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Here are 21 fun activities to get your kids excited about STEM. Perfect for school breaks and summer! Comment below with a picture of you and your family doing one of these activities!

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By the time our children are grown, at least 65 per cent of the jobs they will have don't even exist today.

To try and prepare our kids for their mysterious future careers, many parents hope to foster an interest in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. We know these disciplines can lead our kids to a rewarding career. But to keep them interested, we also know it has to be fun!

Here are 21 cool and easy activities to get your kids hooked on STEM:

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21 Activities To Get Kids Excited About Science And Math

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By the time our children are grown, at least 65 per cent of the jobs they will have don't even exist today. To try and prepare our kids for their mysterious future careers, many parents hope to foster an interest in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

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WHAT? Did you know that you and your kiddos can take field trips? Here is an AMAZE-ing science museum that I highly recommend exploring. It's one of the top rated children's museums!

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Children's Museum Lynchburg VA | Kids Party Planning & Corporate Event Rental, Summer Camp Activities For Kids, Academic Programs & Annual Museum Events in Lynchburg, Virginia (VA) - Amazement Square

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Children's museum offering learning programs, academic summer camps, annual museum events, party planing and rental facility in Lynchburg, Virginia (VA).

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Adults, here are some great ways to work with your kiddos that you might already be doing! *pat yourself on the back* Keep up the good work!

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Is your house overrun with technology? Some days it seems like mine is. From requests to watch TV, instant message with a friend or play Minecraft it feels like I can't get my four kids (ages 6-13) away from technology. Every time I look up their nose is in an iDevice.

I'll share (take) the blame for that. Aside from the iPod my oldest daughter bought with her own money, I've provided all the funding for these pieces of technology. And I'm the one who sets the time standards by which they can be played. If I didn't want them in the house I could easily get rid of them.

But that's just it...I don't really mind my kids having this technology - age appropriate of course. However, I do want to limit its use and domination over their life. If left to their own devices they would be on a device all day long. I don't believe that's healthy for their overall development.

So my wife and I have worked hard by setting rules for the use of technology and by trying to provide alternative, non-technology activities for my four kids to engage in. Over the last few years, it's been surprising to see how drawn our kids have been to some activities we've suggested.

Some of these I'll share with you are old standbys (no-brainers) but my kids love them nonetheless. Others you may not have thought of. Either way I hope they help you crush the technology bug infecting your kids.

INSIDE ACTIVITIES

1. Family game night. Before you roll your eyes at the prospects of a four-hour Monopoly marathon, realize it doesn't have to be that in-depth. Yes, we've had drawn out games that have spilled over into day-two but that's not the norm. Usually we are spending about an hour playing a quick game and ending it in a reasonable amount of time. Our go-to games recently have been Qwirkle, Aggravation, Sorry, Poker (I'm teaching the oldest two) and yes, Monopoly. Once the kids understand the rules and come to enjoy the game, they can play with each other when you are not available.

2. Puzzles. I'll admit to being shocked at how attracted my kids have been to puzzles. We had toddler puzzles for them when they were young, but our rediscovery of how much fun puzzles are happened not so long ago when we received a puzzle-pack featuring 10 different Thomas Kinkade paintings.

Talk about hard! There was so much color and so many shades of light in those puzzles. But they stuck to them, even working to complete the 500-piece puzzles. Sometimes we had all six of us around the puzzle at once - arms and puzzle pieces flying everywhere.

3. Reading. We started our kids out early with reading. Of course I'm sure you've read about the cognitive benefits of reading at a young age. We read to them all the time as infants and toddlers. Thankfully they have all caught the reading bug and don't mind sitting down for 30 minutes to read.

Reading can help bring the family together, especially if done right before bedtime. It makes for "quiet moments" during the day where the house is peaceful. It introduces them to new ideas and concepts they hadn't considered before.

I even use it as a reward system. My kids often here me say "Read for 30 minutes and then you can...(fill in the blank)."

For this one, I'm even willing to break the non-technology rule. My oldest son (12) and daughter (13) both have Kindles and use their own spending money to purchase books (with our approval) through Amazon. Just make sure they aren't sneaking it to bed after hours.

What's really fun is to purchase a book with different airplane designs. They will spend hours (and all your reams of computer paper) trying to build the plane just right.

5. Build a tent or fort out of blankets. On a rainy day a couple of years ago I happened to remember from my youth how much fun I had building tents out of blankets inside our house. So I introduce the concept to our kids who were bored out of their mind. They looked at me like "What? Build a tent indoors?"

Once they understood the concept and started to build they really got into it. There is something about this activity that makes them feel like they are on an adventure. It also teaches them creativity and planning. If you have multiple kids it will force them to work together.

And the best part of all is that when they get to sleep in it overnight. That is until someone rolls over and it comes crashing down at 3 AM.

6. Give them household chores. Wait a minute? I thought you said these were activities your kids love? No kid loves being put to work!

Well maybe so, but my four kids love the money they get for the household chores we assign so I chose to include it here.

Remember, this is all about giving your kids options besides technology. And when we come home from school and they immediately want to hit the TV, I'll always say a) "What homework do you have?" and b) "What chores do you need to do?"

The point on this one is not whether they love it or not. Rather that it slows them down from immediately seeking out a device. And you'll get help with the housework, teach them some discipline and responsibility along the way and help them learn some skills they can put to use later. (Seriously, how many college freshmen do you know who can't even do their laundry?)

And contrary to popular belief I believe kids can come to love work, just like some of you love your work. Just last week I received the shock of all shocks when my 13-year old daughter said, "You know it feels really good to get all your chores done...like you really accomplished something important."

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES

These are some things we've doing outside of the home. We enjoy being at home but we love to go places and be outdoors. Try these non-technology activities on for size.

Personally I believe engaging with nature and outdoor activities is the great equalizer to technology. If you allow it, nature can completely disconnect you from this world for a time, relax your mind and bond you closer to others. Some of our best times as a family have been doing things like hiking up a mountain, camping, playing at the beach or simply...(see #2)

Then, see who can spot the first star. Or better yet, wait a few hours until the sky is filled and do some stargazing. And for this one I'm also OK if you combine activity with technology. There are some great stargazing apps out there that will help you navigate the night sky and bring those constellations alive.

10. Geocaching. If you haven't heard of this one you really need to check it out at geocaching.com. I had no idea this activity was such a world phenomenon.

It's essentially an outdoor treasure hunt using GPS technology. (Yes, I realize once again I'm violating the premise of this article. But you as the parent can control the GPS. And really you need one - or a GPS app on a smartphone - to make this activity worthwhile.)

For this activity participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and try to find the cache (container) hidden at that location. There are literally millions of caches hidden all over the world. You should have no trouble finding one in your area. Last time I checked there were 132 caches within 5 miles of the small town where I live.

Every time we've done this, my kids have loved it...even when we took time on vacation to geocache. And, I'll be honest...it's a lot of fun for adults as well.

12. Attending a community social event. We've started to do this more and more as the kids have become older. We love concerts in the park, community festival events and parades. You might even take them to a local high school sporting event.

13. Take them grocery shopping. Oh...I can hear the groans now. The last thing I want at the grocery store is my kid.

Well, I get it. Rarely do I take all four with me. It can be a management nightmare. But during the summer months when they are home from school, I'll routinely take one or two at a time. Here's why:

it gets them out of the house

they actually can speed up the process by retrieving items off the shelf

I can teach them money management skills (comparing prices, staying within a budget, getting deals, etc.)

they love to push the cart

I reward them with something small (I usually let them buy one item - usually a snack - as a reward for helping out. Maybe that's why they like to go.)

15. Have them volunteer. This last one has just begun to happen for our oldest daughter. Once a month she will go with her grandmother to deliver food and serve at a local homeless shelter. She's learning the world doesn't revolve around her and her technology and that there are many needy people she can impact.

THE BOTTOM LINE.....

If you want your kids to put down the technology you will have to set limits and provide them with options. Be creative and be prepared for some trial and error. There are hundreds of things they could do but some of those suggestions will be a BIG miss. Not everything we've tried has clicked.

Most importantly though realize you are going to have to be the driver of this. If technology is around they will default to it when bored. That alone speaks to the pull it has in their lives. You need to spark their imagination and draw them away from the screens (...which also means you will have to pull yourself away from the screens).

Finally know this...you have to be involved with them. If you notice many of our activities are family centric. I'm not letting the kids build their own fire, work around the stove without supervision or go hiking by themselves. I'm there with them. My wife is there with them. We are together.

That's how it should be in a family. And really, if they are honest, it's all your kids really want...to be with you.
What's your favorite cheap activity? How bothered are you by the pull technology has on a child? What else are you doing to limit the reach of technology in your home? About the author: Brian Fourman is a former private school personal finance and Bible teacher now turned stay at home dad and blogger. He helps individuals and families navigate the challenges of managing their money so that they can grow wealth and live with greater peace of mind. In his down time, he loves hanging out with his four kids and hearing his wife talk about all the cool things CPAs do at work. You can check him out providing encouragement and inspiration on his blog at Luke1428.com or by connecting with him on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

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Is your house overrun with technology? Some days it seems like mine is. From requests to watch TV, instant message with a friend or play Minecraft it feels like I can't get my four kids (ages 6-13) away from technology. Every time I look up their nose is in an iDevice.

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Water fountains can be so relaxing so why not make one of your own at home. Here is a link to show you how you can make one at home.

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A little while back while watching our favourite kid's show together, Play School (Australia), we saw them do a very cool experiment that we just had to have a go of ourselves.

This experiment allows children to see that air takes up room and is always present even though we can't see it.

(see the bottom on how to simplify or extend to meet the needs of your child)

Materials:

Empty water bottle

balloon

straw

blu-tac (or similar)

tray for catching the water (optional. You could always do it outside, in a bath, or near a sink)

Begin by blowing up a balloon and asking your child " What is in the balloon?"

Let the balloon go and talk about what happens.

Next: Take the empty water bottle and ask your child " What is in the bottle?"

Blow up the balloon again and place the mouth of the balloon over the empty bottle without letting too much air escape.

Ask your child, " Why isn't the balloon going down?"

Investigating to see if she can see why the balloon is not going down.

Explain that the balloon is not going down because the bottle is full of air so the air inside the balloon has no where to escape.

Now, to make the water bottle fountain

Carefully, with a pen, poke a hole in the empty bottle just big enough for a straw to poke through and seal with blue tac. (This is the hardest part of the activity and is best done by an adult. If the bottle is wet, the blu-tac will be hard to stick)

Ask your child, " What do you think will happen if we pour water in?"

Pour water into the bottle over the level of the hole.

(NOTE: Make sure that your straw is pointing up, (unlike what's pictured here) and that you fill the water so that it's level with the very top of the straw.. this is because water will level itself out so anything above the top of the straw will probably come out)

Plug any leaks that you have by squishing down the blu-tac.

At this point with the water at the same level as the top of the straw, it will not come out.

This, you can see was quite surprising for her :)

Blow up the balloon, hold it closed and put the mouth over the top of the bottle.

Let go, and wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! a fabulous fountain!

She loved that you could see the balloon go down as the water streamed out the straw

She understood that " the air in the balloon pushed down on the water and forced it up the straw."

But she especially loved it when the balloon ran out of air and the water fountain did some funny last spits before stopping!

- Simplify this activity by not questioning your child as much and just letting them experience the joy of the water spouting out the straw as the balloon. Do the very start of the activity with the air and let it rush out on their fingers or toes and then ask them what's in the balloon or tell them that what was in the balloon was air. When you show them the water fountain experiment, tell them that the air in the balloon is pushing down on the water like it did on their toes, so the water goes up the straw.

- Extend this activity by having your child make the prediction about what they think is going to happen etc. You could even extend as far as having them write a report on it or write it up properly with a hypothesis etc.

- Allow your child to manipulate or be in control of as many of the steps as they are capable of.

- Talk with your child about what they are doing. This will help them understand the physical and mental processes they are going through as well as giving them the vocabulary to describe it.

- Use new language and descriptive words like, "invisible" and "pressure." This will help with their language development.

- Listen to your child talk as they go through their experiences. This will help you determine where they are at with their learning, knowledge and understanding and help you to develop the activity (or future activities) to their level and interests.

Want more Science Activities for Kids?

Here are some of our most popular science activities

Look where else we are. Are you following along? :)

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A little while back while watching our favourite kid's show together, Play School (Australia), we saw them do a very cool experiment that we just had to have a go of ourselves. This experiment allows children to see that air takes up room and is always present even though we can't see it.

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Ever seen a flower glow? Here's an opportunity to spice up the flower bouquet on your kitchen table.

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While doing the research on glowing that led to our creation of Safe and Edible Glow Water, I happened across a photo of a glowing flower. The person had painted it with glow in the dark paint, but it got me to thinking - could I do the traditional science experiment where you change the color of the flower by soaking it in dye?

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

So I bought several white flowers and we set half of the flowers in tonic water

and the other half of the flowers in a concentrated glass of our Glow Water. We let them sit overnight and S and I excitedly checked the next morning with our blacklight

..but nada. Bummer. I decided to do a Google search to see if anyone had successfully made glowing flowers (other than by painting them) - because maybe it just couldn't work - and found this article on About.com. Interestingly they list soaking the stem of the flower in tonic water as a way to make a flower glow. We tried that method yet again and even tried using different flowers, but we never could get soaking the stems in tonic water to produce glowing flowers for us.

However, we did have success with two of the other methods listed in the About.com article. The flowers below are mums and I soaked the flowers (upside down - I wrapped the stems with a damp paper towel) in our Glow Water for two hours. The article claims that the petals absorb the glowing water/dye - but it looked a lot more like it just sits on the petals and ultimately dries. Either way, it totally worked and made gorgeous flowers. They are still thriving and glowing three days later.

These next flowers were made by the soaking method as well, only we soaked these upside down in tonic water

.

Here's a closer look at a tonic water soaked mum. I love the galaxy effect it gives - don't you?

The next method we used was soaking them in highlighter

water. We tried several different color of fluorescing highlighters - but only the traditional yellow dye was absorbed. It created long streaks of glowing color on both the daisies and the mums. To make the highlighter

water, I smashed the pen open with a hammer and pulled out the center (in ours it was a cotton cylinder soaked with dye). I ran water through it and squeezed out the dye. The more concentrated you can make the highlighter water, the brighter the resulting flowers. The highlighter water flowers are also doing well after three days.

After soaking overnight, we selected two of our mums that had been treated with highlighter

water and split the stems open in the light. We then looked at the inner stem under the blacklight and it lit up! We could clearly see the highlighter dye traveling up the stem (I learned the cool trick of looking inside the stems from Momtastic's post on coloring flowers with food coloring). I really loved that it was a bright glowing visual example of how the plants "drink" and transport the water and dye up to their leaves and flowers.

We traced the path the dye takes from the bottom of the flower up through the base leaves and out into the petals. It was really neat to see it illuminated like this!!!

And because little hands just love to dissect flowers, S got to choose a few flowers to deconstruct. I laid them on white paper so she could see the plant parts more clearly.

After that I invited her to make some art with the various flower parts by laying out some contact paper

sticky side up.

Once she was done, we had to see the glowing version of her art.

It made a beautiful suncatcher in regular light as well.

All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

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Flower Science Experiment for Kids: DIY Glowing Flowers

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While doing the research on glowing that led to our creation of Safe and Edible Glow Water, I happened across a photo of a glowing flower. The person had painted it with glow in the dark paint, but it got me to thinking - could I do the traditional science experiment where you change the color of the flower by soaking it in dye?

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It is important for your child to know science safety both at home and in the classroom. Watch this video to learn and discuss about safety in science!

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Tired of buying playdough? Here is a recipe to make it from home

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Making homemade play dough is a fun activity that can be done year- round! Rain or shine, hot or cold, kids love making and playing with play dough!

As a former preschool teacher, I've tried my hand at plenty of homemade play dough recipes, and the one I am sharing with you is the one that put all the rest to shame. This really is the best play dough recipe ever! It is so soft and easy to mold, not to mention WAY cheaper than the store-bought varieties! Here is how to make it:
Homemade Playdough INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of flour

2 tbsp of any vegetable oil

1/2 cup of salt

2 tbsp of cream of tartar

1 1/2 cups of boiling water

food coloring, optional*

gloves, optional if you don't want to stain your hands!

* For the brightest, prettiest color playdough, we like to use gel food coloring instead of the regular drops. You could also use Kool-Aid drink mix to color your playdough, which makes it smell delicious! DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and cream of tarter.

2. Add the oil and mix it well.

3. Add the boiling water and stir until well combined and the dough is formed.

4. Let the dough cool completely.

5. Roll your dough into smaller balls - 1 ball for each color you plan to use - and place each ball into a separate bowl.

6. Add a few drops of food coloring to the top of each ball of dough, then knead the dough until well combined.

Play and Enjoy!
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The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe | Cute Girls Hairstyles

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Making homemade play dough is a fun activity that can be done year- round! Rain or shine, hot or cold, kids love making and playing with play dough! As a former preschool teacher, I've tried my hand at plenty of homemade play dough recipes, and the one I am sharing with you is the one that put all the rest to shame.

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Have you ever wondered what makes certain things glow under black lights?

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First we'll use the petroleum jelly as a kind of invisible ink. Dip your finger into the jelly, then use your finger to write a message on the piece of paper. Use more jelly if you need to - but this probably isn't the time to write a long speech!

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Make your own crystals at home! Here is an easy recipe for making your own crystals. Feel free to come collect observation sheets from me so that you can track your progress!

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Activity for ages 3 and up.

This easy-peasy, low cost science experiment uses borax to grow crystal names. Whether your child is 3 or 103, they're sure to get excited about seeing their name shimmer and sparkle in the sunlight. Crystal names are one of our favorite kids' science experiments yet.

P.S. Looking for some easy ways to add super cool, hands-on science to your classroom or home? Hop over and grab our super cool science kit!

Even though my 5 year old can easily write her name, she never tires of seeing it, especially when it sparkles and glistens. We decided to use the same technique used to make crystal snowflakes using borax, a common household laundry product, to make crystal names. The results were gorgeous and soon everyone in the family wanted their names in crystal too.

Getting Ready

To prep for this science activity, I gathered a few supplies:

Pipe cleaners

Fishing line {twine or yarn will work too}

Pencils or wooden skewers

Scissors

Glasses or plastic container {one for each color}

A container large enough to hold your name {if doing your name as a single piece written in cursive}

Borax

Food Coloring {optional, if you want colored letters you can dye the borax solution or use colored pipe cleaners}

Liquid measuring cup

Tablespoon

Heat Safe Mixing Bowl

Shaping the Names

Once I gathered all my supplies I called my daughter, A, over and explained that we were going to make the letters of her name and then grow crystals on them. I had her take white pipe cleaners and use them to form the letters of her name. I showed her the plastic container we were going to use to suspend the pipe cleaner letter in and explained that the letter had to fit in the container without touching any sides.

I wanted A to work on noticing what lines and curves made up each individual letter so I intentionally had her form the letters one by one. Older children could connect a few pipe cleaners to form their name in cursive, making this activity even easier.

Once formed we used fishing line to suspend each letter a few inches from wooden skewers.

Making the Solution

While A finished making her letters I began heating a large pot of water. I knew my 5 year old would want to do the measuring and mixing so I made sure the water was as hot as possible to help dissolve the borax quickly, without being hot enough to scald her. A decided she wanted to make each letter a different color so I set out 5 quart sized plastic containers and had A measure out 3 tablespoons of borax per cup of hot water {we used 9 tablespoons per container}.

Once all the borax was measured I poured 3 cups of almost boiling water into each of the 5 containers. A, armed with a long wooden spoon, mixed each container until the borax dissolved. Next, she added several drops of food coloring to every container and carefully lowered each letter into the color of choice.

Waiting for the Crystals

Next came the hardest part, waiting! I put the containers on a shelf and let them sit overnight where they wouldn't be disturbed by curious hands. After a couple hours, we saw some changes - mostly crystals forming on the sides of the container and also settling onto the bottom. It was difficult to see what was happening to the pipe cleaners through the dark food color solution.

A and her little brother Q couldn't wait to see how each of their names turned out and spent nearly an hour touching, arranging, and holding their letters up to the windows to see the crystals sparkle.

Once they were finished exploring their glistening letters, I carefully taped each child's name up in a sunny window so they could be admired in all their sparkling glory.

The Science Behind It

When borax is dissolved in water a suspension is created. A suspension is a mixture that has solid particles {the borax} that are large enough for sedimentation {settling out}. As the borax begins to settle, it starts to crystalize on all the surfaces it comes in contact with - including the pipe cleaner letters. As the borax continues to settle out, it builds crystals on top of other borax crystals creating a thick layer.

P.S.

Grab our Super Cool Science Kit including easy prep, kid-pleasing experiments and awesome follow up observation sheets for young scientists.

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Activity for ages 3 and up. This easy-peasy, low cost science experiment uses borax to grow crystal names. Whether your child is 3 or 103, they're sure to get excited about seeing their name shimmer and sparkle in the sunlight. Crystal names are one of our favorite kids' science experiments yet.

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If you have any objects made from silver or plated with silver, you know that the bright, shiny surface of silver gradually darkens and becomes less shiny. You can use chemistry to reverse the tarnishing reaction, and make the silver shiny again.

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If you have any objects made from silver or plated with silver, you know that the bright, shiny surface of silver gradually darkens and becomes less shiny. This happens because silver undergoes a chemical reaction with sulfur-containing substances in the air. You can use chemistry to reverse the tarnishing reaction, and make the silver shiny again.

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Do you have a friend or family member that travels often? Use your iPhone to track where they've been by incorporating your rockin' map skills!

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My husband gets all credit for this post. He recently went on his sort of annual camping trip with his college buddies. He drove from Kansas City to Chicago and told us to follow him along using the "Find my iPhone app"! Genius. I highly recommend it. Very informal, but informative.

For good measure, we also traced his roadtrip on the paper map in my son's room. So many easy, natural teaching points...states, roads, directions, miles, technology, estimating time... and stalking.

Happy Mapping, Shelisa

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My husband gets all credit for this post. He recently went on his sort of annual camping trip with his college buddies. He drove from Kansas City to Chicago and told us to follow him along using the "Find my iPhone app"! Genius. I highly recommend it. Very informal, but informative.

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Explore how density changes among different household liquids!

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Have you ever heard the phrase "oil and water don't mix"? First we will test that expression, then look at interesting combinations of several other liquids.
Oil and Water
You will need the following materials:

* ¼ cup (60 ml) water
* ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
* a small glass
* food coloring

First pour the water into the glass. Add a couple of drops of food coloring and mix. Next add the oil. What do you see? Which layer is on top?

Tightly cover the glass with plastic wrap or your hand (if it's big enough). While holding the glass over a sink (in case you spill), shake the glass so that the two liquids are thoroughly mixed. Set the glass down and watch what happens. Do oil and water mix?

The word "miscibility" describes how well two substances mix. Oil and water are said to be "immiscible," because they do not mix. The oil layer is on top of the water because of the difference in density of the two liquids. The density of a substance is the ratio of its mass (weight) to its volume. The oil is less dense than the water and so is on top.

The next experiment examines the miscibility and density of several liquids.

Layered Liquids

You will need the following materials:

* ¼ cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup or honey
* ¼ cup (60 ml) dishwashing liquid
* ¼ cup (60 ml) water
* ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
* ¼ cup (60 ml) rubbing alcohol
* a tall 12 ounce (350 ml) glass or clear plastic cup
* two other cups for mixing
* food coloring

Take the 12 ounce glass. Being careful not get syrup on the side of the glass; pour the syrup into the middle of the glass. Pour enough syrup in to fill the glass 1/6 of the way.

After you have added the syrup or honey, tip the glass slightly and pour an equal amount of the dishwashing liquid slowly down the side of the glass. Does the dishwashing liquid float on top of the syrup or sink to the bottom?

Next mix a few drops of food coloring with water in one of the mixing cups. Color the rubbing alcohol a different color in another mixing cup.

Be careful to add the next liquids VERY SLOWLY. They are less viscous (i.e., not as thick) and mix more easily than the previous liquids. We don't want them to mix. Tip the glass slightly, and pouring slowly down the side of the glass, add first the colored water, then the vegetable oil, and finally the colored rubbing alcohol.

On a piece of paper, make a sketch of the glass and its liquids, labeling the position of each liquid in your glass.

Why do the liquids stay separated? Can you think of several ways that the liquids in the glass are different? Try to describe some properties that differ in each of the liquids in the glass.

One property that is different in all of the liquids is color. Another property unique to each liquid is thickness (viscosity).

The property of the liquids that is responsible for the layering effect is density. Can you guess what the relationship is between the density of a liquid and its position in the glass?

Another property that keeps the liquids separate is that some of them are immiscible liquids, in other words they do not mix with each other. As you proved in the first experiment, oil and water are immiscible liquids. On the other hand, water and rubbing alcohol are miscible and will mix with each other. Water and the dishwashing liquid will also mix.

Stir up the liquids in the glass and watch what happens to the layers. Have any of the layers mixed (are they miscible in each other)? Wait a few minutes and look again. Have any of the other liquids separated?

Alternate procedure: Rainbow in a glass.

You will need the following materials:

* four different colors of food coloring (e.g. red, yellow, green, blue)
* five tall glasses or clear plastic cups
* ¾ cup (180 g) of granulated sugar
* a tablespoon for measuring
* 1 cup (240 ml) water

In the first glass, add one tablespoon (15 g) of sugar. In the second glass, add two tablespoons of sugar, three in the third glass, and four in the last glass. Then add three tablespoons (45 ml) of water to each glass, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. If the sugar in any of the glasses will not dissolve, add one more tablespoon (15 ml) of water to all of the glasses, and stir again. When the sugar is completely dissolved, add two or three drops of red food coloring to the first glass, yellow to the second, green to the third, and blue to the last glass.

In the remaining glass we will create our rainbow. Fill the glass about a fourth of the way with the blue sugar solution. Next, carefully add the green solution to the glass. Do this by putting a spoon in the glass, just above the level of the blue solution. Slowly pour the green solution into the spoon, raising the spoon to keep it just above the level of the liquid, until the glass is half full. Add the yellow solution, and then the red one in the same manner. What do you notice about the colored solutions?

The amount of sugar dissolved in a liquid affects its density. The blue solution has the most sugar dissolved in it and is therefore the densest. The other solutions are less dense than the blue solution, so they float on top of it. The densities of the solutions should be very close however, and the solutions are miscible, so you will see that the layers do not form well defined boundaries as in the first experiment. If done carefully enough, the colors should stay relatively separate from each other. What do you think will happen if you stir up the liquids in the glass?

Back to Home Experiments

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Have you ever heard the phrase "oil and water don't mix"? First we will test that expression, then look at interesting combinations of several other liquids. Oil and Water You will need the following materials: * ¼ cup (60 ml) water * ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil * a small glass * food coloring First pour the water into the glass.

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This letter was sent home to each family in our classrooms. If you are new here and have any questions, feel free to email us! Our emails are listed within the letter.

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Did you know that you can be an architect and you didn't even have to go to school for it? Take a chance a building a bridge out of straws, masking tape, and paper clips and I bet you will have a complete master piece! Challenge yourself to see how much your bridge can hold!

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Activity for ages 5 to 8.

Science Technology Engineering and Math {STEM} activities are fun ways to teach kids how things work. These straw bridges take just a few minutes to prep but will keep young engineers learning for hours. Who can build the strongest bridge?
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Building Bridges

To give the kids a strong introduction to bridge design, we started our activity by reading Carol Johmann's "Bridges" together as a class.

Then we talked about five popular types of bridges: arch, beam, suspension, cable-stay and truss. As we reviewed the characteristics of each one, I drew a simple anchor chart kids could refer to when they were designing their bridges later.

Then, I placed students into teams of three or four and gave each group a tray of supplies:

Their task was simple: build a bridge that was strong enough to hold a plastic cup filled with 100 pennies.

They could cut the straws to any length but their bridges had to sit at least one inch off the table.

Some teams succeeded and some failed but, either way, it was impressive to watch their problem solving and teamwork. They loved observing what worked for other groups and then incorporating it into their own designs.

Printable STEM Challenges

Fill your STEM center with our HUGE collection of STEM challenge packs! Build famous landmarks with LEGOS, use toothpicks and playdough to make 2D and 3D shapes and so much more!

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Activity for ages 5 to 8. Science Technology Engineering and Math {STEM} activities are fun ways to teach kids how things work. These straw bridges take just a few minutes to prep but will keep young engineers learning for hours. Who can build the strongest bridge? This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

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Sodium polyacrylate is a super-absorbent polymer, capable of absorbing up to 300 times its own weight in water! It is found in disposable diapers!

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How to Make Water Disappear | Science Projects

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Ready, set, ACTION! Test out your skills by creating your own stop action film. YOU are the filmmaker. Don't forget to share your films!

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Stop action movies are easy enough for even kids to make. If you have a LEGO lover in your home then they will surely appreciate this creative movie making idea.

Kids Activities Blog knows that most kids love anything having to do with LEGOs so we think this idea will be a hit as well.

Stop Action

Are your big kids obsessed with movie making?? Mine are and honestly, if I watch another lip-sync or Harlem Shake movie they have made, I will go cross-eyed. So I wanted to funnel their creativity into something a little more challenging and educational. My 10 year old is a LEGO-building fiend. So I challenged him to come up with a 1 minute script to make a LEGO movie! He is currently in the 4th grade and working on writing skills this year {bonus for this mom!}.

He immediately put down his electronic game (better know as mind-suck) and got a sparkle in his eye. Bring it on mom!

What I thought would take him roughly 10 minutes to draft took him over an hour. He painstakingly crafted a creative script about a giant potato chip-eating lizard who over takes the town. He worked diligently to plan each of the moves his LEGO mini-figures (AKA townsfolk) would take. And found the perfect spot in the house to "shoot the movie."

Not to be out-done by her brother, his 12-year old sister got in on the act, creating her own little LEGO movie. {Even more bonus mom!} What started as a competition, ended up with each of them helping each other out in the building and story boarding.

Movie Making

When they were ready, we took tons of pictures. Both kids wanted to make the movies as realistic as possible. I have to admit, I even had fun snapping shots and watching them work through the building and character movements.

Once finished, we uploaded the pictures to our computer and I taught the kids the basics of our movie making software (I use iMovie). I allowed them to get as creative as they wanted with music, fun sound effects, and voice-overs. I was thrilled with how much time and care they put into their movies and we are certainly proud of them.

And here it is!! "The Potato Chip-Eating Lizard":

More Kids Activities

Stop action is fun and easy for kids to do. Has your child tried movie making? For more great kids activities, take a look at these:

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Stop Action: {Easy} Movie Making with LEGOs

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Stop action movies are easy enough for even kids to make. If you have a LEGO lover in your home then they will surely appreciate this creative movie making idea. Kids Activities Blog knows that most kids love anything having to do with LEGOs so we think this idea will be a hit as well.

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Elephant’s toothpaste is a steaming foamy substance created by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which sort of resembles giant-sized toothpaste. Make your own elephant’s toothpaste with these instructions.

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Elephant's Toothpaste Geyser With Science Bob on Jimmy Kimmel Live

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How many of you and your children love rainbows? Check out this video to watch how you can build make your own rainbow in your kitchen!

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Ready for a household pet? Here's a link to a super fun and super easy science experiment that gives you a taste of what it's like to be pet owner!

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Pill bugs, rolypolies, wood lice, potato bugs or isopods, these cute little crustaceans come with a bunch of common names. Add the names for their close cousins the sow bugs (the ones that can't roll up) and the shore isopods called slaters, and you have a dictionary full.

Today we're going to be using pill bugs, the ones that look like a pill when they roll up.

Although most people associate pill bugs with moist environments, surprisingly we have pill bugs in the desert that can tolerate a much drier climate. They are common and active residents of our back yard, although they do seem to prefer the irrigated areas.

Pill bugs are fun to investigate. First, prepare a temporary holding container with a walnut-sized wad of moist paper towel and a few bits of carrot for food. Look outside under stones or logs for pill bugs. Note: always return the rocks or logs to their original position when through, and be careful if you live where there are poisonous critters that live under rocks. You might want to tip them with a bar.

When you find some pill bugs, gently transfer them to the container. After they unroll, you can look at them through a magnifying lens. Study how they move and their body parts.

Check the "Using Live Insects in the Classroom" Isopod Information Sheet for a detailed description of their morphology.

1. Draw or build a model pill bug.

Gather materials such a paper, cardboard, chenilles and/or clay and create a pill bug model. Pay particular attention to what they look like, because the more details you add, the more realistic the model will be.

2. Do all your pill bugs look alike? We found some of ours were entirely dark gray whereas others had gold or yellow spots on their backs.

Any ideas why pill bugs might be different colors?

3. When the pill bugs roll up, can you still see their antennae? Our desert pill bugs can roll up with their antennae inside, other species can't. Why might that be?

4. Build a simple maze and test some of your ideas about pill bugs. We built ours out of light cardboard, like a cereal box. We taped it down with masking tape so it wouldn't fall on the pill bugs. Be careful that no sticky edges are exposed, because the pill bugs might get stuck. We also found certain pill bugs wouldn't cross the masking tape, so try to keep the tape on the outside of the maze. While planning, you might want to sketch your maze on graph paper or use a computer.

We tested the idea that pill bugs would prefer darkness to light. We also offered them different types of food.

In the video, we wondered if the pill bugs would explore a complex maze with a lot of turns to find food. We set two pill bugs in the maze entrance together. See what happened:

We had fun and learned a lot about how pill bugs behave. Hope you give it a try.

Once we were done, the pill bugs went back to nature unharmed.

For more information and great science activities with pill bugs, I highly recommend:

It seems to be out of press, but you should be able to find it at your local library. It is filled with fantastic ideas.

Other pill bug books (linked images and titles go to Amazon):
Previous post on pill bugs

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Pill bugs, rolypolies, wood lice, potato bugs or isopods, these cute little crustaceans come with a bunch of common names. Add the names for their close cousins the sow bugs (the ones that can't roll up) and the shore isopods called slaters, and you have a dictionary full.

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Read to learn the benefits of STEM for your child-- both in and out of the classroom!

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A guide to the importance of STEM education at an early age

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Make A Hybrid Rocket Engine With Pasta, Hydrogen Peroxide, And Yeast

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Make A Hybrid Rocket Engine With Pasta, Hydrogen Peroxide, And Yeast

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Can you protect your egg so it doesn't cracks when it drops?  Give this egg drop challenge a try and see what happens!

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We are a team of graduate students that are soon to embark on our first years of teaching. We believe in the value of incorporating math, technology, engineering, and science into our students lives. You can help your child by incorporating it into your home and spending time with them all at the same time! We appreciate you!

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Let's build some structures! See how creative YOU can get with just pretzels and marshmallows! Share a picture of your structure in the comments below!

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A classic science experiment that's perfect for entertaining both kids and adults. If you haven't seen it in action it's very fascinating stuff and before too long you'll have your hands covered with it, happily making a mess that can be washed away with water!