Building with Straws. A STEM Activity.
Every week we are in a classroom with 25-30 kids building something crazy with supplies we can grab from our kitchen. Today it was straws!
There are so many cool things kids can do with straws. Ask them if they ever wondered how to build a straw tower without tape? Or what about how to make straw house for school project?
Let’s solve these building stem activities, using only straws!
Straw Challenge
Who knew straws could be so much fun!! If you were looking for straw building projects, today’s your lucky day because we are doing fun science experiments using straws.
STEM Activities with Straws
I love building stem activities because they are so much fun and don’t require a lot of prep!
Straws are so versatile, and that’s an amazing quality especially when you need team building games using straws.
Our STEM classroom is set up with tasks and challenges that the kids race to complete. Armed with only straws, tape, a stop watch, and a partner, the kids had 30 minutes to create a globe, from straws.
Three teams out of nine were able to pull this task off!
They made spheres!
How to Set up a STEM Challenge:
Do not give your kids the directions.
Tell them the end result and give them the tools to succeed. In this case the tools were the supplies. Your kids have to use problem solving skills as well as spatial reasoning to solve challenges.
This STEM challenge integrates geometry and engineering concepts. Kids need to merge lines (straws) into triangles, and then after making triangles connect them to create a globe, all without being told how to do it!
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Straw building games are not only a lot of fun, but they also help develop kids’ problem-solving skills, fine motor skills, and more.
Straw Building Projects
But just in case you get some frustrated kiddos, here’s the secret to how to connect straws together…
Pinch the mouth of the straws to make them smaller and stuff them into another straw’s end. Do this with three straws and then connect them together to become a triangle.
Take five of the triangles and unite them together to make a pentagon. You will need three of these straw pentagons along with seven additional triangles. Tape the pentagons together, and as you wrap them together, connect the missing sections with the remaining triangles.
Viola!
Your kids just make a globe! Use this secret to figure out how to make things out of straws, like a straw house.
Building straws are perfect for kids of all ages who like challenging themselves.
If you are looking for additional activities like this, check out our book, 101 Kids Activities that are the Bestest, Funnest Ever!
You can get it here:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
This is one of the activities in this book and there are 100 more!
Boredom? What’s that? With over 101 kids activities, there will never be a dull moment in your life!
More STEM Activities
Look at the other fun STEM activities we have here at Kids Activities Blog!
Don’t stop the learning yet! This challenge is great for kids who love airplanes, flying, and STEM activities.
- STEM Paper Airplane Challenge – kids can test their science, technology, engineering and math through flight!
- Lego Scale STEM Project – science & math through LEGO building…what could be more fun?
- Red Cup Challenge – Engineering moves to the front of play with this fun activity!
- At Home STEM Camp for Kids
We can’t wait to see what your kids build with their imagination and a little STEM knowledge…
