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Tag Archives: Fine Motor activity

Ultimate Holiday STEM: Christmas Indoor Game For The Whole Family

With Christmas around the corner we decided to try a fun themed STEM activity. This Christmas indoor game turned out to be so much fun! This game is a great way to fire up the brain and get those little minds working and learning. Recommended ages: preschool ages from 3 to 5. Once they get older you can go for real circuits, this one is just pretend.

christmas indoor game STEM activity for kids

Christmas Indoor Game

Materials

  • 2 x Egg cartons 
  • Paint for coloring the egg cartons
  • Pipe cleaners: we used Christmas style pipe cleaners that were red, green, yellow and blue colors, 5 of each color
  • Bells for extra decoration (optional)
  • 2 x LED battery-operated lights with a switch
  • Fun squeaky toy that can act as a buzzer
  • Paper/markers/scissors to make the cards

Preparation 

To prepare the activity you will need to:

  1. Turn the egg cartons around and paint each row
  2. Once the paint has dried, poke a hole in each colored circle
  3. Prepare playing cards: We cut out card-sized pieces of paper and drew a color code on them: a line for the pipe cleaner color and two circles for the colors that it connects on the egg carton

Christmas Indoor Game Set up

Once you have all your materials it’s time to set up the game. Place the egg cartons on the LED lights and the buzzer between them. Cards can be placed on the table too. 

How To Play The Christmas Indoor Game

We pretended we were connecting wires to see if we could get the lights to work. There are two playing modes:

Mode 1: Follow the code and connect the wires

christmas indoor game STEM activity for kids

2 players: Each player draws 1 – 3 cards depending on age and tries to connect the wires correctly. Once done, each player takes a turn to hit the buzzer and the other player switches the light on if the cables (pipe cleaners) are correct. If the lights don’t go on, then it’s time to take a look at what went wrong and try again.

3 players: Same as before but one player is in charge of the lights and the other two have to connect the wires correctly. The one in charge has to check that the wires are correct before turning on any lights.

Mode 2: Design and replicate

christmas indoor game STEM activity for kids

Each player takes a turn to become a creator and designs their own circuit. The other player then has to replicate it. Once it has been replicated, the player hits the buzzer and the creator (or a third player) turns both lights on if it is correct. 

STEM learning

This activity is a great exercise for the brain! 

🚥 First, it has children using a new language, a code, to follow instructions. This helps develop cognitive abilities. 

🧩 Second, children have to compare and make sure that everything is correct or find out what went wrong, which is great for problem-solving, critical thinking, and logical reasoning. 

⚡Third, it is pretend circuit play so you can start introducing very basic vocabulary like wires and electricity. Look around the room and talk about what needs electricity to work 

❤️ Fourth, it is quality time spent together. Creating positive emotions surrounding STEM experiences is key for kids motivation for STEM.

christmas indoor game STEM activity for kids

If both parents are playing this with their kids, which we definitely recommend you do, let them be in charge of the lights and play against each other. This really gets their brains working. Once they figure out the code and have followed it a few times, being in charge of overseeing the lights is a great way to boost brain activity. They don’t just follow instructions but they have to check that everything is correct. A crucial aspect of any STEM profession. 

Hope you enjoyed this fun Christmas set up. We wish you a lovely holiday!

More Fun Family Games:

  • Fantastic Outdoor Game With Great Learning Potential
  • Multisensory Learning: The Sound and Feel of Materials

Check Out Parenting Tips And Inspiration For STEM At Home:

  • What is STEM and why is STEM Learning important?
  • 5 Tips to Transform STEM Activities at Home
  • 5 Reasons for Supporting STEM Learning at Home
  • Discover The Best Strategies For Learning That Sticks
  • Play-Based Learning: How Children Learn Through Play
  • Have You Wondered With Your Kid Today?
  • The Dos And Don’ts Of Free Play. A STEM Perspective
  • Connect As A Family Through Play And Discovery
  • How To Develop Early Math Skills Outdoors

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Gardening With Kids: Beautiful Math And Art Activity

Kids enjoy getting their hands dirty and helping out in the garden is a great way to put that love of dirt to good use. And gardening with kids is actually a great way to help their development. Planting seeds and helping them grow gives kids a sense of purpose and responsibility. The tasks of tending to a garden, such as adding soil and seeds to a pot, or watering plants helps with motor skills, body management and object control. In addition, the sensory experience of feeling the soil, the water, seeds or any natural material is very engaging for little ones.

There is also so much to talk about! And conversation is a great way to develop young minds. So to bring this all together, we have prepared a simple activity that will help kids develop math skills and creativity in an environment that is already nurturing their minds. This is a lovely activity you can set up and do regularly when you want to do some gardening with kids and observe different results. So next time you are out in the garden, take a moment to do this simple yet fun garden math and art activity.

Materials

  • Seeds: we used “cat grass” seeds as they grow pretty easily
  • Mix of natural materials and loose parts: we used stones, leaves, sticks, string, and colorful stones which we had from a local shop
  • Pots with soil
  • Scissors

Preparation

  • Gather natural materials by going on a nature walk or use previously collected treasures
  • Prepare the pots with the soil
  • Bring out all the materials

Gardening With Kids: Math And Art Activity

The math part mainly consists of working on numbers, shapes and patterns. Pattern awareness is key to child development. The ability to recognize and reproduce patterns as well as the ability to predict how a pattern will continue is a skill that positively affects future mathematical understanding and thinking. How to do this: 

  • Start by drawing numbers in the soil
  • Trace with natural materials and work on shapes and patterns as you trace

For example: Draw number 1 and make patterns of 1, draw number 2 and make patterns of 2, or make a circle around number 3 and a triangle around number 4

  • Fill the numbers with seeds
  • Draw more shapes and fill with seeds
  • Cover up 
  • Decorate and play

For the decoration part we used a different pot with soil and let the kids do their thing in a more unstructured way to let them explore at their own pace

  • Optional: make a number/shape map. As you will read below, our numbers didn’t come out quite as clearly as we had hoped for so we had to guess. Drawing a sketch of your pots and having your kids write in the numbers and shapes is a great way to cross-check and also perfect for tying up this educational activity. 

Gardening and Math Talk With Kids

Gardening with kids is good for the body, soul, and mind of everyone involved. It also opens up a whole lot of conversation topics. It is so important that you talk, talk, talk to your kids during activities like this. Observations lead to connections, which lead to discovery. Help them along by giving them the vocabulary they need to express their thoughts and questions. You can also ask some open-ended questions about what they think will happen and why. When gardening with kids there is so much to talk about and this activity also offers you the chance to add in some math talk. Here are some suggestions and conversation topics:

  • What do you think plants need to grow? (water, sun, soil)
  • Talk about the parts of the plant (roots, stem, leaves, flower, seeds)
  • How do you think the plant “drinks” water?
  • Measure the grass as it comes out
  • Count the sprouts as they come out, which pot has more/less?
  • Can we identify the numbers/shapes/patterns? (use the map if you have one)
gardening with kids numbers shapes patterns for preschoolers hands-on activity

Follow-up Activity

We tended to the grass on a regular basis and were quite excited to see it sprout! Unfortunately, the numbers were not as clear as we would have liked them to be, so we had to do some detective work. First we talked about the activity and tried to remember which numbers we had drawn and then we tried to guess by the markings in the soil. It was a good way to reflect on the activity and ask ourselves if there is a better way of doing this. We decided next time we would make a number and shape map and mark where everything went so we could cross check once the grass grew. We also used the chance to work on scissor skills by cutting the grass which was fun and engaging in itself.

Even though the results were not what we expected, this activity gave us the opportunity to talk, observe, and make connections about how our world works. And any activity that gives us the chance to do this is great for us!

For more hands-on number and shape activities:

  • Math Art Project For Kids: Easy DIY Shape Stencils
  • Math For Toddlers: Easy Sensory Bath Time Activity
  • String Rainbow Art Project: Explore Shapes With String
  • Exciting Math Games For Movement And Learning
  • DIY Math Game with Playdough
  • STEM Activity: Build a Pyramid and Learn about Shapes

For more nature activities:

  • Multisensory Learning: The Sound and Feel of Materials
  • STEM Nature Box: Sort, Categorize, And Learn
  • Beautiful Hands-on Activities For Preschoolers: STEM Nature Eggs
  • Simple Science Project For Kids: Float or Sink
  • Nature Puzzles: A Wonderful Way To Explore Shapes
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Discover Color Mixing With This Simple Hands-on Activity

Always have food coloring at home. You never know when the perfect opportunity will present itself to use it for play. This activity was one of those moments in which looking around at what our kid was playing with the thought came to me. What if we added some color to this? We gathered the materials, added some food coloring and voilá, a fun and entertaining color mixing activity! This engaging hands-on color mixing activity to learn colors is so simple and yet very entertaining for little ones as they can see the effects of mixing colors all by themselves. They will also develop their fine motor and critical thinking skills as they try different combinations and observe the results.

hands on color mixing activity with water to learn about colors and develop fine motor skills and critical thinking

Materials For Hands-on Color Mixing Activity

Here are the materials we used but you can always adapt to whatever you have at home. 

  • Plastic syringe
  • Plastic painting tray
  • Containers for mixing water and color (we used the Ikea ice pop maker which was great because it had a stand)
  • Paintbrush and thick paper for later

The plastic syringe was great for motor skills and it did add a level of fun that is different from just pouring from a cup. Also the plastic painting tray added a lovely pretend-play artist vibe to it. 

Preparation and Color Mixing

This is how we did it:

  • We added water to three containers
  • Mixed in the food coloring (just red, yellow and blue)
  • Used the syringe to transfer water to the tray
  • Played and discovered what happened when mixing colors
  • Once the tray was full, our kid decided she wanted to paint with her beautiful palette so that is what she did

This hands-on color mixing activity is perfect for preschool-aged kids to do all by themselves. The only thing I oversaw was adding color because blue tends to be overpowering. Other than that you can sit back and observe or join in the excitement of color mixing!

fine motor skills development practice hands on color mixing activity

Color Talk For Your Hands-On Color Mixing Activity

As always, we encourage you to talk to your kids during these activities. This will help them enrich their vocabulary which is key when learning about new things. Some great ways to engage in conversation and some critical thinking in this hands-on color mixing activity could be:

  • Introduce the concept of primary colors and let them explore to see how many different colors they can create
  • I love that color, what primary colors did you use to create that one?
  • What happens if you mix…?
  • Can you try making…? (trial and error)
  • Have you tried mixing…? What do you think will happen? Let’s see if you were right
  • Talk about tone, what happens if you mix more of one color with just a bit of the other?

There are many opportunities for some great conversations about color and children seem to gravitate towards colorful experiences so this is a great activity for that. Also, playing with water is always so soothing for kids and a great sensory experience.

Explore more…

For more great activities to do with water:

  • Simple Science Project For Kids: Float or Sink
  • Milk The Cow STEM Challenge: Can You Mimic Nature?
  • Math For Toddlers: Easy Sensory Bath Time Activity
  • Save Water Activity: A Simple And Easy Experiment
  • STEM Water Play: 8 Fun Activities to try this Summer

Or more hands-on color mixing activties:

  • 5 Brilliant Ways To Experiment With Oobleck
  • Fun Color Experiment For Toddlers Who Love A Good Mess
  • String Rainbow Art Project: Explore Shapes With String
hands on color mixing activity develop fine motor skills critical thinking and learn about colors with water
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Milk The Cow STEM Challenge: Can You Mimic Nature?

At our house it has been all about farm animals latey. So I was happily surprised when I got some materials out for her and it evolved into learning how to milk a cow! She was just 3 at the time so was not overly involved in the design process. However, she did observe how I kept making mistakes as I tried to create the most efficient milking device aka cow udder. She was the one in charge of testing the device and we talked about how good/bad it was. I perfected the design and when I explain it to you you will see just how easy it is!!! But it did take me a couple tries to get the water flowing properly so it’s a great engineering experience for older kids! For younger ones, just being involved in the process and then playing with it will be enough. So keep reading to find out how you can create your own milking device.

milk the cow

STEM Challenge: Can You Mimic Nature?

Mother Nature is the number one designer. With years of evolution behind her she carefully selects what works and what doesn’t. Engineers and scientists often try to replicate nature’s designs to be used in everyday items and processes. This is called Biomimetics and it is so interesting! The most obvious example is flight. Birds inspired inventors to find a way so that we could also cruise the skies. Here you can find some other cool examples. With this in mind, I created a fun activity that can introduce older kids to this concept and that can also be used for play with younger kids. 

Introduction to the Activity

In my case it was easy to get my kid involved. I put a bucket full of water out and told her we were going to learn how to milk a cow. As she is loving farm animals, this was enough to get her curious enough to do the activity. As I worked on the design, she helped me try it out each time and she was happily playing with the water in-between tries. If your kids are older you can challenge them: can you make a device that will replicate “milking a cow” so you can fill up a cup in less than a minute. You can later time them and see who’s design is most efficient and who can “milk” the fastest! At the end of the post you will find more fun ideas to play with your new creation.

Preparation And Design Suggestions

Lay out all the materials and place a bucket full of water for testing out your design. There are different levels of design:

  1. Your kids do all the designing, creating, testing and improvements. This is perfect to give kids a feeling for the engineering design process
  2. You give some tips/suggestions to help with the designing, they create, test and improve by themselves
  3. You give tips and help with the creation, let them test by themselves and suggest improvements

I will now explain materials and preparation starting from level 1. If you want to give it a go without suggestions just check out the materials and then skip to the follow-up games and activities!

Materials

  • Balloons
  • Rubber bands
  • Toothpicks
  • Masking tape
  • Funnel
  • Bucket for water

For toddlers you will basically be making the device yourself but can involve them in little tasks like putting the scotch tape on or wrapping the rubber band around. Talk to them about the process and then you can test your device together and redesign if necessary. 

Suggestions:

  • You will need to make sure that the connection between balloon and funnel is a sealed as possible to prevent water from leaking
  • The placement of the holes is important! Don’t make random holes in the balloon
  • Learn where to hold the balloon before squeezing to get as much water out as possible

Step-by-Step Milking Device:

Step 1: Using the toothpick, make holes in the balloon. Make the holes at the bottom at the balloon so the water squirts out well enough to keep the flow of water. Make enough holes to keep the water flowing properly. 

Step 2: Insert the funnel into the balloon and make sure to seal it with scotch tape or/and a rubber band. The deeper you insert the funnel into the balloon the better.

Step 3: Fill the funnel with water and learn how to “milk”. Place your hand on the funnel-balloon connection and squeeze down. Is it better to squeeze fast or slow? 

color mixing milk the cow

Follow-up Games and Activities

Here are some fun suggestions of how you can play with your new milking device! These are definitely activities you can do outside when it’s hot and you don’t mind getting a bit wet. It wouldn’t be fun to stay dry anyway 🙂 

  • Milking Race: set up a race to see who can fill up a container faster
  • Timed Milking: can you fill up a cup before the timer runs up?
  • Who can squirt water the farthest: make a line on the floor and see who can reach it
  • Color Mixing: Prepare a color mixing station and experiment
  • Animal Cleaning Station: give all your animals a shower and wash them off (make a competition out of it?)

To finish up you can talk with your kids about their new creation. What could you use your new design for in real-life? From washing the car/dishes with it, giving the dog a bath, painting with it… it could have many applications! Let your kids think of some fun uses that their new invention could have!

milk the cow

So there you go! A fun activity for the whole family that encourages children to think like an engineer. Create and explore through play and most important of all… have fun with it!

Happy STEM learning!

stem challenge milk the cow
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Hi! We are Anni and Stefan, a mix of engineering with a dash of education and a pinch of social work, blended together and turned into parents who have a passion for creating lightbulb moments. We want to help you bring STEM learning into your home in a way that is fun, educational and challenging enough so that children can develop their thinking skills. ♥

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astemfulmind

Anni | STEM + Nature Learning
Where will the marble roads take you? 🚗🚦🚧 Where will the marble roads take you? 🚗🚦🚧 🧱
One day we set out to make some mazes or marble runs with clay. I thought my kids would each want to do their own but it ended up being a team project and I'm so glad it went that way! Our project turned into Marble city, with roads and many more fun things along the way. 
I drew a road with a start and a finish, a few loops here and there and some intersections so that they could cover it with clay. And then I just let their imagination take the lead. The beauty of open-ended activities and resources is you never know where it will take you. There were trees, mountains, tunnels, bridges and even stop lights! And after it was created there was imaginative play, role play and a lot of marble traffic!
It was fascinating to observe my kids build a world from clay and other resources we had around the house. The process of building it was play and then that play was extended and transformed by actually playing in the world they created 🧡
It is also definitely something that can be done outside. We did it out on our terrace but I'm excited to try it out in nature where there are even more open-ended resources!! 🌿🌰🍂🌸🪨
Learning new things ✨🥰 I have started a new Learning new things ✨🥰
I have started a new journey, training to be a Forest School Leader. I am not exactly sure in which direction it will take me but it was something that felt right. 
The ethos of Forest school and the role of the reflective practitioner just resonates with me, the outdoor, simple and slow child-led playful learning community. It is what I try to do with my own children and it's wonderful to extend and consolidate everything that I have learned over the last years into something that will serve me and my family as well as other families with children. 
I am very excited to show you how I adapt the Forest School practice to my parenting. We have already created some pretty cool indoor shelters, hammocks for dolls with ropes and cloth, and continue to use our natural materials for child-led experiments and activities. I am also learning to observe my children better and reflect on their needs and interests, which is key to their holistic growth and development.
Hope you find this as inspiring as I do and follow along for some reflections and of course for the nature play and wonder 💚🧡
The wonder of simple experimentation ✨ When you The wonder of simple experimentation ✨
When you let the child lead you never know what will happen. Sometimes nothing really happens, and that's ok too. But then there are times when you bring out some materials and "tools", add a bit of water and you suddenly have a full on experiment station on your hands!
I saved some pumpkin seeds from a pumpkin I had baked, thinking they might come in handy some time. I didn't have anything in mind, but when my 5-year-old said she wanted to do an experiment I offered them to her. 
She directly asked for water to check if pumpkin seeds sink or float. So we gathered water, some containers and a few extra tools (just some kitchen utensils). Turns out some actually sink and others float! We discussed why this might be happening and then I asked her if she thought she could find a way to separate them with the tools we had… this led to some critical thinking, some trial and error and a lot of experimentation and conversations. She was engaged, on a mission, and she had initiated the experiment herself. 
💜 I love watching these moments unfold and they just further convince me that experiments don't need to come with flashy reactions, or bright colors. They can be simple, like this one. Experiments should make us think, tickle our minds with questions about what we see and drive us to test possibilities that will reveal answers, solutions or rethink our questions. And childhood is full of moments like these if you look close enough.
The art of noticing the small details 🐚✨ A s The art of noticing the small details 🐚✨
A simple activity with natural materials and a magnifying glass. I just set this up on the table and we started looking at each material and paying attention to what we could see. It made us think and wonder about patterns, irregularities and just other things we might not notice otherwise. 
We learned to pay attention to details and that things might look different depending on how close you look. And these observations lead to questions and these questions lead to a search for answers, discovery, learning. 
And all it takes is a magnifying glass and some nature 🤎🧡
DIY OOBLECK BLOCKS 🧱🌽💧 These Oobleck blo DIY OOBLECK BLOCKS 🧱🌽💧
These Oobleck blocks are so easy to make and were a perfect addition to our dry Oobleck play as it gave us the chance to build structures and create small worlds. 
Materials you'll need:
🌽Cornstarch
💧Water
🧊Ice trays
🧘‍♀️Patience
To prepare the Oobleck you mix 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. If you have never tried Oobleck you are in for a fun treat! It is a great sensory experience for kids and really engaging as it behaves both like a solid or fluid depending on the pressure it's under. 
Once you are done experimenting with Oobleck try filling some ice cube trays with it and then let it dry (it can take some days, which can be tricky for little kids but is also a great opportunity to practice patience).
❗A lot of ours cracked and broke so make sure you prepare enough. We made 3 trays.
🧱 That's it! We crushed some of the broken blocks and used the other ones to create, nurturing some STEM skills through play. 
For more ideas for STEM and nature play follow along!
"If children are to keep alive their inborn sense "If children are to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder… they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." Rachel Carson
These words truly resonate with me.
Sharing the path of learning and discovery with our children is so beneficial and not only for our kids. It is so positive for us too! It reawakens our inner child, our own sense of wonder. It allows us to slow down, to play. 
We explore together, we seek out the answers to our questions, we experiment and play, we struggle to find solutions, we persevere and through these experiences we learn. About the world, about each other, about ourselves, giving us the chance to bond over something beautiful.
👉 Follow along for inspiration on family activities that nurture curiosity and drive learning
Have you ever let Oobleck dry? ☀️ Letting Oob Have you ever let Oobleck dry? ☀️
Letting Oobleck dry is the best way to clean it up but it also gives you the chance to use it again in a different way. 
I like to leave it in a tray or cooking pan so it spreads out and dries faster. Once it's dry you can just poke it and scrape it out.
It crumbles and cracks nicely between your fingers and has a lovely texture that my kids (and I) really enjoy.
You can keep it dry or combine it again with water to get the gooey, slimy, and fascinating Oobleck back.
👉 I'm also testing a different way to use dry Oobleck so make sure you stay tuned!
DIY STONE STACKING GAME 🌈🪨 Stone stacking h DIY STONE STACKING GAME 🌈🪨
Stone stacking has many benefits, for both kids and adults. It encourages patience, creative processing, concentration, focus, and hand-eye coordination. We love doing this when we are outdoors and in nature, it gives us a moment to stop and relax. 
This simple DIY is inspired by all those stone stacking moments and adds a bit of a challenge to nurture those skills even more. 
👉 This is how we prepared it:
We collected stones and selected 6 of them for the game, we painted them using acrylic paints, and borrowed a color dice from one of our board games. If you don’t have a color dice just add stickers to a normal one.
👉 How we played:
Players take turns to roll the dice, find the stone that matches the color and place it on the stack. 
🌈 It’s pretty simple, but it adds a new layer to simple stacking, as you navigate having to put bigger and heavier stones on top. It also encourages problem solving, conversations and observations which are key drivers of learning. 
💫 For more simple nature and STEM play you can take outdoors and that nurtures learning make sure to follow along
Motherhood is definitely reawakening my childlike Motherhood is definitely reawakening my childlike curiosity and wonder 💫🌱🦴 
As we were on one of our nature walks one day we found some animal bones in the forest and our reaction was… wow!! Let’s take them home! After packing them in a bag, we decided it would be a good idea to clean them before examining them.
A quick google research revealed that we could use hydrogen peroxide to clean and whiten the bones. Gloves on and to work!
With great care we handled the bones and the hydrogen peroxide, saw the fizzy bubbles come out and observed the reaction (a bit of chemistry at play here!) We talked about what was happening and about the bones themselves, how they are different from ours, what type of animal they could be from according to their teeth (herbivore?) and a lot more.
This process of curiosity, hands-on exploration and discovery is a key part of childhood. Children are naturals at this, and if we follow along and support this process who knows what amazing things we might discover together. What is certain is that by exploring together like this we are nurturing their natural curiosity, cultivating a love for discovering new things and giving them the tools to drive their own learning. 
Never would I have thought that cleaning bones would turn into a great hands-on learning experience. But I have learned that following my children usually leads to moments of discovery like this.
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