STEM Tale - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Fairy Tale STEM Activity for Snow White

What's better than a fairy tale? Fairy tales with STEM incorporated, of course! In this challenge, not only will students need to build a new table for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they will also need to use their understanding of conditional statements! This is the perfect coding and building fairy tale STEM challenge!

The dwarfs often wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Snow White is fed up with their morning bickering. This STEM tale guides students through the process of creating a large table for the dwarfs as well as a seating arrangement so they can have a pleasant breakfast.

Materials Needed for this STEM Fairy Tale Activity

card stock for the characters (or use small figurines for the characters)
index cards, card stock, and tape for the table

Before Getting Started with the Snow White STEM Activity

STEM tales work best if you read the original fairy tale first or do your own storytelling. Discuss the similarities and differences as you read through the story. To get started, you need some dwarfs and a Snow White. Use figurines or the printable figures I have created (find the resource at the end of this post):

For this STEM tale, you will want the characters to have some weight to them to test out the table. Why? The dwarfs can get a little rowdy and stand on the table. Snow White may even join them from time to time.

Fairy Tale STEM with the Engineering Design Process

I have designed STEM tales so that as students read the story, they will follow the engineering design process. What is the problem that needs to be solved in the Snow White STEM Tale? There are actually two problems, and the booklet guides students through the problem-solving steps.

The unique engineering problem in this STEM tale is actually not the building part, but the logic part! If you haven't done any coding before, don't stress, this is a very basic coding activity (no tech required). My resource includes a warm up exercise (choose from IF/THEN or IF/THEN/ELSE) so your students will feel comfortable with conditional statements before getting into the story.

Once they have been introduced to conditional statements, they can then figure out who can sit next to whom at the table.

Design a Table

After brainstorming table design ideas, the students will then choose one to create. They will need to take measurements and then test out the table to make sure it supports all of the dwarfs.

STEM tales are a great way to foster teamwork and problem-solving. This STEM tale usually inspires amazing creativity and excitement from the littlest engineers.

To find the full resource, which includes an 8-page booklet, check list for self-evaluation, and tips, visit this link: