STEM Projects for wet days!

Well its another glorious morning here. Glorious, that is, for ducks and such but not for the rest of us. Cabin fever is setting in already and its only 10am!

I think that today would be the perfect day for some STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) activities, don’t you? (Science Technology Engineering Maths). The following activities involve supplies that are cheap and readily available. They are great fun and guaranteed to give those brain cells a workout !

Homemade Play-dough

This is always a great hit with my kiddos at school. It’s cheap and easy to make too.

150 g (6 oz) plain white flour
– 300 ml (1/2 pint) hot water with a few drops of food dye
– 75 g (3 oz) salt
– 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
– 2 tsp cream of tartar (Found in the baking section alongside baking powder. Cheap and last forever)

Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Pour in the hot water/food colouring.

Stir until the mixture thickens and becomes a ball of dough. ( I pour in the hot water and stir it a few time until it cools a little and then pass it over to the kids to do the rest 😉 )

Remove the dough and roll/kneed/squish/smush until it is smooth and ready to play with.

Scrape out the dough, allow it to cool a little, and knead it until all ingredients are evenly distributed and you’re left with a smooth ball of dough.

If the dough is a little hard add a tiny drop of water until the desired consistency is achieved.

If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour.

Now that you have your play-dough why not use it to encourage some STEM

Make 3-d geometric shapes with play-dough and cocktail sticks/bamboo skewers (cut the sharp ends off for smaller kids)