flashlight tag!
Grab the Pretend & Play® Camp Set - complete with battery-operated lantern – creates the perfect glow for all your indoor camping needs.
Plan for an indoor picnic during your campout. (Bonus! No chance of rain!) Have the children help you pack it all in an actual basket! Or maybe you can fire up the grill outside for some real campsite food. Either way, spread out a blanket by your tent and make it special.
Since no campsite is complete without this mainstay, here’s a S’mores Dip recipe, minus the fire!
Ingredients:
(Little ones can help prep this delicious treat, but be sure all handling of the skillet and oven are done by a grown-up).
Place the dry skillet in the oven and turn on to 450 degrees. In the meantime, chop your chocolate (if using actual bars) and measure out your marshmallows.
Once the oven has reached the desired temperature, take out the hot skillet with an oven mitt. Again, keep little hands away from this part! The skillet will be extremely hot.
Throw your pad of butter in the skillet and swirl it around.
Pour in your chocolate, and top with your marshmallows. If you are using jumbo marshmallows, you can place in a uniform pattern around the skillet to ensure every inch is covered, just sure to steer clear of the hot pan.
Place in the oven for five to seven minutes. Break up your graham crackers into “dippable” serving pieces.
Remove dip from the oven and let the skillet sit on the counter for a good 10-15 minutes. Because your skillet is your serving dish, you’ll want it to cool off. Enjoy!
After everyone is fed, takes turns playing cards like Go Fish, or an old-fashioned game like Charades or Telephone. And just because there isn’t a campfire doesn’t mean there can’t be stories. Bring out your favorite books to read by flashlight or lantern.
The idea is just to be together…and make some fond memories during this unique time!
Happy Camping!
Time to bring outdoor fun indoors during this springtime sequester. Make the best of it by planning a family camping adventure inside with the three “F’s” of fun: forts, flashlights, and food. With no bugs and access to running water, sounds like a perfect combination for some memorable family time!
Below are ideas to plan your overnight, indoor excursion – complete with a delicious S’mores recipe!
If your family is already campers, you can always pop your outdoor tent inside. Fill it up with sleeping bags and you’ve got a home away from home…inside your home.
No tent? No problem! Build your own fort. Have the kiddos grab these supplies for creative, engineering fun:
Set up chairs about 4-5 feet a part, backs of chairs facing each other. Throw blankets down on the “floor”. Make it as fluffy and comfortable as possible. Drape a sheet over the chairs as a roof. Secure the ends of the blanket wit heavy books or clips. String up twinkle lights as your stars, or grab your Primary Science® Shining Stars Projector to shine the heavens on the walls of your fort.
Turn of the lights and let the fun begin. Have the kids grab their flashlights or lanterns and host a shadow puppet show or flashlight scavenger hunt. Shine the lights across each other and play flashlight limbo (the light beams serve as a pole). And if space allows, play everyone’s favorite nighttime summer game: flashlight tag!
Grab the Pretend & Play® Camp Set - complete with battery-operated lantern – creates the perfect glow for all your indoor camping needs.
Plan for an indoor picnic during your campout. (Bonus! No chance of rain!) Have the children help you pack it all in an actual basket! Or maybe you can fire up the grill outside for some real campsite food. Either way, spread out a blanket by your tent and make it special.
Since no campsite is complete without this mainstay, here’s a S’mores Dip recipe, minus the fire!
Ingredients:
(Little ones can help prep this delicious treat, but be sure all handling of the skillet and oven are done by a grown-up).
Place the dry skillet in the oven and turn on to 450 degrees. In the meantime, chop your chocolate (if using actual bars) and measure out your marshmallows.
Once the oven has reached the desired temperature, take out the hot skillet with an oven mitt. Again, keep little hands away from this part! The skillet will be extremely hot.
Throw your pad of butter in the skillet and swirl it around.
Pour in your chocolate, and top with your marshmallows. If you are using jumbo marshmallows, you can place in a uniform pattern around the skillet to ensure every inch is covered, just sure to steer clear of the hot pan.
Place in the oven for five to seven minutes. Break up your graham crackers into “dippable” serving pieces.
Remove dip from the oven and let the skillet sit on the counter for a good 10-15 minutes. Because your skillet is your serving dish, you’ll want it to cool off. Enjoy!
After everyone is fed, takes turns playing cards like Go Fish, or an old-fashioned game like Charades or Telephone. And just because there isn’t a campfire doesn’t mean there can’t be stories. Bring out your favorite books to read by flashlight or lantern.
The idea is just to be together…and make some fond memories during this unique time!
Happy Camping!
Discover the possibilities Gears! Gears! Gears! brings to your early STEM curriculum. Aligned to CSTA standards, these printable classroom activities from STEM.org will help your little learners discover the world of engineering games as they discover endless building possibilities.
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson One
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Two
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Three
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Four
Discover the possibilities Gears! Gears! Gears! brings to your early STEM curriculum. Aligned to CSTA standards, these printable classroom activities from STEM.org will help your little learners discover the world of engineering games as they discover endless building possibilities.
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson One
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Two
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Three
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Four
Invite the whole crew over for National STEM Day this November 8th with a science-, technology-, engineering-, and math-themed playdate!National STEM Day began in 2015, as our nation began to recognize that STEM-centered careers were growing 70 percent faster than other occupations. Research has shown the introduction of STEM concepts to children can improve their social and emotional development, as well as their rational thinking skills.
STEM really goes beyond conveying knowledge from teacher to student. Kids learn problem-solving, critical thinking skills, and collaboration with their peers. Connections are made between school, community, and home that seem to stick. The real-life implications of STEM pull together ideas that teach children that what they learn, as well as the ideas they share, benefit our world as a whole.
Let’s bring together all these concepts into a big, fun playdate. With the help of Learning Resources’ STEM-centered products, we engineered an engaging afternoon with our friends, completely screen-free.(And another beauty of STEM? It knows no age. If little brothers and sisters want to join in on the fun, the more the merrier!)We sent out invites, had our friends over, and made an afternoon of activities!
Spread out on the living room floor for our first STEM Station was Botley. This little coding robot lives up to its reputation for out-of-the-box fun. From the first moment Botley lit up and began chatting with our friends, it was love at first code.
With just a quick skim of the directions, the friends were coding in minutes. Before we knew it, Botley was pushing around blocks and racing toward the finish line.
A solid 45 minutes was spent at the Botley station, as the friends took turns sending Botley backwards and in circles. (It was hard to tear the kids away to move to the next station, but our playdate clock was ticking.)
Our friends moved from the floor to the kitchen table to discover the fizzy, funny wonder of the Beaker Creatures Reactor Pods. Each mysterious pod is filled with an alien traveler. Who were they going to discover?Each individually wrapped pod comes with a classification card that will help our friends figure out who is who.Time to drop in our first discovery.
As they waited and watch the water foam, the friends tried to figure out which alien could be lurking in the inky waters.
All set! Who did we get?
Filling out the identification card made the friends feel like they were classifying new species from out of this world.
And soon one bowl was not enough. Let’s dissolve more! Who can we add to our collection?
We set up an additional folding table in the family room to accommodate all our scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematics for more STEM-tastic discoveries. Station #3 included the Rumble and Bumble, the adorable Coding Critters. Similar to Botley, Rumble and Bumble are screen-free, coding fun. The Coding Critters come with a storybook. First things first, the older friends read to the younger ones about with whom they were about to play.
Rumble and Bumble’s playset was fun to set up, but even more fun to knockdown. Once the friends figured out how to get Rumble moving, the crashing began!
The Coding Critters have a “code mode” and a “play mode”. In the play mode, our friends began to interact with Rumble like it was a real live pet! There were even challenges in the storybook…one was how to teach Rumble to have a snack with Bumble.
Like all awesome playdates, our time had to end. But the afternoon of STEM-centered fun will not soon be forgotten!Happy National STEM Day!
Invite the whole crew over for National STEM Day this November 8th with a science-, technology-, engineering-, and math-themed playdate!National STEM Day began in 2015, as our nation began to recognize that STEM-centered careers were growing 70 percent faster than other occupations. Research has shown the introduction of STEM concepts to children can improve their social and emotional development, as well as their rational thinking skills.
STEM really goes beyond conveying knowledge from teacher to student. Kids learn problem-solving, critical thinking skills, and collaboration with their peers. Connections are made between school, community, and home that seem to stick. The real-life implications of STEM pull together ideas that teach children that what they learn, as well as the ideas they share, benefit our world as a whole.
Let’s bring together all these concepts into a big, fun playdate. With the help of Learning Resources’ STEM-centered products, we engineered an engaging afternoon with our friends, completely screen-free.(And another beauty of STEM? It knows no age. If little brothers and sisters want to join in on the fun, the more the merrier!)We sent out invites, had our friends over, and made an afternoon of activities!
Spread out on the living room floor for our first STEM Station was Botley. This little coding robot lives up to its reputation for out-of-the-box fun. From the first moment Botley lit up and began chatting with our friends, it was love at first code.
With just a quick skim of the directions, the friends were coding in minutes. Before we knew it, Botley was pushing around blocks and racing toward the finish line.
A solid 45 minutes was spent at the Botley station, as the friends took turns sending Botley backwards and in circles. (It was hard to tear the kids away to move to the next station, but our playdate clock was ticking.)
Our friends moved from the floor to the kitchen table to discover the fizzy, funny wonder of the Beaker Creatures Reactor Pods. Each mysterious pod is filled with an alien traveler. Who were they going to discover?Each individually wrapped pod comes with a classification card that will help our friends figure out who is who.Time to drop in our first discovery.
As they waited and watch the water foam, the friends tried to figure out which alien could be lurking in the inky waters.
All set! Who did we get?
Filling out the identification card made the friends feel like they were classifying new species from out of this world.
And soon one bowl was not enough. Let’s dissolve more! Who can we add to our collection?
We set up an additional folding table in the family room to accommodate all our scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematics for more STEM-tastic discoveries. Station #3 included the Rumble and Bumble, the adorable Coding Critters. Similar to Botley, Rumble and Bumble are screen-free, coding fun. The Coding Critters come with a storybook. First things first, the older friends read to the younger ones about with whom they were about to play.
Rumble and Bumble’s playset was fun to set up, but even more fun to knockdown. Once the friends figured out how to get Rumble moving, the crashing began!
The Coding Critters have a “code mode” and a “play mode”. In the play mode, our friends began to interact with Rumble like it was a real live pet! There were even challenges in the storybook…one was how to teach Rumble to have a snack with Bumble.
Like all awesome playdates, our time had to end. But the afternoon of STEM-centered fun will not soon be forgotten!Happy National STEM Day!