STEM Activities for Legos

 

How to Use Legos in STEM Class

Find the updated post here at STEM Activities for Kids!

 

 

I love using legos for STEM building projects! They are easy to work with, keep clean, and can be reused. If you were wondering how to use legos or generic building bricks in a more intentional way, I have the resource you are looking for!

Introducing STEM Mats

What are STEM mats? I created a set of reusable mats that have design constraints and criteria as part of the building task. Students will use a paper clip and pencil to spin their challenge! For the above example, students are tasked with creating a tower. The shape of the base is defined by the STEM mat as well as the minimum height. Because there are at least 2 criteria per challenge, there are many combinations of tasks to be built! How students will go about creating their prototype will change depending on the mat and the constraints.

Where are the building instructions?

I have received this question before on my STEM mats, and it's also been suggested to me that building instructions would make this resource better. However, these tasks are not like a lego building set you would purchase at your local toy shop. Students must come up with a plan of their own. They may or not be successful in meeting the criteria. What is important is that they work toward a solution. The attempt is the important part of this task! If they don't get it right the first time, they can make modifications and try again.

Why should you try STEM Mats?

• STEM mats are easy to set up (provided you have building bricks!). You don't need specific sizes or styles of bricks - students must use whichever bricks you have available. When they are finished, they will disassemble their creation.
• These tasks keep students engaged for a good amount of time! They can be used in STEM class, for indoor recess, or during a STEM family night. While some tasks will be simpler than others, all will require planning time, building time, modification time, and clean up!
• Most of the STEM mats require students to measure their prototype! That means they will get practice using measurement tools and other hands-on math skills. You will also see students get more and more creative as they get used to using the mats.
• Once students have used STEM mats once, you can set up a station of them and students can work independently.
  

Can I try out STEM Mats?

Yes! I created a separate post about STEM mats for building bricks over at STEM Activities for Kids, and you can download a sample to try them out.

Download STEM Mats Now!

Already know you want to get STEM mats and use them? Find them all here:

 

STEM Tale - Fairy Tale Activity for Beauty and the Beast

Fairy Tale STEM Activity for Beauty and the Beast

Belle loves to read but she needs a book stand. Why? Her hands are tied up helping the beast tame his mane! 

Materials Needed for this STEM Fairy Tale Activity

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• cardboard boxes, recyclables, tape 
• (optional) building bricks and plates (this pack is LEGO-compatible)
• books to test in the book stand

Watch a Video Preview of Beauty and the Beast STEM

Before Getting Started with the Fairy Tale 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. Since many of the kids have likely seen a movie of this fairy tale, you can also contrast and compare the movie to the story.

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 Beauty and the Beast STEM Tale? Beauty needs a book stand. You can provide a variety of books for the students to pick from.

Design a Book Stand in this Fairy Tale STEM Challenge

After brainstorming book stand design ideas, the students will then choose one to create. They will need to take measurements and then test out the book stand to make sure it holds the book. Once they have a working design, they can test it out with other books. For example, the design below will work for a narrow range of books. If the book is too long, it won't fit (or the words will be obscured).

The stand above holds the book at the top and bottom of the book. Here is another design that supports the book at the sides:

The design above will work for books of a different length/height, but what if they are too wide? This one can actually be adjusted for width to some degree.

Growth Mindset and STEM

STEM tales are a great way to foster teamwork and problem-solving. They are also the perfect way to model a growth mindset. It is rare for an engineering design to work perfectly on the first attempt, so students will likely experience failure at some point. In improving the designs and working together, they will work through the issues and solve the problem.

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

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To read more about how to conduct a STEM challenge, visit this post:

To see all posts in this series, click here:

On the eve of your 9th birthday.

I am thinking about how it could be possible that my first baby will be 9 tomorrow. Wasn't it just yesterday you were small enough to carry, signing "more," and talking about the "me-at" (cat, combo of meow and cat) out the window? Weren't you just small enough to snuggle on my lap, and I would rest my head on yours feeling that soft baby hair?

These last few years have just flown by, and this birthday is bringing up lots of tears in me. Halfway to 18. Last single-digit year. Nine!

To my LEGO-loving, Mario World loving, book-loving kid who is the best playmate to his little brother I could ever imagine, you are the one who brought me through the big change of woman to mother. You have big emotions and I am in no hurry for you to grow up. Look how far you have come, from the days where you were up at 3:30 am for the day and just wouldn't nap, and the hours-long tantrums because you just didn't have the words to tell me what was going on inside that head of yours.

Here you are in 2007:

in 2008, with your new brother:

in 2009:

here you are just after turning 7:

and here you are just a few weeks ago, being goofy, which you never were as a toddler. You were always so serious! You have learned sarcasm, and started telling jokes you have made up. I see more smiles from you these days than I ever did when you were small. I know your little brother has a lot to do with that, as does reading silly books like Big Nate and Captain Underpants. My heart grows bigger because of you and this goofy grin, kid!

In just a few short years, I will be the one looking up to you (your legs grow longer every night, I'm sure of it!), and your sweet kid voice will be replaced by a deeper one. I am so lucky to be your mom, and to spend these days with you. xoxo

LEGO tip of the day!

My son is rebuilding his LEGO Tower Bridge and it reminded me of how useful this tip has been in our lives, so I thought I would share it with you (though I'm guessing I have before). This chip and dip tray I got from a Target bin years ago has been so incredibly useful to us over the years! Save your sanity by keeping all of the pieces sorted while building a set. This is particularly useful when building a large set that might take days to complete.

We use this tray for fine motor sorting as well. Do you have any LEGO tips that have made your life easier? I will try to share some more of ours as well over the next few weeks. Find other LEGO ideas here.

Storm the Castle: Mini Weapons and More

It's been awhile since I linked up for Five for Friday! I am finally feeling much more like myself after surgery 5 weeks ago so I'm excited to link up this week with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Come storm the castle with us! We have been project-based learning after being inspired by Keva's trebuchet project, which led me to find this great book by John Austin at our local library. Now my kids, with the help of their dad (since I am still unable to do much with my dominant arm/hand), have been building mini weapons of mass destruction! Most of the weapons in the picture are directly from the book, except for the Lego catapult and the cannon which I machined in college. All of the weapon building has inspired tons of fun creative play, as well as creating mini castles to knock down (made from TP tubes and index cards).

I can't believe it's June. It's a little hard for me to believe we are at the end of yet another year of homeschooling. We just kind of fell backwards into it, but it really does seem to make sense for our family. The kids want to keep homeschooling for another year, so next year I will be homeschooling a fourth and second grader for our fifth official year as homeschoolers. You'd think I'd know what I'm doing at this point, but really every day is different, not to mention I won't be doing the same "second grade" year with kid #2 as I did with kid #1. This is one of the perks and challenges of being a homeschooling parent. You get to come up with an individualized curriculum for each child. The drawback? You are the only one you can rely on to get it done.

I'm still not quite ready to call it done, and I still need to make the photo yearbook I've made every year so far, but we are definitely heading into our transition to the next year. We typically do more traditional schoolwork in the summer because we are actually home more instead of traveling to all of their homeschool classes! Both kids actually just started their new math courses, and I'm hoping they will power through them before September because it seems like there is never time to get to everything, especially with all the playing and extra classes.

Spring brought flowers in my strawberry garden! We are now harvesting strawberries daily, which has always been part of our homeschooling curriculum. The kids harvest, count, and weigh the strawberries, and then we track the harvest on a spreadsheet and graph. This year they will be learning some basics of using spreadsheets and how to make the graphs themselves. In the past I have always done it, but I am happy to pass the torch onto them. How many strawberries have we picked so far? 170 in the past week, about 1.5 kg. It's easier to talk about averages, ranges, metric and imperial conversions, etc. when it's in relation to something so sweet!

Another fun math activity we worked on this week was Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I think kids who aren't very into math might find this book a frustrating or tiring. Even my brain was feeling a bit stretched by working through some of the problems with my third grader (or maybe it's my aging brain). These problems start with addition and then work into more challenging problems, replacing numbers 1:1 with letters and ending up with valid math problems. It's a book I hung onto from my own childhood because I loved it so much. It's better to read after reading other Wayside School stories, because you'll already know the characters, but be forewarned: this is not a relax-on-a-hammock type of book. You will need to engage your brain in these tough logic problems!

I have recently completed two new All About Me resources. I'm really excited about these, and I hope your inner geek loves them too! Math About Me will get you talking about various number systems, mathematical expressions, and breaking out your rulers and tape measures. There are six different options (because who doesn't love options) for all levels of math abilities. I have included "Maths About Me" pages as well for all my friends not in North America. I've been working on ideas for Science About Me for months, and finally had the chance to organize them and put the banners together. Get into genetic traits, body systems, weather, and more with this fun activity!

LEGO Workshop with Play-Well!

This morning we had the opportunity to host a LEGO® workshop with Play-Well TEKnologies in our very own homeschool! Several local homeschooling families joined us and the kids got to build lego cars with gears and motors.

First, our instructor Krista, gathered everyone together and they all listened to the rules about respecting each other, helping each other, and how everyone would pitch in to clean up at the end. They also talked about engineers and what they do. If only I could captivate my kids' attention this well:

The kids needed to find similar wheels, mount their motors and gears, and learn how to control the motors to drive their cars. One of the rules was that no parents could help, which was a nice break for the parents and also encouraged peer collaboration and teamwork! Oooooooh...look at all those gears!

 Everyone got to personalize their vehicle with various decoration pieces and there was a lot of variation in both size and style of the cars.

A goal was set, design was carried out, and testing was performed. We had a vehicle ramp from a previous lego birthday party (for non-motorized cars), so instead of driving the cars down the ramp, the kids tested out their creations by driving their cars up the ramp. What a fun time!

Do you want to host LEGO-inspired engineering classes, camp, or even a birthday party? Visit Play-Well's website for details. They are in 25 states, and my oldest son had great fun at LEGO camp a couple of summers ago:

 

Wordless Wednesday: LEGO Building!

LEGO Pull-back Racers Hands-on Engineering Fun!

I have seen a few of these pull-back racers pop up on Pinterest from time to time, from amazing bloggers like Frugal Fun 4 Boys and these various rubber band racers, but I thought we could take it one step further and make it more of an engineering activity.

Building the racer was likely the least exciting part of this activity! I gathered several different rubber bands. Try varying the size as well as the thickness. We used a tape measure and counted how many times we wound the rubber band to see which rubber band worked best!

With each rubber band, we wound it around the rear axle 3, 4, and 5 times, and then measured how far it went each time. Before starting a new rubber band, I had my kids guess whether it would work better, and make the car go further, or if it wouldn't work as well.

This activity was so much fun. After using the car, they made several more based on what they thought would make the car work better (different wheels, different style of car, etc.). I am sure we will be doing this one again! I think you will enjoy this one, too, so I'm linking up with Teachers are Terrific in today's What is going on in your science class linky!

Be sure to head over and check out more science ideas!

Holiday Shopping List: Top 10 STEM Gifts for Kids

STEM Gifts Your Kids Will LOVE

Before I get started, I wanted to briefly let you know that I have not been compensated in any way by any of the makers of these toys/apps/etc. These toys are ones we have owned, used, loved, or had recommended to us over the years, and I thought it might be useful to have them all linked up in one place.

Disclaimer: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you downloads of value and information about educational resources. The links below are Amazon affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.



1. For the S in STEM, Magnet Toys!
Magformers,

Tegu Blocks,

and Magna-Tiles!

We own the first two, and have played with Magna-tiles at many friends' houses. These offer amazing open ended play, the ability to explore structure, and are fun for everyone. I highly recommend getting either some of the unusual shapes or the wheels if you get Magformers, but definitely snag the wheels for Tegu - they really add to the imaginative play aspect. Another good option is this Magnet Lab kit from Learning Resources - it's one we have and love:

2. A magnifying glass! Simple, but a must have for all of your science explorations! Whether you are heading to the beach, a park, or your backyard, get a close up look of your findings:

For older kids, look into a microscope.


3. Follow a life cycle with Insect Lore's butterfly garden or other life cycle kits.

For the T in STEM, try these apps and programs:
4. DragonBox Alegbra 12+ and DragonBox Algebra 5+

5. Raspberry Pi for your budding software engineers!

While you're at it, go visit Scratch Programming (free, and you don't need Raspberry Pi to get started learning Scratch)!

For the E in STEM, check out
6. Snap Circuits

The Jr set is linked above, but I highly recommend getting the SC-500 or SC-750 version if your wallet agrees. This is definitely one of my favorite purchases for kids. I wish every kid could have a set of Snap Circuits!

7. Simple Machines 

We don't have this one but it looks great! I have a simple machines set that is no longer made but if I didn't, this would definitely be on my list.

For the M in STEM you can't beat math games and toys.
8. Our favorite math game is Sumoku (app also available), and for super mathy kids you'll want to grab Equate (if they don't already love math, Equate might make them hate it more. It can be pretty intense). For lower elementary, I recommend Zeus on the Loose or Rat-a-Tat-Cat, and for all ages, Set is a fabulous game!

 9. For toys, play money is far and away my top recommendation for hands-on math.

10. Building Toys! I'm lumping all of these together into number 10. Choose a building set that will work best for the kids on your list. Some kids love one but not another. Try LEGOs, Zometool, ZOOB, and Wedgits.

I hope you enjoyed this list! Have a favorite STEM gift I didn't mention? List it in the comments; I'd love to hear about it.

Pin these STEM gift ideas for later:

Find even MORE STEM gifts ideas with an engineering twist:

 or STEM tech gifts: