Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a safe and lovely holiday. Please hold your kids, pets, friends, and family close.  My heart is breaking for all families that are missing a loved one this holiday season. While it's always fun to give gifts to those we love,

it's even more important to realize what a gift it is to have those loved ones in our lives.

My heart is full with love for these two special guys, and I am so lucky to have them. From us to you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Ornaments!

Click here for other homemade ornament ideas:

Fun Electrical Circuits Activities for Kids

Electrical STEM Activities for Kids

Simple circuits for kids with Snap Circuits

My 6 year old has been having a lot of fun working in "creative mode" (any Minecraft fans out there?) with Snap Circuits (affiliate link, please read my full disclosure here). After a brief lesson on Ohms law and basic circuit components such as resistors, capacitors, batteries, and motors, he went to work. In the end he used both of our battery packs and a fan to make a flying saucer that flew way higher than it did with just one battery pack. His big takeaways are: "Always make a loop," and "Make sure you don't switch things around the wrong way, especially the LEDs (polarity)."

Snap Circuits are one of the few ways I have found for young kids to easily explore circuits. It is one of my favorite STEM toys. Definitely check them out if you can.

It is so much fun to build with Snap Circuits!

Use Minecraft to Learn about Logic

Did you know that you can create logic gates right IN Minecraft? I'm betting your kids know (if they play) but they may not realize that logic gates are used across programming languages. You can learn about AND, OR, NOT, and more here:

If your kids aren't into Minecraft but like dominoes, these are amazing:

Online Circuit Activities and Simulators

Some great virtual resources:

I highly recommend the Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits.

I also found the following, The Fusebox circuit builder

Electricity Circuits Game at Science Kids (click to go to the site and play):

BrainPOP has a way to simulate circuits and components as well!

What ARE Circuits?

For more background on electrical circuits, why not visit these sources:

• Residential Circuits Explained(thanks for the tip from a STEM Club in VT!)
• The Physics Classroom
• If these were still in print, I'd tell you to pick up a copy. Unfortunately, with Radio Shack a thing of the past, you can't. However, you can still get a digital version. These small guides are excellent for reference! Radio Shack Engineer's Mini Notebook (check the site for other mini notebooks as well)

Try a Digital Breakout!

For some basics about circuits, as well as fun code-cracking, I created some digital breakout activities for upper elementary and middle school:

Hands on Circuits

If you are looking for more hands-on ways to explore electrical engineering activities for kids, here are some other great kits (affiliate links):


We have used this and it's great, though I recommend it for about ages 10 and up:


Graphics in main image from Teachers Resource Force and The Cher Room.

 

Get into STEM (and STEAM) Resources!

Here is a blog post at Teachers pay Teachers about some amazing STEM resources. Have a favorite resource or activity? Link it up in the comments!

 If you are looking for even more STEM and STEAM resources, try one of the stores listed below:

Joyful Explorations	Science and Math with Mrs Lau	Meredith Anderson	Elementary Ali
Strawberry Shake	Nitty Gritty Science	Rainbow City Learning	The Science Penguin
Teachers are Terrific	More than a Worksheet	Learning to be Awesome	UtahRoots
Theresa's Teaching Tidbits	Vivify	Mary Carr	Nitty Gritty Science
Get Caught Engineering	Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy	Pinfeather Press	Love2learn2day
Hello Learning	Silly Sam Productions	Erintegration	Literacy Loves Company
Jennifer Maschari	Winged One	Artistic Educational Tools

If you would like to be added to this list, please let me know! I'm happy to add more STEM & STEAM educators.

*Graphics for button above provided by EduClips Design.

Just one day left to enter!

To celebrate, ALL my STEM resources will also be on sale tomorrow!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Winter FREEBIE up!

A slight twist on the standard color-by-number. I have uploaded a new freebie:

• color by product
• color by equivalent fraction
• color by state of matter
• color by verb tense

Enjoy!