So, my kid and I are stuck at home today! We have caught a nasty bug that's going around, sigh. Let's hope we get rid of it before the Christmas festivities begin! In the meantime we have been keeping ourselves quietly busy. So, you are bound to get some good activity ideas out of us over the next few days, most of them Christmas-themed.
Today's activity includes a delicious treat...marshmallows! We have hordes of these left over from a recent party and iI knew they had more potential in them than rotting our teeth and making our bellies ache! Throw in some toothpicks or lolly sticks and TA DA! You have a fun STEM activity right in front of you!
Marshmallow STEM Activity
This activity is probably more suitable for primary school children, but my almost 3 year old enjoyed piercing the marshmallows and with my help we made something that sorta kinda resembles an Igloo!
All you will need is:
- Marshmallows, any size (preferably white)
- Toothpicks
Instructions:
There is not much to explain other than that you have to use your toothpicks and marshmallow to construct an Igloo. This is slightly trickier than it sounds though, firstly because most of your "materials" are likely to get eaten, secondly, building a sturdy and arched shape requires some skill, or at least some time and patience.
Educational Benefits Of This Activity
- This is a fine motor activity, so little fingers get to develop their fine motor skills.
- Constructing the igloo requires logic and problem solving skills.
- It is a creative lesson
- Use it as an opportunity to teach kids about igloos and Eskimos!
An igloo, also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of snow, typically built when the snow can be easily compacted.Although igloos are stereo-typically associated with all Eskimo peoples, they were traditionally associated with people of Canada's Central Arctic and Greenland's Thule area. Other Inuit people (Eskimos) tended to use snow to insulate their houses, which were constructed from whalebone and hides. Snow is used because the air pockets trapped in it makes it an insulator. On the outside, temperatures may be as low as −45 °C (−49 °F), but on the inside the temperature may range from −7 °C (19 °F) to 16 °C (61 °F) when warmed by body heat alone. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo
Since my kid is only 3, the temptation got to him and he ended up eating most of our igloo! But if your kids or students are older, this is a great idea to do for an engineering project! You can use the marshmallows to construct all sorts of other things too, like a snowman, a tree covered in white snow, a bridge...you name it! Enjoy and happy holidays!