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21st Century Skills- Creativity and Critical Thinking

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21st Century Skills- Creativity and Critical Thinking

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Creating Instruments - Teachers Pay Teachers
During this activity, students create musical instruments from given materials. There is a YouTube video that can be used as an introduction to the challenge. Students are encouraged to think creatively when using recycled materials. This activity also correlates with standards about recycling and reusing in order to help out the earth.

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Music STEAM Challenge: Creating Musical Instruments from Recycled Materials

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This is a STEAM challenge for music teachers at any grade level. It is also good for regular classroom teachers teaching the Next Generation Science Standards that relate to sound vibrations and communicating with sound energy. There is a challenge sheet which clearly states the challenge; including the materials needed.

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Science Content - Learning about our Bodies

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Science Content - Learning about our Bodies

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How Bodies Move - bambintravel.com
This mini unit incorporates movement with learning about how animals and humans move. Children learn about the skeleton as well as the muscles. They explore how different parts of our bodies work together by doing different types of movement. This can also be easily adapted for older students.

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Gardening STEM Activities - happystronghome.com
What I like about this activity is that it children can be active while learning about plants. The children participate in planting the seeds and creating the garden. These activities also incorporate math and technology. The app mentioned is a fun way for students to learn more about each kind of seed they plant.

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Weather is warming up here in New England, and our gardening is too! Since we're doing so much with seeds and planting, I decided to add in a kindergarten math activity for my five year old.

A gardening STEM activity for kids
This gardening STEM activity for kids is brought to you by Powerful Plants.
Gardening is the perfect match for charting and graphing lessons. Here's a supply list for this project:

6-8 Seed Varieties

Potting soil

Containers or Seed Trays

Tongue Depressors

Rulers

Paper or cardstock for charting

Colored pencils (or crayons, or markers)

Directions for setting up Powerful Plants:

1. We took the Powerful Plants seeds (remember these cool app-animated non-GMO seed packets?) and planted rows of several varieties into potting soil. We like using seedling trays so we can bring them in and out while the weather is still finicky.

2. Using the tongue depressors, we marked each variety so we'd be sure to know which was which!

3. Create a chart and a graph for recording information. The chart will list the date and day (Number 1, 2, 3) in columns, plus have a column for each seed.

4. For the graph, I taped a ruler to one edge of a piece of cardstock and drew one-inch rows across and columns down to form a grid(the 1″ rows is really important though - make sure to measure those out!). Each seed type we planted had a column (but then we planted more seeds and I doubled up!). I then photocopied a few times to have extras sheets (I have a two-year-old!).

Procedure for charting/graphing Powerful Plants:

Each day, we checked out our seed trays and recorded data on our charts. (Really, use these terms with your little kids: data, record, chart, graph, measure. It's great math foundation). For several days, there was no growth, so we recorded zero across the board on our charts. Finally, on day five, our Brussel Sprouts popped up!

We measured the height of the seedling and recorded it on our chart. Each day as more seedlings emerged, we measured each type and recorded their new daily height.

Also every day, on the graph, we displayed the seed growth using different colors to record the growth of each seed type each day. (The daily color code was also recorded on the chart).

Which seed(s) grew the tallest (most)?

Which seed(s) grew the least?

Which seed(s) took the longest to emerge?

Which seeds grew about the same?

Count how many seedlings emerged in the ten days.

Count how many days till the first seedling appeared.

Count how many days till the last seedling appeared.

If using a ruler is new to your child, go over how to read inches (you may have to help out with the quarter inches, and we rounded up to the nearest quarter inch).

After ten days of recording data (the photos above show days 6 and 9), we took a look at our results!
Charting and graphing plant growth gives kids a purpose to their seed planting and keeps them engaging in the growing process for a longer time.
Questions to accompany the Powerful Plant Lesson:

You could certainly continue charting and graphing for longer than ten days. We still are waiting for our carrots and pattypans to show up, so we are tracking them for a bit longer. However, ten days is enough for younger kids to see and record growth.

My boys were so excited about this activity and loved using the rulers to see how tall their plants grew each day! They can't wait to get these seedlings into our prepared raised garden beds soon!

For our planting, we used Powerful Plants Non-GMO seeds. Powerful Plants are more than just amazing heirloom seeds. They are "augmented reality" characters that animate when you use their free app. Children can watch the plants come to life and teach them about each vegetable, give planting instructions, and encourage, eating plenty of fruits and veggies. My sons talk about the Pea animated a lot! I love the Dragon's Tongue Bush Beans character!

All you need to animate the Powerful Plants is their free app downloaded to your phone or tablet. Point your device at the seed packet, and listen to Daucus Carrot tell you about his crisp sweetness, and how to plant him after the first frost. Butter Crunch Bibb Lettuce will instruct kids on the history behind the lettuce plant, going all the way back to the Egyptians. They'll even learn about GMOs and the importance of eating their veggies!
Also, Powerful Plants is working with schools and educators to bring Powerful Plants to classrooms and fundraisers! This is a sponsored post brought to you by Powerful Plants. All opinions are my own.
Powerful Plants retail for $2.99 per seed packet, which is completely reasonable compared to other organic and heirloom seeds on the market (and their veggies don't talk!). There are over 3 dozen seeds/plant characters to pick from to begin your garden

Check out their video for more information on these innovative non-GMO seeds for kids! Be sure to order now to get your seeds in the ground for this summer's harvest!

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Weather is warming up here in New England, and our gardening is too! Since we're doing so much with seeds and planting, I decided to add in a kindergarten math activity for my five year old. A gardening STEM activity for kids This gardening STEM activity for kids is brought to you by Powerful Plants.

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Nursery Rhymes and Engineering- Teachers Pay Teachers
These challenges are based off classic nursery rhyme songs. The students are given various tasks that involve creating different things. and by solving different problems.

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STEM Engineering Challenges Pack ~ Nursery Rhymes ~ Set of Five!

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Who doesn't love Nursery Rhymes? They are perfect for kids of all ages! Most elementary teachers are more comfortable and knowledgeable with theme topics, so I have decided to create STEM challenge packs based on specific ones, like nursery rhymes!

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Seed Dispersal - Teachers Pay Teachers
This movement activity allows students to use their imagination and prior knowledge to find a way to disperse seeds. Some benefits are that they work together in groups and share their models with the rest of the class.

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Are you ready for a STEM challenge that involves seeds? This one is specifically about the ways seeds are dispersed and it's fantastic! Note: This challenge is available in money-saving bundles! *Seed Series Bundle *STEM Kit featuring Seeds and Flower

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Bats are Sleeping - prekandsharing.blogpsot.com
Out of all the ideas from this webpage, I like the song about bats sleeping the best. This is obviously for younger ones, but it incorporates music and movement as well as reinforces their knowledge of bats. This concept can be used for many different animals. As the teacher, I can easily make up lyrics to reflect the students' understanding of a certain animal and add them to a familiar tune while acting it out. Older students can even be given the task of creating their own songs and motions.

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Hi again! It's Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup! and I've got a question for you:

What's red, blue, yellow and green, sings, and is fun to use all year long?

NOT that old electronic question and answer game "Simon!" It's my new recordin g:

It's not ready for purchase yet - it'll be November before you can buy it. And no, my blog this month isn't about creating buzz for my product. I'm going to give you a SNEAK PREVIEW to a few fun songs and fingerplays that you can useright now, without the cd, AND without having heard them before!

A brief reminder about WHY singing with young children is important:

it's good for their brains and bodies ,

promotes appropriate social interaction and

works on early literacy skills such as pattern, sequence, rhythm, rhyme, vocabulary and memory.

Now let's get singing!

Here are three songs for Fall, all to familiar tunes and easy to sing with children 1-6 years old!

Leaves are falling, leaves are falling

Falling on my nose!

Leaves are falling, leaves are falling

Falling on my toes!

On my head! On my ears!

Leaves are falling, leaves are falling

When the brisk wind blows - WHOOSH!

What to do: Shake hands from high to low when singing "leaves are falling". Touch the body part named. Depending upon the age of the child, you can repeat the song, going a little faster with each repetition!

Bats are sleeping, bats are sleeping

Upside down! Upside down!

Waiting for the night-time. Waiting for the night-time....

Then they fly around. Then they fly around.

What to do: First, find out what the child(ren) know about bats! They sleep in the daytime, fly around at night, eat bugs (especially pesky mosquitoes), sleep hanging upside down - and a 4 year old recently told me they use echo location to know where they're going!

Now you're ready to sing and move. I ask: "Is it daytime or night-time now?" It's usually daytime, so "What would bats be doing now?" Sleeping! "OK - you are all bats - go to sleep!" Demonstrate how to stand, folded over at the waist, with your hands dangling toward the floor. Start singing. After the "waiting for the night-time" line, turn the lights OFF and finish the song! I let the children fly around, catching mosquitoes with their tongues for about 15 - 20 seconds, then ON come the lights. They automatically fold over and go "back to sleep" - and we repeat the song....several times! It's a favorite!

For another great song to couple with this one, try "Black Bat Farm" on my "HUM: Highly Usable Music " cd. You can hear it and learn more on the Song of the Month page on my website.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, orange pumpkin

Pumpkin, pumpkin, orange pumpkin

Pumpkin, pumpkin, orange pumpkin

Hi Ho! Autumn is here!

Verse 2: Give him eyes like 2 triangles

Verse 3: Give him a nose that's round like a circle

Verse 4: Give him a mouth to make him smile!

Verse 5: Repeat verse one.

What to do: I do this song with a flannelboard, a felt pumpkin and felt pieces for the facial features! That way I can change them as we're learning our shapes - the mouth can be oval, the eyes can be rectangles, the nose can be a square ("give him a nose that's shaped like a square) ... have fun changing it up!

Invite the children to make a triangle with their fingers, make a circle ON their nose with their finger, and make a big smile! You can clap the rhythm during the first and last verses.

is ready for purchase, either check my website or LIKE me on Facebook at If you'd like to know when S e a s o n S i n g s ! Macaroni Soup with MissCarole. Check out the pictures of the cd-making process there, too! The kids on this cd are waaay cute!

S e a s o n S i n g s ! includes 30 songs: 7 for each season, plus welcome and goodbye songs. By the way - some of my favorite songs come from people I work with: I learned "Bats are Sleeping" at a
Children's Music Network gathering, and "Leaves Are Falling" was shared by a librarian! I'd love to hear about YOUR favorite season-themed songs, too!

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Hi again! It's Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup! and I've got a question for you: What's red, blue, yellow and green, sings, and is fun to use all year long? NOT that old electronic question and answer game "Simon!" It's my new recordin g: It's not ready for purchase yet - it'll be November before you can buy it.

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Newspaper Towers - theardentteacher.com
There are many activities on this particular web page. Making newspaper towers will allow for a lot of movement and collaboration in the classroom. Students work together to design a tower that will withhold a certain weight. They have to plan a design and then keep testing to see if it works.

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I decided to take on my own challenge of incorporating a STEM activity every day for a week. It turned out to be a huge success where both my students and I had a blast. Here were the various STEM tasks that they took on:
STEM activity 1: Newspaper towers!
For these towers, the only prep work is collecting old newspapers and rolling them into dowels. It is a bit tedious; however, if you get students to help you before or after school, it's not so bad! I gave mine classroom tickets as a thank you (read more about my ticket reward system in this post).

The only supplies students were given were: 7 newspaper dowels and two feet of painters tape. They were told that their "tower" needed to be a free standing structure (not taped to the table and not being braced by binders, etc.) and they were only allowed to use the supplies they were given. I did allow them to trade materials; they could trade in an unused dowel for five additional inches of tape or vise verse.

Each group had approximately 35 minutes to complete their tower. What they came up with was impressive:

A few groups even drew up plans for their designs (awesome!)

Once completed, we had about 10 minutes left in class for their creations to be put to the test. Their height was measured as was their strength. The tallest stood 2.5 meters tall (it was pretty weak). The strongest held 10 weights (approximately 5 lbs), very impressive!

These were the weights I used to test strength of the towers:

Here is one of them being tested for strength. It wasn't our top "winner", but it did well!

STEM activity 2: Army Man Launcher!

For this activity, The setup was pretty simple-just buying the materials and getting them laid out. Students were given: one cup, one army man, one spoon, six Popsicle sticks, two rubber bands two feet of tape (they got the tape separately so it didn't tangle) and two feet of string. They did not have to use all of the materials, but they did need to use at least 2.

This is how I prepped all of the materials on my lab cart (normally, I just put out the materials and have them help themselves since it's less prep for me, but I had more time so I decided to do it this way):

Students came up with some amazing ideas and we all had an absolute blast testing them out!

After they field-tested their inventions, I took them outside and they lined up and launched all at the same time. The farthest of the day when over 20 feet! Very impressive!

STEM activity 3: Popsicle Bridges!

For this activity, the set-up was simple. I separated the students desks by 1 foot, gave each group 25 Popsicle sticks and 3 feet of tape. Their goal was to make the strongest and most aesthetically pleasing bridge across the great desk divide! (So, I guess because of the artistic component of this bridge, this challenge could be classified as STEAM rather than STEM). Some students initially grumbled about having to air their bridge nice looking; however, when I explained that this is a real issue addressed when bridges are built because people don't want to look at an eye-sore, they want bridges to be beautiful!

Super easy setup for this one! Here are my lovely bundles of sticks:

The students really rose to the challenge and came up with some amazing bridge designs:

To test the strength of each bridge, I used the same half pound weights I tested the towers with. The winners of the day were able to hold between 5 and 7 pounds! Outstanding!

STEM activity 4: Designing Life Jackets for Babies!

I adapted this idea from one of the NSTA magazines. My adaptation uses: one rubber band, one plastic baby and one small peice of pipe insulation per students (This activity is cheap! The tiny babies came from a dollar store and were with the baby shower decorations and the pipe insulator was only $1.79).

The idea for this activity is that students need to design a life jacket for a baby. The head must stay above water, no matter how it enters the water. In order to keep them from getting too silly with a water activity that involves miniature plastic babies, we discussed the importance of something like this and the need for safety. They took their task seriously, but still had fun with it!

This was definitely much more challenging than they realized it would be. They spent the entire 40 minutes given to them trying to make it work. Many got very frustrated but then celebrated excessively when they finally figured it out. Overall, I would say they had fun with this one. This was the first individual task they had all week and they rose to the challenge.
STEM activity #5: The Unsinkable Ship!
The prep for this activity was fairly minimal. Each student got a 6×6 inch square of aluminum foil and about a 2×2 inch square of cardboard. Their goal: built/design a boat that could hold the most amount of mass before sinking.

Overall, I was impressed by the focus and the variety of boats I saw. I was afraid by giving them cardboard I would see a lot of flat-bottom boats; however, this was not the case! Many of the boat designs varied greatly and they seemed interested in how theirs would stack up against the others.

This week of STEM activities was astonishing to me. Not only did the students have fun, but they were so focused for every activity. Normally, I give lab sheets that they fill out as they go to keep them focused (typically these handouts include data tables, graphing, analysis questions and full written conclusions). For these activities I did not give handouts and they were just as focused without them. For some kind of follow-through, I did have them write about what they learned in their daily warm-up (what worked, what did not work, what they would do differently next time). I would highly suggest trying something like this in your classroom-allow them to play by giving a challenge and they will rise to the occasion, all while having fun learning!

-The Ardent Teacher

Want to try this in your classroom but don't have the time to create the handouts? You can now purchase the entire week's handouts as a bundle in my TpT store! Check it out!

If you enjoyed reading this post, check out this other week long STEM project I did about the Crashworthiness of cars!

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I decided to take on my own challenge of incorporating a STEM activity every day for a week. It turned out to be a huge success where both my students and I had a blast. Here were the various ...

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Boat Building - Teachers Pay Teachers
This activity allows students to move and work together to explore their engineering skills as they attempt to build a sturdy boat made out of available materials. They students have to think carefully and test to make sure that their designs can keep the boats afloat.

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It's the end of the school year, so your end-of-year activities need to be on-point to keep kids engaged! This boat building STEM / STEAM Challenges is perfect for summer - or any time of the year! It brings the joy back to your classroom with collaborative, hands-on, brain-busting work (disguised as fun)!

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Olympic Track and Field STEM Activities- Views from a Step Stool
The activities on this website are actually just inspiration for what I really want to do. Students can actually do the activities such as the long jump and high jump as well as measure and record the data. They can work together on teams like they are from different countries. Students can make charts and make observations. I can also guide them into more investigation by asking questions like, "What helps a person jump higher?" By using the Olympics as the theme, I am able to integrate not only movement, mathematics, and science but geography, history, and social skills as well. Students can learn about different countries and how they all come together to compete with one another with sportsmanship and respect.

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5 Olympics activities for kids that are easy to do at home. Kids will connect and learn with these STEM activities while learning about the Olympics!

Track and field events in the olympics are FULL of opportunities to discuss science and math. There is force, gravity and projectile motion and angular momentum for the more advanced, in addition to so much more. Here are a few popular Olympic track and field STEM activities, and how you can explore them at home in a simple, yet scientific and mathematic matter!

5 Olympics Activities for Kids
Track & Field Inspired STEM Activities
These 5 Olympics activities for kids are easy to do at home. Kids will connect and learn with these STEM activities while learning about the Olympics!

Long jump

Grab some of those plastic jumping frogs and set them up on a piece of paper at the start line. For older kids, determine how many 'athletes' you want in your event, and give each of them 3 jumps, tracking their distances. Kids can compare distances and chart each jumpers distances, finding the best, and eliminating 'athletes' with the shortest distance, until there is a gold medalist! With younger children, simply measure the distances of 2 'jumpers' and compare them, using words like 'more' or 'less', 'farther' and 'shorter'.

Shotput

Find a few different household items of varying weights and make a few 'shotput' balls. We used a pair of socks wadded up into a ball, an old apple, and a ball of foil. We threw each object, shotput style, and measured the distances. Have your child observe and compare the weight of the items (use a scale for more 'fun') and the distance of each of them. You should find that a few variables impact the which item goes farther!

Pole vault

We created a mini pole vault by putting a bead on a pipe cleaner and launching the bead off of the 'pole'. Vary the speed at which the pole launches the bead and observe the difference in distances.

High jump

Grab those same jumping frogs that you used in the long jump and see how high they can go! Create a small pole for the frog to jump over by attaching a straw to 2 popsicle sticks and see how high you can get your frog to jump. Mark the height of the jump on the popsicle sticks and measure with a ruler.
Javelin
It's the summer Olympics, so what better to use as a javelin than a pool noodle! Don't have one? Grab a stick, a broom, or anything else you have on hand. You kids will be more than happy to have permission to launch a large stick across the lawn! Measure and chart the distances.

These simple activities encourage your kids to compare distances, think about what makes objects go different distances, and measure, chart and graph. That's a lot of science and math in a few fun games!

The Olympics are a perfect theme for STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) activities for kids! This post is part of the Learn and Play Summer Olympic Challenge hosted by Edventures with Kids that includes over 50 Olympics Activities for kids! Be sure to check it out - you (and your kids) are not going to want to miss out on this!

Enjoy the Olympics with your kids, and don't forget to check out the rest of the activities in the challenge! For a fun way to play along, grab this printable and see who can win the 'Gold' Medal 🙂 Have FUN!

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5 Olympic Track & Field STEM Activities - Views From a Step Stool

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5 Olympics activities for kids that are easy to do at home. Kids will connect and learn with these STEM activities while learning about the Olympics! Track and field events in the olympics are FULL of opportunities to discuss science and math.

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Can You Make Sound with Water? - Prekinders.com
This activity allows young children to explore how sound is made with glasses of water. I would make this activity more challenging by just asking the students how they can make music with water? They can use the supplies and experiment for themselves how to make different sounds while recording observations. After some time, I would ask them how they would recreate a familiar tune. This incorporates music into the lesson of vibrations making sounds.

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This science center display explores water and sound. To make this display, I used glass vases from a craft store ($0.99 each). I added liquid watercolor paint to a pitcher of water (you could also use food color), and poured the water into the vases. The little wooden mallet is a guiro mallet from our collection of classroom instruments. Children use the mallet to gently tap the vases as they listen to the musical notes made.

The reason I used the same color of water in each vase is so young children understand it is the amount of water in the vases that makes the sound different, not the color of the water. If you use a different color of water in each vase, young children could get confused and think the color of the water has something to do with the difference in sound.

Extend the Activity

To show children that sound is made by a vibration (in this case, a vibration of the water), try this additional sound vibration activity. Tie a piece of string to a metal spoon. Wrap the string around a child's finger and have the child place their finger in their ear. Tap the spoon with another spoon as it is hanging (not touching anything else). The child may have to tilt their head a bit, so the string and spoon are not touching their body. Talk about how the vibration from your spoon tap traveled up the string to their ear.

Supplies
The Amazon link is an affiliate link - thanks for supporting PreKinders!
Liquid watercolor paint can be purchased online at Discount School Supply, Dick Blick, or Amazon . I have used and can recommend Colorations and Sax brands. Liquid watercolor is an essential in my Pre-K classroom - it can be used for so many things!

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Can You Make Music with Water? - PreKinders

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This science center display explores water and sound. To make this display, I used glass vases from a craft store ($0.99 each). I added liquid watercolor paint to a pitcher of water (you could also use food color), and poured the water into the vases.