I’m pleased to bring you a fifth activity, a DIY toy car from a plastic bottle, as part of my relationship with GOJO Industries, the makers of PURELL® Advanced Hand Sanitizer. In the previous sponsored posts, I’ve shared how to make seed balls, craft dazzling sun catchers, create a candy construction challenge, and mix up a batch of oozy slime. GOJO and I believe in the power of creative experiences that put hands first. PURELL® Hand ... [ Read More ]
Bit Space Chicago – The Local Makerspace for Kids
It's fun to learn about new makerspaces in my area, but it's even more fun to have a party at one. Last Sunday, a select group of Maker Mom friends and fans gathered with their kids at Bit Space Chicago. Bit Space serves kids ages 6-16 (adults, too, actually), but our event was specifically designed for the 10-13 year-old crowd. It was a blast! I mean super fun and waaaay cool. We practically had to drag the kids away when time was ... [ Read More ]
Math Fun for Kids: The September #STEMchat summary
Mad props to Texas Instruments Education Technology for sponsoring their third(!) #STEMchat and giving away two of their bright, slim new TI-84 Plus CE calculators to #STEMchat fans. Thanks also to our fabulous panel for keeping the conversation zipping along. Please note this post contains affiliate links. Have you calculated your color yet? Mine is Lightning. Part of what's exciting in STEM includes the fact that it's becoming a bigger ... [ Read More ]
How to Make Simple Stretchy Slime
I’m delighted to be back with yet another activity on behalf of GOJO Industries, the makers of PURELL® Advanced Hand Sanitizer. And just in time for Halloween, we will be making slime, which is also sometimes called gak or flubber. Making this borax-free slime requires just two basic supplies that you may already have on hand. It’s easy to mix up and you’ll definitely want to smoosh and squish it to experience a full range of oozy tactile ... [ Read More ]
Save the Date for STEMchat with Texas Instruments!
Back to school, back to STEM. We're going to be talking about both topics at the upcoming STEMchat with third time sponsor, Texas Instruments Education Technology! We're going to talk STEM goals, attitudes about math and the impact of things like computer programming and the Maker Movement on the traditional math class. Join us on Twitter Thursday, Sept. 24 from 9-10 pm Eastern. The new TI-84 Plus CE color graphing calculator is available at ... [ Read More ]
Eye on the Prize: A DIY Learn-to-Code Game with Post-it Products
Last week I mentioned that I had a STEM project in the works with the Post-it® Brand. Today I get to introduce it to you! Behold Eye on the Prize, an analog computer programming game. In addition to introducing kids to programming logic, it’s a good introduction to pair programming because you need two people to play. In pair programming, two programmers work together at a single computer. One writes the code while the other reviews each line ... [ Read More ]
Brainstorming, STEM and Beyond with Post-it Products
When the Post-it® Brand asked me to create an original STEM activity using their products, it only took a quick look around my office to confirm that this would be a natural partnership. I received several items from the bright, new Post-it® Brand World of Color Rio de Janeiro collection, including Super Sticky Notes, Flags and Tabs to get my creative juices flowing. They worked. I set to brainstorming with the colorful products as you’ll see ... [ Read More ]