A simple STEM play setup with natural materials that you can leave out and come back to throughout the day. This activity is a lovely way to create something with your kids. Something they can later on use to explore and understand the world a bit better. Keep reading to find out how you can make your own DIY scale for STEM and use it to explore scientific and mathematical concepts through play.
Materials
These are the materials we used to create or simple DIY scale for STEM and nature play:
Hanger
Baskets
String
A place to hang it (we just attached a stick to our railing and hung it on there)
Natural materials
Optional: Clothespins with numbers on them
We tied the string to the baskets and found a place to put our hanger. We love involving our kids in this part of the process too. By modelling this DIY attitude, we are cultivating a their own “can do” attitude. They are problem solving, they are creating things they can play with. It doesn’t just magically appear, or is bought from a store. We use the resources we have at home and make something with it, developing resourcefulness. Somethink key in STEM and life in general.
STEM skills
Once the set up is complete, you can explore the scale togethere. Here are some examples of what you can talk about while you play:
Scientific concepts: weight, materials
Categorizing: find out what objects are heavier/lighter, use different combinations and compare
Observation: what happens when objects are heavier?
Math: how many shells do we need to balance a stone? What is heavier 4 shells or 2 pinecones?
Conversations: Talk and wonder about what you see and the materials you are using
Play around with it together, maybe you just end up piling everything into the baskets like we did, trying to fill all the spaces.
Check Out These Other STEM Activities With Natural Materials:
A simple project which includes some hands-on activities with a lot of learning potential. This project is great for preschoolers but can be done with younger or older kids. It will get you and your little ones exploring nature, working on motor skills and developing scientific vocabulary through observation and play. I love that it is such a simple project but at the same time involves different hands-on activities that can be done together as a family and that offer teachable moments. I would recommend doing the project over the weekend when you have time for all the different steps and can truly engage in a way that is beneficial for your kids.
Why Use Hands-On Activities For Preschoolers?
Hands-on activities are a great way to get your kids motivated and engaged. By allowing our kids to use their hands, the learning experience moves away from abstract concepts toward something that they can relate to. This creates the perfect environment to boost learning! It is especially important for preschoolers to engage in hands-on learning as they develop vocabulary. Even more so when dealing with scientific concepts such as melting or freezing. It is very difficult to understand these concepts if they cannot experience it with their own senses. By giving them the chance to engage in fun hands-on activities you are creating the perfect environment to nurture their curiosity and sneak in some STEM.
STEM Nature Egg Project
The project is very simple and involves a number of hands-on activities for preschoolers that you can all do together. Enjoy the process and don’t try to rush to the final product. Give you and your kids time to explore. Here are the materials you will need and the steps with some tips and suggestions to sneak in STEM skills and learning opportunities.
Materials
Empty egg shells (we used 6)
Egg carton
Natural materials
Water
Containers for water
Project And Hands-On Activities For Preschoolers Or Older Kids
1. Prepare the eggshells
Preparation is a very important part of any project. In this case, we need to empty the egg shells before we can fill them up again. The night before you intend to do this project make sure to use those eggs for dinner! Scrambled eggs or an omelette are always a fast and easy meal at our home. Get your kids to help, involve them in the process.
The egg needs to be cracked open at the top, we used a spoon to bang the top of the eggshell. Empty the eggshell, rinse them and place them back in the egg carton. Make sure to peel enough shell away so that it can later be easily filled with all the lovely things you will collect.
2. Have a nature walk to collect materials
I love involving nature in any activity we do. It is so important and beneficial to take time out of our busy lives and just be in nature so go ahead and take a nature walk to gather materials. It can be in your garden, around your neighbourhood or even drive somewhere and make a small trip out of it. Take your time to talk about colors, plants, the different textures or sounds in nature. You can make a game out of it by asking your kids to find certain materials. Preschoolers love searching for things, for example:
Can you find something red?
Can you find something soft?
3. Fill the eggshells with natural materials and water
Bring the egg carton out with all the empty eggshells. Have your kids fill them with the natural materials you collected. At this point you can just let them do their thing or you can guide the activity a bit and sneak in some STEM skills. For example, have them sort the different materials using different senses and see what happens:
Use your eyes to sort by color or type of flower
Try using your nose to sort by smell
Use your hands to sort by touch (soft/rough)
Once all the eggshells are full have your kids pour some water into them and place the egg carton with your nature eggs in the freezer. Time to ask some questions and explore concepts:
What do you think will happen?
Explore the different concepts of liquid/solid, freeze/melt, cold/hot, water/ice and develop their vocabulary. This can be done by just talking about the subjects
If you are doing this with older kids you can make a before and after chart with this vocabulary
4. Prepare a hands-on exploration station
Once the water has frozen, set up a space for exploration and play. Have a bowl of warm water to help peel the eggs (we found that it was difficult to peel the eggs right out of the freezer so we used warm water to melt the ice a bit and make it easier to peel the eggs). Let them explore and make observations. Ask questions and use these observations to explain concepts if you wish. For example:
What happens when you put the frozen nature eggs in the water?
Can you see anything happening to the ice?
What happens to the natural materials?
What happens to the temperature of the bowl of water?
My 3-year-old daughter observed that the ice floated and got smaller! Great scientific observation and great invitation to talk about what is happening, why the ice was getting smaller. Keep playing and exploring as long as your kids are happy and entertained. My kid went on to prepare flower soup for everyone, she put all the frozen nature eggs in the bowl, added water and mixed it all until the ice disappeared and only the natural materials were left. It was pretty cool! So just play and experiment with what you have at hand and have fun with your kids.
To finish off I will leave you with a summary of STEM concepts that you can use throughout these hands-on activities for preschoolers.
STEM Concepts and Skills:
Collecting, sorting, categorizing and observing
States of matter: liquid/solid water/ice
Change of state: freeze/melt
Temperature: hot/cold
Float/sink
Problem solving: how can you get the flowers out of the ice?
Thinking and reflecting on why things happen: a lot happens in this simple hands-on project and it is simple enough for children to start observing and making conclusions by themselves so keep asking open-ended questions that start with why do you think…? Or what do you see…? Or what happens…? and watch how their little brains work.
Hope to have inspired some hands-on fun you can do with your preschooler.
