STEM Tale - Hansel and Gretel Trap the Witch

Fairy Tale STEM Activity for Hansel & Gretel

Hansel and Gretel can outsmart the witch and escape (with a little help from your students)!

Materials Needed for this STEM Fairy Tale Activity

• printable characters or figurines of different sizes
• various recyclable materials (cereal boxes, cups, etc.)
• other crafting supplies (craft sticks, pipe cleaners, straws, etc.)

Before Getting Started with the STEM Tale

STEM tales work best if you read the original fairy tale first (or do your own storytelling!). This also leads to great discussions during the engineering process, as kids love to compare the original story with the new version.

Print and assemble the characters. These have been designed so that the kids are smaller than the witch and will be able to escape the trap, while the witch will not.

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. First, they need to identify the problem (the kids need to escape from the witch). For this challenge, students will need to measure the dimensions of each character and then design their witch trap so that the kids can pass through but the witch can't. They build the trap around themselves and then escape, leaving the witch trapped.

Design a Trap for the Witch

After thinking of various witch traps, the kids will then choose one they can build. They will plan out the materials and design, and then construct their prototype based on the plan. The above trap is made with a cereal box with the spaces cut out from it (cuts had to be measured). The below trap is made with straws and pipe cleaners (straw spacing had to be determined and applied).

Test the STEM Tale Prototype

After the prototype is built, the kids then test it out. If something didn't work right, it's time to go back and improve the design. If the witch can escape, the design needs to be improved. If Hansel and Gretel are trapped in with the witch, the design also needs to be improved.

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, printable characters, 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:

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STEM Tale - Rapunzel Engineers an Escape

Fairy Tale STEM Activity for Rapunzel

Rapunzel can escape the tower with a little help from your students!

Materials Needed for this STEM Fairy Tale Activity

• cardboard tubes
• printable character
• various recyclable materials
• other crafting supplies (craft sticks, pipe cleaners, pompoms, etc.)
  

Before Getting Started with the STEM Tale

First your students will craft a tower. This is a fun standalone activity. You don't even have to let your kids know there will be another part to the challenge after this. Use long cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls (or tape TP rolls together). Cut out a window near the top. Decorate as desired. Washi tape is always fun for this activity!

STEM tales work best if you read the original fairy tale first (or do your own storytelling!). This also leads to great discussions during the engineering process, as kids love to compare the original story with the new version.

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. First, they need to identify the problem (Rapunzel needs to escape from the tower). Then they need to think of some ways she could get down. Allow their imaginations to soar! I have had kids think of everything from a water slide to a parachute to a zip line and even a hang glider.

Design an Escape for Rapunzel 

After thinking of some ways Rapunzel can escape, the kids will then choose one they can build. They will plan out the materials and design, and then construct their escape route based on the plan.

After the prototype is built, the kids then test it out! If something didn't work right, it's time to go back and improve the design.

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, printable characters, check list for self-evaluation, and tips, visit this link:

Pin the idea for later:

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

To see all posts in this series, click here:

How to Use Fidget Spinners for a STEM Challenge

Fidget Spinners Driving you Crazy?

The whir might have faded to background noise to you at this point, or maybe you can't get it out of your head. Before you ban fidget spinners completely, why not put a spin on the fidget fad and engage your students in a STEM challenge?

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Fidget Spinner STEM Challenge

Turn that Obsession into a Learning Opportunity

Start off by learning the science of rotational motion. I have provided informational text about inertia, angular velocity, torque, and more so that students first get an understanding of the spinners from a scientific perspective. This is reinforced with hands-on experiments and demonstrations, such as noting how the center of mass will change based on where weights are placed on an object.

Follow the Engineering Design Process

The engineering design process (EDP) is the method engineers use to solve problems. It has some similarities to the Scientific Method so if you haven't used the EDP before, read through the steps:

ASK - What is the problem? Has it been solved before?

IMAGINE - Some solutions to the problem. How large will your spinner be? How many arms will it have? What materials are available to use? Do you have design constraints?

PLAN - Sketch your design and label it.

CREATE - Build the design and then test it. How long does it spin? Does it fit comfortably in the hand to spin it? Is it assembled well and symmetric? Record and analyze the data.

IMPROVE - Can you make it spin more smoothly or for longer? What might be causing friction?

SHARE & REFLECT - Share your design with someone else. What do they think of it? Could their feedback help you improve the spinner even more?

Math Extension Activity 

How much would it cost to make 1000 spinners? Students create a Bill of Materials (BOM), calculate the cost to assemble the spinner, and find the volume to calculate the cost of the packaging. Why is this important? Engineers need to be mindful of costs when creating a new product. What if the cost of the raw material goes up? How can you cut costs in a different way. Packaging design is a whole branch of engineering - think about all the different packages you encounter in goods you purchase. An engineer was involved in the design of that package, cost was a very important factor in the package design.

Get Creative with Marketing and Graphic Design

Students need to think about who might buy their spinner and then create a marketing campaign to hook potential buyers! They can also create a fun design on a traditional spinner to catch a shopper's eye. Why is this step important? You can have the best product in the world, but if nobody knows about it, it won't sell and ultimately will fail in the market.

Why STEM?

Not only do students work in small teams, which helps foster community and teamwork, but they also learn to fail and embrace a growth mindset. You will see amazing problem-solving and creative thinking with this project. Students use higher-order thinking skills in their STEM projects, and they can use those skills in other academic areas as well. Because there are so many possible solutions to this problem, there are many avenues to success. You may even inspire a student to come up with a new and unique spinner that is better than commercially available ones!

Find it on TpT 

The full resource can be found on Teachers pay Teachers. It includes everything shown here and more. There are samples, teacher notes, and planning pages to help you make this a successful challenge in your classroom or at home. If you are looking for some tips and tricks to try this on your own, though, read on for a video.

Easy Shopping Links

Amazon affiliate links:
Neodymium Magnets or here
Skate Bearings
Gorilla Tape 
Tin of Marbles or here

Watch the Video to Learn More 

Get an overview of the challenge and some DIY tips on YouTube!

3 Literacy Integrated STEM Activities Your Students Will Love

3 STEM Activities to Try When Reading Holes

A family curse. Incompetent adults. Troubled and falsely accused kids thrown together in a manual labor camp. Holes by Louis Sachar is a great story for middle grades kids, and it works so incredibly well as a read aloud. Your kids will laugh, become invested in the fate of the characters, and come up with wild theories about what will happen next as you read the story.

One way to feel like you are "in" a story is to work on a hands-on project. Dioramas are a classic example, and you can absolutely make a physical or digital map of Camp Green Lake as a fun whole class project. Why not take it one step further and incorporate STEM concepts as well for your next Holes novel study or book club?

1. Design and Create a Hammock

The hammock is just a background piece of the story, a part of the setting. It's a constant reminder to the kids, though, that they are not at Camp Green Lake for rest and relaxation.

Gather your materials:

• cardboard tubes, chairs, boxes, or a wire hanger as the end supports
• string, yarn
• fabric scraps, nylon tablecloth
• small figurine (Imagine it's the Warden. Of course the kids can't hang out in the hammock!)

Design and create the stands (to represent the oak trees) and the hammock. Come up with an idea and a plan for the design. Create it and then test it out. Does it stand or fall down? Does it support the weight of the character without deflecting so much that the hammock doesn't touch the ground? Your students can even make it entirely out of string!

2. Design and Create a Digging Tool

It wouldn't be Holes STEM without this challenge. This is actually a really tough challenge! I require that my kids use at least two different materials. The hole must also be a specific size (diameter + depth - try about 5 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep).

Gather your materials:

• sandbox, loose dirt, bin of play sand, kinetic sand, etc.
• duct tape
• craft sticks, straws, cardboard tubes, small plastic cups, etc.

Get ready to dig! Imagine digging a huge 5 foot hole. How do these kids even get out? I don't know that I'd be able to get out of a 5 foot hole! You can have your students design a way to simply get out (maybe a rope ladder that another camper holds for them, or a ramp? If you want to revisit simple machines, this is a great time to do it!).

3. Design and Create Palindrome Art

I often get asked about STEAM challenges. This is a fun STEM challenge with a lot of open ended options! You can choose to make it a pencil-and-paper challenge or a digital challenge.

I love palindromes. Something about them has just always appealed to me. Since Stanley Yelnats is a palindrome, why not make some palindrome art? Search for palindrome phrases online and then either illustrate the palindome or create word art with it!

Palindromes that might be fun to illustrate:
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.
Madam, I'm Adam.


Palindromes that might be fun to turn into word art:
Lonely Tylenol 
Yo, banana boy!

*PLEASE READ - there are some lists of palindromes out there that may not be suitable for your kids to read and/or illustrate. One fairly benign example is:

As I pee, sir, I see Pisa. 

While not terrible, the possible illustrations that could accommodate this palindrome may not be appropriate! Fair warning.

More Holes STEM Challenges

In addition to the 3 challenges above, I have created a full resource to support the 3 challenges mentioned (with engineering terminology, recording sheets, etc.), additional challenges, and an inventor's workshop activity after finishing the book. I'd love for you to check it out!

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The Best STEM Challenge EVER

The Best STEM Challenge for Grades 3-6

Improve Student Learning with a STEM Challenge

If you are learning about density, buoyancy, or Archimedes' principle, this is a the perfect STEM challenge to learn about what density really means in a hands-on way. This is also a great activity to tie into social studies concepts, whether you are learning about explorers, The Mayflower, or the history of transportation.

Students need to use their findings from an aluminum foil science experiment and apply what they learn to their boat design.

Top 3 Reasons Students LOVE this STEM Challenge

As you can tell from the image above, this group of students decided to try out additional materials to see if they could increase the buoyancy of their cargo ships. Some fun ideas I observed were using straws and balloons. I love their creativity!

Because you can succeed at this challenge with just aluminum foil, it leaves a lot of room for improvement and modification ideas. This is a challenge that works great outdoors, because testing boats in water is just easier to do when clean up is a snap. Kids love to be outside and don't mind getting wet. They are also always amazed at just how many pennies a boat can hold. They will test and re-test their ships as long as you let them, tweaking the design here and there to see if they can make it even stronger.

Why Teachers LOVE this STEM Challenge

It's not just about the hands-on fun part. Any kid who has used a pool noodle or flotation device will have a pretty good idea about density and what will float, but what about materials that don't seem buoyant? How does a huge cruise ship float? Can a concrete canoe float?

Use Higher-Order Thinking and Soft Skills

Students need to use HOTS to solve this engineering challenge, but they will also gain important soft skills practice, like perseverance and working in a team. Growth mindset and STEM challenges go hand in hand, too. Why? Failure is bound to happen. Improving the initial design is a vital part of any STEM challenge.

Here's what some teachers are saying about this challenge:

"The warm up activity was phenomenal! I told the kids (high school resource room) that it would be a challenge to make the tin foil ball small enough to sink and they ate it up! They found creative ways to squished the tinfoil down (Stepping on it was the most successful)"

Great resource! Very thorough and provided excellent extensions. Thank you very much!"

"I love how thorough it is! It takes you step by step over the fundamentals and it's easy to use. Thank you!"

Dig Deeper with the Best STEM Challenge EVER

In addition to the warm up science activity and text, I have included math extension activities as a follow-up. These come in two levels so they can be used for different age ranges or to differentiate.

This is one of my favorite STEM challenges to do with students. They are always surprised just how many pennies their cargo ships can hold. They also realize that stability plays an important part in their ship's design. If they add all of the pennies to one spot, will their boat tip over?

Get the challenge on Teachers pay Teachers, or save money with a bundle of great engineering challenges:

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More Amazing STEM Challenges Your Students Will LOVE

Click on any of the images below to read about more STEM challenges from other STEM educators.

Digital STEM Challenges	Cargo Ship STEM	Animal Adaptations STEM
Roller Coaster STEM	STEM Space Lander	Paper Chain STEM
Sammie STEAM Challenge	Toothpick Tower STEM	Simple Machines Challenges

Graphics and Font Credits: KG Fonts and PhotoClipz

How to Make Homemade Scratch Art Paper in 3 Easy Steps

Easy DIY Scratch Art Paper 

Scratch art paper is fun to use, but I think it might even be more fun to make! My kids gave this project two thumbs up.

Gather Materials for your Scratch Art Paper

• card stock
• crayons
• black tempera paint
• dish soap
• paint brushes, foam brushes, or sponges   
• bamboo skewers or wooden scratch sticks from a scratch art set

Start Coloring!

Cut the card stock in half or even quarters if you want the sheets to be more manageable. Use the crayons to color the entire page. It's particularly fun to use all the colors of the rainbow!

Scratch Art Paper Step 1: Color a good amount of the card stock!

Mix it Up

Use a 50/50 mixture of black tempera paint and dish detergent and paint over the colors (a foam brush works well).

Scratch Art Paper Step 2: Paint over your colors

Create Your Scratch Art Designs

After the paint has dried, it's time to scratch off the black layer! This is the fun part!

Pin this post to easily come back to it later!