stem Archives

Build A House STEM Challenge Cards

October 7, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

STEM education can feel a little overwhelming at times.

Especially if you’re an English major (like myself).

But STEM is really just about applying science, technology, math, and engineering into a hands-on concept.

Which means designing structures, three-dimensional shapes, and so on by using scientific principles, math concepts, and construction techniques.

Put simply – it’s building things with math, science, and technology skills.

So we can totally do this. And these printable Build A House STEM challenge cards are a fun way to get started!

Think of STEM as designing a solution to a real-world problem.

When we help students imagine ways to solve common problems, we encourage them to think creatively, develop plans, and collaborate – all very useful skills.

Read on to see how to get your set of these STEM challenge cards for free!

And, be sure to check out our list of weather STEM learning ideas while you’re here!

Build A House STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

To use these Build A House STEM challenge cards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Cardstock
Scissors
Laminator (optional)
Building materials: index cards, toilet paper rolls, construction paper, etc.

Elementary STEM Building Challenge Cards

This set of STEM activity cards features 16 different design challenges for students.

They’re given eight ideas for building a house with specific materials and eight ideas for building a house with specific features.

Building a House STEM Challenge for Elementary

A blackline version of the cards is included too!

How to Use These Build A House STEM Challenge Cards with Students

It’s important to help students remember that they are not required to use only the building material on the card.

But the item listed should be the primary material.

For example, if they are working on the card that says “Build a house using construction paper”, they’re welcome to use fasteners, such as glue, tape, paper fasteners, etc.

Simple Engineering STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

If you have students who are new to STEM, they may feel overwhelmed and not sure where to begin.

Stimulate their creativity by asking questions such as: “If I wanted to build a house with index cards, how could I get started?” “Should I begin by forming the walls or the roof?” “How do you think we can get the house to stand up?”

One of my favorite techniques is to suggest something ridiculous that would never work.

The kids can’t wait to correct my idea with something better!

Design a House STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

You may want to start by having students choose one of the “Build a house using…” cards.

This will give them some time to practice designing and building a 3D structure.

Simple STEM Challenge Cards for Building a House

Then introduce the “Build a house with…” cards to challenge them to add new features, such as a working door, a swimming pool, and more.

Scroll down to get your set of these Build A House STEM Challenge Cards – free!

Try some of these other ideas for teaching STEM to elementary students!

Help students measure and compare objects with these printable weight STEM challenge cards!

This list of 20 STEM activities for distance learning are fun and easy to help students practice STEM concepts at home!This list of 20 STEM activities for distance learning are fun and easy to help students practice STEM concepts at home!

Printable STEM Challenge Cards for Kids to Build a House

To get your set of these Build A House STEM Challenge Cards, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter this Sunday!

Click here to get your printable resource

>>> Build A House STEM Challenge Cards <<<

Printable Weight STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

February 9, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

If you’re new to teaching STEM, introducing it to students can feel like learning to speak a new language.

For those of us who started teaching years ago, combining science, technology, engineering, and math is a completely different way of teaching than we’re accustomed to using.

So I’m all about the simple STEM challenges at home and in the classroom. If you can take the mystery out of STEM, it suddenly starts to make sense – to us and to our students.

Which is where these printable weight STEM challenge cards come in handy!

What Weighs More STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

These are perfect for a quick STEM activity at science centers, in small groups, and for after-school assignments.

They’d also be excellent if you’re homeschooling and trying to implement more STEM education this year.

And they’re no prep!

Read on to get your set of these STEM challenge cards – free!

And, for more ways to use STEM, take a look at our list of 20 STEM activities you can do when distance learning!

Printable Weight STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

To use these weight STEM challenge cards, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Cardstock
Scissors
Bucket balance scale or digital classroom scale (depending on grade level)

These are so simple for students in early grades!

Use the supplies list to gather basic items, such as marbles, bolts, sticks, leaves, and rubber bands.

Then count out the number of items on each card.

Use a scale to determine which group of items weighs more and let students record their findings.

You can use this activity as a bridge to discuss gravity (which affects how we perceive weight), measurement, and even comparing numbers.

Once all of the challenge cards have been completed, let your students present their findings.

Depending on their grade level, they can even report the specific weights of each group of objects and calculate the difference.

Scroll down to get your set of printable weight STEM challenge cards!

Don’t miss these other ways to use STEM in the classroom!

Make learning math, science, and technology fun with this list of Lego STEAM activities for kids! These easy Lego STEM activities are great for building a love of learning!

Printable Weight STEM Challenge Cards for Kids

To get your set of weight STEM challenge cards, click the image below!

You’ll sign up for our free email newsletter and you’ll get the challenge cards sent directly to your inbox!

Printable LEGO STEM Challenge Building Cards

June 1, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Anyone else have kids who get a new toy and then are bored with it ten minutes later?

I think this is pretty common, but I didn’t expect it to happen when we got our kids a set of LEGO blocks.

I imagined my children making endless creations and showing them off to all of their friends. Also, I was kind of hoping at least one of them would take to engineering.

What actually happened was that we bought the blocks and they just sat in the closet for months on end.

Turns out my kids needed a little inspiration jump start.

So I’m glad to share these printable LEGO STEM Challenge Building Cards with all of you – in case yours need a little boost too.

There are enough LEGO building ideas here for four weeks of open-ended STEM play!

Which can be a real lifesaver on long afternoons, believe me.

Keep reading to see how to get your set – free!

Ready for more fun with LEGO blocks? Take a look at our list of 20 LEGO STEAM Activities for kids to try!

These printable LEGO STEM Building Challenge Cards are a fun way to get kids into STEM building over the summer!

Printable LEGO STEM Challenge Building Cards

To use these printable LEGO STEM Challenge Cards, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This printable LEGO building challenge features 28 different LEGO build ideas for kids.

Each idea features a specific component, but also leaves much to each child’s imagination.

Printable Lego STEM Challenge Building Cards

Several of the LEGO build ideas also include other concepts, such as science, math, and engineering.

So these are awesome for a quick STEM activity with students of just about any age!

LEGO STEM Challenge Building Cards for Kids

Do you have specific LEGO ideas you’d like your kids to try? Do they have specific challenge ideas of their own?

This set also includes six blank LEGO challenge cards, so you can let the kids challenge one another (or you) to make a creation as well.

If you’d like, you can laminate the blank cards and then let the kids write challenges with dry erase markers. That way, you can wipe them clean and let them come up with more ideas later!

Scroll down to get your set of these printable LEGO Building Challenge Cards!

Looking for more fun ways to learn with STEM? Try these activities!

LEGO STEM Printable Building Challenge Cards for Kids

To get your copy of these printable STEM LEGO Challenge Cards, click the image or the link below to have them sent to your inbox – free!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter this Sunday night!

>>> LEGO STEM Challenge Building Cards <<<

20 Distance Learning STEM Activities for Kids

May 21, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Many parents and educators are practicing what’s called “distance learning” these days.

Rather than children going to a physical class and learning directly from their teachers, they might be learning concepts online and conducting science experiments while still at home.

If you’re a teacher or a parent struggling to work with STEM in early grades while learning from home, these distance learning STEM activities for kids can help!

Fun Distance Learning STEM Activities for Kids

These are simple, hands-on learning ideas that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math, as well as Art – if you prefer to learn STEAM concepts.

Read on to see the full list below!

And, for more ways to learn STEM in early grades, take a look at our list of easy weather STEM activities for kids!

How to Use STEM Activities With Kids

If you’re feeling intimidated by teaching STEM to early learners, don’t be!

You don’t have to include all five STEAM disciplines in each activity. As long as the lesson or learning activity includes two of these concepts, you’re good.

A simple way to think about STEM is “How can I bring this learning concept off the page to a real-world application?”

So, for example, if you’re learning about a math topic, how can you make it into a hands-on activity that students can work with kinesthetically?

The goal is to take learning from something students just memorize to a concept they truly understand from multiple viewpoints.

20 Fun Distance Learning STEM Activities for Kids

The list of 20 distance learning STEM activities for kids below can help you think of lots of other ways to make teaching STEM fun!

1. Lego Bar Graphing – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Lemon Volcano Science Experiment – STEAM Powered Family

3. Math Facts Building Cards – Left Brain Craft Brain

4. Build an Umbrella Challenge – Raising Lifelong Learners

5. Wire Wood Building Activity – Fantastic Fun and Learning

6. Glittery Germy Hands Experiment – The Soccer Mom Blog

7. Butterfly Chromatography Experiment – Buggy and Buddy

8. Science in Motion Apple Game – The Educators’ Spin On It

9. Respiratory System Investigation – Life Over Cs

10. Bacteria Science Experiments – Our Journey Westward

20 Fun Distance Learning STEM Activities

11. Astronomy Moon Journal – Buggy and Buddy

12. Build a Mini Greenhouse – Kids Activities Blog

13. STEM Skittles Activity – The Inspiration Edit

14. Hatching Dinosaur Eggs Activity – STEAM Powered Family

15. Grow a Rainbow Experiment – The Best Ideas for Kids

16. Building Block Challenge – Life Over Cs

17. Make a Paperclip Float Experiment – Raising Lifelong Learners

18. Light Up Rocket Bookmark – Left Brain Craft Brain

19. Sandbox Volcano Experiment – Little Bins for Little Hands

20. Apple Build and Count Activity – Fantastic Fun and Learning

Take a look at these other simple ways to teach STEM!

15 Fun Weather STEM Activities for Kids

February 11, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

STEM activities for kids are super popular these days.

And with good reason! If you can incorporate several subjects into a hands-on activity, it’s always a hit with students.

With spring rapidly approaching, it’s a great time to learn about weather with kids. And these fun weather STEM activities make this topic easy and fun!

These simple STEM experiments are perfect for small groups, weather units, science centers, after school, homeschooling, and more!

If you’re feeling intimidated by teaching STEM, using a familiar science concept like weather is a great way to get started.

Personally, once I started using STEM projects with students, I found that it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would be.

And, with a fun concept like weather, it’s easy to get kids excited about these hands-on science projects!

Read on to see the full list of fun weather activities for kids. And for more ways to work with STEM, don’t miss our list of easy STEM activities for early grades!

15 Fun Weather STEM Activities for Kids

1. Coffee Can Condensation – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Hands-On Weather Graphing Activity – Rainy Day Mum

3. International Weather Tracking Activity – Mama Smiles

4. Wind Science Experiment – Teach Me Mommy

5. Build a Wind Turbine – Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

6. DIY Lightning Experiment – Learn Play Imagine

7. Rain Cloud Weather Experiment – Little Bins for Little Hands

8. Make a Tornado In a Bottle – Gift of Curiosity

9. Snowstorm In a Jar Experiment – B-Inspired Mama

10. DIY Pudding Cup Anemometer – Parenting Chaos

11. Make a DIY Thermometer – Lemon Lime Adventures

12. DIY Hurricane Experiment – Inspiration Laboratories

13. Shadow Towers STEM Challenge – No Time for Flashcards

14. Kite Flying Wind Activity – KC Edventures

15. Solar Heat STEM Activity – STEAM Powered Family

Did you enjoy these Weather STEM activities for kids? Take a look at these other science learning ideas!

Follow my It’s Science! Pinterest board for more ways to make learning science fun!

20 Fun LEGO STEM Activities for Kids

July 4, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

STEAM education is everywhere these days.

In fact, many schools now offer specialized classes and camps for kids who have an interest in learning science, technology, engineering, art, and math together.

If you’re new to teaching these concepts, though, STEM can be a little intimidating.

But it doesn’t have to be! You can actually make STEM education fun. Especially if you try some of these fun LEGO STEM activities with the kids!

I don’t know a single child who doesn’t love building with LEGO. And anytime we can make learning into a hands-on experience, our kids have a much easier time grasping the concept we’re teaching.

So when you use LEGO bricks to demonstrate abstract concepts, it becomes so much easier for children to understand what they’re learning.

And, if you can make learning into a fun activity, then you won’t have to pull teeth to get the kids to do schoolwork, right?

Take a look at these easy STEAM activities below and try to find a few your kids might like! Don’t forget to see our roundup of 45 easy STEM activities you can try at home too!

20 Fun LEGO STEM Activities for Kids

1. LEGO Bar Graphs – Look! We’re Learning!

2. 10 Frames Math with Lego – A Little Pinch of Perfect

3. Timed Lego Build Game – Simple Play Ideas

4. Lego Science Scavenger Hunt – Fun a Day

5. Coding a Lego Maze – Research Parent

6. Lego Balance Scale STEM Project – Kids Activities Blog

7. Lego Displacement Experiment – Lemon Lime Adventures

8. Printable Lego Challenge Game – Artsy Fartsy Mama

9. Lego Bridge Building Challenge – Frugal Fun 4 Boys

10. Lego Solar System – Kitchen Counter Chronicles

11. Lego Stamping Activity – Powerful Mothering

12. Lego Number Identification – Simple Play Ideas

13. Lego Skip Counting – Kids Activities Blog

14. Pick Two Lego Math Game – Creative Family Fun

15. Lego Shadow Towers Science – Lemon Lime Adventures

16. Lego Pulleys STEM Building Challenge – Frugal Fun 4 Boys

17. Printable Lego Challenge Card Game – One Mama’s Daily Drama

18. Lego Challenge Wind Racers – Lego Librarian

19. Lego Pendulum Painting – Kids Craft Room

20. Building Lego Paper Machines Challenge – Frugal Fun 4 Boys

More LEGO STEM Activities for Kids to Try

Do your kids love LEGO so much they’ll want even more LEGO STEM activities to try? Here are some of our very favorite LEGO learning ideas your kids might like too!

(This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

LEGO Chain Reactions Building Kit

LEGO Creator Pirate Roller Coaster Building Kit

LEGO Wild Wool Preschool Game

Did you love these LEGO STEM activities? Try some of these other STEM learning ideas too!

And see even more ways to teach STEM at home on my STEM for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

45 Easy STEM Activities for Kids

April 2, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities are a staple in our homeschool lessons. It allows my kids to have fun and learn at the same time. One minute they might be mixing potions for a science project and the next working on a math activity.

But, of course, STEM learning isn’t just for homeschoolers. And that’s why I’ve rounded up 45 awesome and easy STEM activities that work great for classroom activities or after-school activities if you don’t homeschool.

Take a look at the list below to find some cool hands-on learning activities for teaching STEM subjects! And, for more science fun, check out our list of 40 spring science ideas for kids!

45 Easy STEM Activities for Kids

This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

1. Floating Egg Experiment – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Expanding and Bouncing Egg Experiment – Blue Bear Wood

3. Simple Skittles Science Experiment – East Coast Mommy

4. Bottle Rockets – STEAM Powered Family

5. Nature Engineering Challenge – Share It Science

6. Build a Catapult – Science Sparks

7. Newspaper Trees – The Wise Owl Factory

8. Fidget Spinner Inertia Experiment – From Engineer to SAHM

9. 3D Phases of the Moon Activity – KC Edventures

10. Felt Circle Fractions – In Our Pond

11. DIY Inventor’s Box – Little Worlds Big Adventures

12. DIY Lego Launcher – Thriving STEM

13. Pipe and Water Play – Moms and Crafters

14. DIY Anemometer – Capri + 3

15. Compare Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Materials – Mother Natured

16. Wheels On the Bus Motion Experiment – J Daniel 4’s Mom

17. Shark Coding Game – Life with Moore Babies

18. Build a Straw Hexbug Maze – Buggy and Buddy

19. Straw and Circle Glider – Red Ted Art

20. Weather Vs. Erosion Experiment – The Natural Homeschool

21. Building Block STEM Challenge Cards – Life Over C’s

22. Foaming Dragon Science Experiment – The Joys of Boys

23. STEM Paper Columns – Creekside Learning

Visit the next page for more easy STEM activities kids can do!

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Introductory Robotics for Kids with Bitsbox!

February 10, 2017 by Selena Robinson

We’ve been working on STEM concepts with our middle schooler for the past several months and she’s been enjoying learning science, technology, and even math concepts along the way. Our Bitsbox subscription has been a huge help in this. This girl absolutely hated math a year ago, but now that she’s learning how to use it to make things, she’s seeing mathematics in a whole new way!

This month’s Bitsbox subscription box came with a new theme: Robots! And it was a perfect way to cover introductory robotics for kids with my sixth-grader! Read on to see what’s in the Bitsbox Robo Boogie box and how we used it to code a robot video game!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Bitsbox Robo Boogie Subscription Box

Last month, we got the introductory Bitsbox basic subscription box: Animal House. So this month we were on the next box with the theme: Robo Boogie! As you might guess, it’s all about having fun with robotics!

One of the best things about a Bitsbox subscription is that it starts being fun as soon as you pop open the box. There’s absolutely no drudgery about learning to code with these kits.

The Robo Boogie box included a new set of app supercards, a miniature app trading card pack, a set of temporary robot tattoos, a super nifty deluxe binder for storing all of our cards, and a fun Cubebot toy. (As a mom nerd, I was most psyched about the binder. I am not ashamed of this.)

Each supercard contains a fun robot-themed app that kids can code using the code on the back. There are also cards with tips and tricks for making each app a bit unique.

The trading cards are tiny little app instructions for mini coding sessions.

And the Cubebot was a fun “extra” in the kit. It’s actually a really neat toy. It comes as a perfect cube. But if you move the pieces around, you get a robot! The challenge is getting him back into a perfect cube again. It’s hard!

Introductory Robotics for Kids with Bitsbox

After we organized all of the supercards into our brand new binder, Tigger decided to start with the app “Robodog Loves Robocat”. At the risk of sounding condescending, I knew she’d pick that one first. 🙂

So she read the coding instructions, signed in to her Bitsbox account, and got to writing the code. After completing the initial app, she wanted to add a bit of “flair”. So we flipped to another supercard and found a unique fill to add as the background.

Ta-da! This is Robodog Loves Robocat with the Future City background. When you click Play, the robot dog chases the robot cat off the screen. Neat!

As you move through a Bitsbox subscription box, you can keep track of the apps you’ve completed with this fun sticker page. One down, eleven to go.

For the next app, Tigger really wanted to code “Castle Defender.” If you look at the top right corner, you’ll see that this app has an icon that shows the needle all the way to the right. That means this is an app with a higher degree of difficulty.

I pointed that out to Tigger, but she would not be swayed. She was determined to code that app. I love it.

She read the instructions, stopping to test it after each step. According to the instructions, the game includes two characters: a heroic, selfless rock and an evil robot. After double-checking the code and re-reading the instructions, we ended up with a pretty neat robot video game!

As you can hear, even my little ones came in to watch the game being played. They all wanted a chance to try!

The original coding instructions call for the rock to spin at a rate of 15, but when we tried to play it that way, we had a hard time hitting the robot. With a little tweaking (reducing the speed to 5), we got a speed we could manage better.

And that’s one of the biggest parts of engineering: tweaking code to suit your (or your client’s) vision. I love how easily she’s learning these concepts without feeling bored or overwhelmed.

Boom! Another app successfully coded in this month’s box!

Now that Tigger sees what you can code robots to do in an app, we’re going to start researching how robotics engineers use coding to program actual robots to move, speak, and more. This was a wonderful way to start learning about that field!

Our Bitsbox subscription just keeps getting better. We’re looking forward to sharing next month’s box with you!

Be sure to check out the Bitsbox Basic Subscription and sign up! You can choose from one-month, three-month, or twelve-month plans – and they are all amazing! Or if you just want to buy a box outright, you can do that in the One-Time Shop! Great for testing the box to see if your kids love it! (They will.)

PROMO CODE: Save 20% on a new Bitsbox subscription of any length with the special Bitsbox promo code SELENA20! This code does not expire, but it does not apply to purchases from the One-Time Shop or to subscription renewals. New subscriptions only. All subscriptions renew automatically on the first of the month, unless canceled.

For more information about Bitsbox subscription offers and boxes, sign up for the Bitsbox mailing list! And get special tips for teaching with Bitsbox when you sign up for the teachers’ mailing list! Plus, keep up with Bitsbox online at:

Want more details about Bitsbox? Check out our review of the first subscription box!

Plus, learn more about teaching STEM to kids on my STEM for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

STEM for Homeschoolers: How to Build a Toothpick Bridge with Pitsco Education!

January 3, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

STEM education is a huge priority in our homeschool these days. We’ve got a busy middle schooler and I want her to get a good introduction to science, technology, engineering, and math during these years. That way, as she goes on in her schooling, she won’t be intimidated by these subjects later. And who knows? Maybe she’ll become an engineer herself!

So I jumped at the chance to try the Toothpick Bridges Maker Project from Pitsco Education! See how this curriculum helps kids learn how to build a toothpick bridge and learn about design and engineering at the same time!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Pitsco Education Toothpick Bridges Maker Project

Pitsco Education offers many, many resources for homeschoolers who want to work on STEM concepts with their kids. Each of the resources are grouped by category. For example, if you want to focus on math, you can browse plenty of awesome math projects. What I love about Pitsco’s product selection is that all of the lessons feature hands-on projects, which are an incredible teaching method for active homeschoolers (like ours).

The Pitsco Education Toothpick Bridges Maker Project was the foundation for our lesson. In the kit, there are:

Structural glue
A ton of toothpicks
Bottles for handling the glue
A toothpick bridge tester
And an instructional video on how to design your own toothpick bridge

We also received the complete lesson plan Masterpiece Toothpick Bridges: A Guide for Teachers and Students, which was a huge help for me as the educator. The plan includes plenty of activities, research, and illustrations to make an entire month of lessons based on this concept. It’s very, very detailed and an excellent in-depth lesson we’ll be working on through the rest of the year.

How to Build a Toothpick Bridge

I was so thankful for the Toothpick Bridges DVD. It really helped my middle schooler to “see” exactly what the process is for designing and creating her bridge.

Since she has ADHD, she watched the video once and said “I got it!” As we started on the project, though, I could see that she didn’t really get it quite yet. So I played it a second time and watched it along with her, pausing frequently to ask about her understanding. That really helped her get a clearer idea of what was involved in the process.

In the Toothpick Bridges teachers’ guide, there are examples of stunning toothpick bridges constructed by students. Some of these are practically works of art. This time, though, we stuck to the basics.

We started by creating a paper template to use as the design for our bridge sides. My middle schooler used the template on the DVD as her guide.

Then it was time to start measuring how many toothpicks we’d need for each side. We laid them down on the template to get a look at how to place them before we started adding glue.

As the video shows, building these bridges takes time. You can only create one side at a time and you can only construct one set of diagonals at a time. Which meant that we’d work on it for a while, let it set up, then resume working on it. For a child with a short attention span, this was an excellent activity for working on a longer-term project.

Once the individual sides dry, you can stand them up and attach them together, forming your bridge. As you can see, we used a LOT of glue. Next time, we’ll cut back on that a bit…lol.

Once our bridge was constructed, it was time to test it! The goal here is to put as much weight as you can possibly can on the bridge to see how much it can bear before it breaks.

As the video showed, we put on some safety goggles first. No one wants to catch a toothpick in the eye.

We placed a piece of wood (from the Toothpick Bridge tester) on the bridge and tied the bucket to a string. Our bridge wasn’t quite wide enough for the piece of wood to lie straight down, so it’s possible that our results were a bit skewed. Next time, we’ll be sure to use the piece of wood as the template for how wide the flatbed of the bridge should be.

We gradually added sand to the bucket until…the bridge broke!

Afterward, we weighed the sand to see how much our bridge could hold before breaking. It was 6.5 pounds! Who knew you could hold up six and a half pounds with just toothpicks!

This was a STEM activity we truly loved. And we’ll be repeating it again this school year now that we have a better understanding of how to engineer a bridge from scratch.

Are you working on STEM concepts with your kids this year? Be sure to check out the incredible products available from Pitsco Education for kids!

Plus, get more ideas for teaching STEM on my STEM for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

Simple 3D Printing for Kids with Atmosflare!

March 1, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

I’m kind of an old, so the whole concept of 3D printing is still kind of “weird science” to me. But 3D printing holds a LOT of promise. Scientists are even trying to use the technology to make organs for organ transplants!

So it’s worth it to introduce it to kids. And that’s why I was excited to get a chance to try the Atmosflare 3D Drawing Pen! While it’s an artistic tool, it’s also a cool way to introduce 3D printing for kids! Take a look at how the pen works below!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

How the Atmosflare 3D Pen Introduces Kids to 3D Printing

In short, 3D printing works by layering molded plastic into a specific design shape to make a product. And that’s how the Atmosflare 3D Drawing Pen works as well!

For me, understanding how 3D printing works was a bit…difficult. But when I broke it down into steps (design, layer, create), it made more sense. And that’s why using the Atmosflare pen is a simple introduction to how 3D printing works: you can use the exact same steps!

As you can see, the Atmosflare pen comes with the pen, two ink cartridges (blue and red), and a battery.

In the box, there are all the pen components and a very simple instruction diagram. But if you’re unsure how to assemble the pen, you can find instruction videos directly on the Atmosflare website.

How to Use the Atmosflare 3D Drawing Pen

So, here’s my take on the Atmosflare pen: simple to assemble, not so simple to master.

As you can see, it fits nicely in your hand – just like a pen. To use the pen, you just squeeze the ink cartridge between your fingers….

and hold down the light curing button on top to harden the ink as it flows out.

After a few practice shots, we built a simple 3D shape – a cube.

We established a base, drew the sides, and then connected the top. We had to add a bit more ink at the corners to hold it together.

On to our first structure!

It’s a swing set! Kind of…

This pen is a lot of fun to work with, but it takes some practice to learn to use it properly. So if you have a child who’s easily frustrated, prepare him or her in advance for the fact that it will take a while to learn how to actually make something with the pen.

Atmosflare 3D Pen Usage Tips:

There is definitely a learning curve with the Atmosflare 3D Pen, so you can find helpful instruction videos on the company website. But here are a few tips we picked up as we used it:

Decide what you’re going to make before you begin. Once you start using the pen, it’s kind of hard to improvise without making a mess. Have an idea in mind before you start.
Always start with a base. It’s nice to think that you can just start drawing in the air, but you can’t. You need a base first, then you can start building up from there.
Go slowly. When you push the curing button, the ink tends to harden on the tip and clog. So try to work slowly to give the ink a chance to catch up with your movements.
Work in stages. I found that if you’re creating a structure, it’s best to work on one part at a time. You can even form a complete shape flat on the table and then attach it to another shape by just joining them at a corner and using the curing function on the pen.

Are you ready to introduce 3D printing for kids to your family? You can get an Atmosflare 3D Pen at ToysRUs, Best Buy, Amazon, and from the Atmosflare website!

But if you want to get one for FREE, you can win one in the huge Atmosflare giveaway! 30 winners will get an Atmosflare 3D Drawing Pen absolutely free! Use the giveaway widget below to enter.

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For more 3D drawing tips, keep up with Atmosflare using the social media links below!