It's time for a challenge! The Make It Move challenge is a great challenge for large or small groups that require creativity , ingenuity and lots of fun! These projects can be done solo but will be even more fun in a group or team. So, what's this challenge? What's going on? Let's see the projects!
Scalable projects are a favorite, as kids can work independently, in teams, or in large groups. Having so many different options in a project gives us a lot of Learning opportunities And every time we try a challenge like this, the kids learn something new.
Make it move! This STEM challenge is a lot of fun and can be used by any child from an early age. It's one of the STEM projects for older kids that we'll be posting soon. Make sure you're on my newsletter or follow me on social media (Facebook ) So you don't miss out.
Challenge - Make it move!
supplies
- Matchbox Cars
- Level table
- Worker Supplies - Some of the things we used included magnets, straws, ribbon, balloons, string, paper, etc.
- Fantasy!
the challenge
Car racing is the best of the best. This can be a head-to-head race or simply a race to see who can finish first.
the rules
- You may not touch your vehicle or change lanes. You also may not lift the table.
- When we first started brainstorming ideas for building a ramp or raising the table, it was important for them to understand that it was against the rules. Building a ramp would change the course.
- Once they understood those rules, the creativity really began. Of course, we had to turn our home schedule into a racetrack, complete with cheering crowds!
We had one car that changed with magnets. By attaching a magnet to the bottom of the car, the kids were able to use another magnet or a magnet stick from the underside of the table to race to the other end. The challenge here was finding a car with large enough tires and enough lift so that the magnet wouldn't rub off on the table, which could slow the car down. But once you found one, you'd have done a great job! This worked so well that the kids were doing it for hours.
They loved this idea so much that they tried using magnets backward. This involved attaching magnets to the rear of the car, then reversing the stick so that the magnets would hit each other, propelling the car forward. This worked, but it was extremely difficult to keep the car straight. Having magnets on the bottom made for much faster racing!
The next idea was
It's about attaching a sail to the top of the car and swaying it. We recently did a wind challenge, so it was great to see these lessons come back into play. This one worked really well again.
The other idea was
What they had was to create a string symbol for the car by tying a straw to the top and running a string through it. When one end of the string was lifted, it would be pressed to the end line.
finally ,
They tried to increase the wind power with a balloon propulsion system. When this worked it was super fast, but the balloon would pop, get stuck and get everything angled just right so it could race. It took a lot of attention and concentration. But when it worked… wow! The biggest issue was keeping it on track as it usually ended up flying across the room!
There are many different ways kids can solve this challenge. The only limit is supplies. and imaginationHow do you race without touching the race?
