Happy National STEM (STEAM) Day everyone!
We continue to push the bar to #ChangeTheRatio and today is no different. #STEM and hashtag#STEAM are ever important to the children (and adults) of this country and world. Celebrate with some STEM/STEAM activities today like these;
Science: Do an experiment around the house, like seeing which freezes faster Cold water or Warm water? These types of fun experiments get little ones interested in science and are more practical than trying to be a mad scientist. Some other fun activities for kids are making Gak (remember that stuff?), here’s how:
- Squeeze about 4 ounces of glue into a glass bowl.
- Mix in 1 1/2 bottles of warm water. …
- Add your food coloring, if desired. …
- Mix 1 teaspoon of Borax into 1/2 cup of water, and slowly add the solution to the glue mixture.
- Stir in the Borax solution until the slime started to come together. …
- Knead the Flubber.
Technology: Code.org is a great place to start your kiddos coding! It is also a great place to interact and learn via gaming (all kids love video games right?), looking for something to interact with your team at the work place? Try looking into IoT technology and ways that you can interact with the push of a button!
Want to learn more about IoT? Check out our smart office solutions here.
Engineering: Do your own Hack-a-thon! Challenge your kids or team to think of a better way to do something. Empower kids or your team to change your business – or the world – by challenging them to think outside the box and look for a new and fun way to do something better and more efficient. This could mean a smarter way to communicate, eat ice cream, or streamline your business processes.
Here’s some ground rules:
- Hacking is creative problem solving. (It does not have to involve technology.)
- A hackathon is any event of any duration where people come together to solve problems. Most hackathons I’ve run also have a parallel track for workshops.
Participants typically form groups of about 2-5 individuals, take out their laptops (if the event is technology themed), and dive into problems. Training workshops are a great parallel track especially for newcomers but also for all participants.
Arts: DRAW DRAW DRAW. How about you start by drawing our cloud baby (still unnamed). See the image below of our unnamed mascot friend and then send your entry to [email protected]. The winner we will send an Amazon Gift card (how’s that for an artsy prize?). Want a fun project to do at home? Try this bugs out of Milk cartons. We, as developers hate bugs, well in our applications. These types of bugs we don’t mind having around.
Instructions:
Kids will love these critters, including cute caterpillars and lovely ladybugs.
What You’ll Need: 1 egg carton; tempera paint (red, green, black); paintbrushes; glue; googly eyes; pipe cleaners (black and brown); white tissue paper; craft needle or push pin; scissors; markers; hot-glue gun, tissue paper (optional)
Make It: Bugs can be made from one egg cup or from several cups cut in a row. Cut off the top of the carton, leaving just the bottom. Separate individual egg cups or cut two or three egg cups in a row. Paint the outside of the cups with solid colors. Paint a few individual egg cups red to create single lady bugs, paint two cups black to create beetles, or paint three cups green to make a caterpillar. Once the paint has dried, use markers to add details (such as dots and lines). Then glue two googly eyes to the front of an egg cup of each color for the head, and cut different lengths of pipe cleaners to use for legs or antennae. Use a craft needle or a pushpin to punch holes in the cups where you want to insert the pipe cleaners. Thread the pipe cleaners and secure the ends by bending or twisting them inside the cup. You can also cut wings out of tissue paper and hot-glue them to the finished bugs.
Math: I know many of you might hate this, but practice the 10 theory of math! Round to the nearest 10 number (8+5, 8 is 2 away from 10, subtract 2 from 5, 10+3=13!) This is a great way to do math in your head! Want something a little less “mathy”, try this – a fun activity with your team or your kids.
Instructions
Which is greater — arm span or height? Ask students to stand in groups according to their predictions: those who think their arm span is greater than, less than, or equal to their height. Give pairs a piece of string to test and measure, then regroup according to their results.
Challenge: Estimate the ratio of the length of an arm or leg to body height, then measure to check the accuracy of the estimate.
