Want to take your STEM game to the next level? Snag our best selling toothpick STEM challenges!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Getting Ready

I began by printing the the task cards on cardstock to give them extra durability.

Then, I ran them through my laminator and cut along the dotted line in the center of each page to separate the halves.

I grabbed a ball of playdough kids could use to build the 3D shapes and filled a small basket with a variety of rainbow-colored popsicle sticks.

(The unstained kind would work well, too. They are available in a variety of sizes from mini to jumbo size!)

STEM Activity: Building Shapes

I spread out the 2D shape task cards around one table and placed the basket of popsicle sticks in the center. The kids took turns making each shape.

Later, we talked about shape properties like the number of corners (vertices) and sides (edges) on each one.

On another table, I challenged kids to make 3D shapes. After placing one card at each seat, I placed a basket of popsicle sticks and playdough in the center.

The kids used the playdough to join each of the sides together which involved a lot of problem solving.

One of the kids figured out that he needed a bit more playdough so that the popsicle sticks would stay in place, but not too much because or his cube would fall over!

For the 3D shapes, it’s fun to include a variety of materials such as popsicle sticks, colored matchsticks and straws. That way kids can explore different materials and discover which ones are easier for building.

For instance, straws are sometimes a bit easier for modeling because they are lightweight and can be easily cut into different lengths but they’re not as strong and durable as craft sticks.  The best part of this STEM activity is that you can tweak it many different ways!

Grab Your Set

Ready to play along too?! Click the blue download button to download your free set.

Then, take your STEM to the next level by snagging our best selling Toothpick STEM Challenges!

The post Building Shapes STEM Cards appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

These 12 playful games make it fun for children to dive into 2D and 3D shapes once and for all. For more shape fun, head to our shop for some Toothpick STEM Structures!

Practicing 2D shapes? Have kids color roll one and then color it on their mat. // Playdough to Plato

This milk and cookie themed match is too sweet to pass! // Sara J. Creations

Teach kids how to actually create 2D and 3D shapes with these fun hands-on STEM challenge cards!

This giant shape match would be a great activity for a rainy day. // Busy Toddler

These 3D shape puzzles are always a huge hit with kids.

The big pieces in these shape puzzles are great for little hands. // A Dab of Glue Will Do

Or use some pattern block shapes to create pictures! // Playdough to Plato

Shape bookmarks are a great tool for kids. // 3 Dinosaurs

And then have children create their own shape sort to take home.

Play a fun round up shape I spy with this frees shape game! // Life Over C’s

Work on 3D shapes with these sorting mats. // Playdough to Plato

And finally, preschoolers will LOVE these happy shape matching clip cards. // A Modern Preschool

We hope you enjoy these fun shape games!

Ready for More!?

Snag our Toothpick STEM Structures for more shape practice in our shop!

The post 12 Shape Games for Kids appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

Want more STEM building challenges?  Hope on over to snag our Toothpick STEM Structures in our shop!

Getting Ready

Prepping for the activity was as quick and easy as heading to our pantry.

I grabbed a bag of jumbo-sized marshmallows we had leftover from a summer camping trip and pulled out a bag of pretzel sticks.

Building STEM Structures

My kids were eager to play with food, so they happily began building. They linked the pretzels together by gently pushing one end into a jumbo marshmallow.

Middle Brother (age 4) started by making flat 2-dimensional shapes including triangles and squares.

Meanwhile Big Brother (age 6) began tackling 3-dimensional structures including triangular prisms…

And cubes…

Plus lots of funky, creative unnamable structures.

The simple prep to these STEM structure and the fact that it was edible kept them entertained for an hour. There were endless combinations and possibilities!

Want More?

For more science fun, check out our Toothpick STEM Structures in our shop!

The post Pretzel and Marshmallow Structures appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

Grab your download below! For more shape practice, check out our Toothpick STEM Structures in our shop!

And, since I always want to make it easier for you to get EVERY student bigger results, the freebie comes in TWO versions so you can quickly differentiate: 

1. One focuses on 2-dimensional shapes like circles and triangles 
2. And the second set practices 3-dimensional shapes including spheres and cones.

Grab your copy below and then hop over to join The Plato Pack so you can download ALL of our print-and-play math centers in one spot!

Getting Ready

To prep this shapes game, I simply printed the cards on cardstock and slid them through my laminator to give them extra durability.

Then, I cut along the lines to separate the pieces and placed the stack in a pile face down on my table.

I printed a record sheet for each child and grabbed our basket of crayons.

Viola! We were ready to play.

Flip and Color Shapes Game

Since my first grader is tackling 3-dimensional shapes right now, I decided to have her work on the 3-dimensional version of the game.

She flipped over one card at a time and analyzed the real world object shown in the middle of the glue bottle.

“This baseball is a sphere!” she said confidently.

Then, she picked up her crayon and colored the sphere before grabbing the next card in the stack.

One card after the next, she worked her way through the pile – recording her progress by coloring her sheet.

When she was through, she sorted the cards by shape and then asked to play the 2D version, too!

(I love when learning’s fun, don’t you?!)

Download Your Set

Click the blue download button below to grab your two flip and color games! Then, hop over to our shop and grab our Toothpick STEM Centers!

The post Flip and Color Shape Game appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

Snag your set below and then hop over and grab our popular 3D Shape Activities in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Getting Ready

To prep, I printed off the 3D shape puzzles, ran them through the laminator and cut out the individual puzzle pieces.

I like to laminate when I’m using an activity in the classroom because it makes the parts extra durable.  Plus, it allows me to use them again year after year.

Tip: I chose to make the puzzles normal-size, but you could print the pieces extra large and use them as a whole-class matching game.

3D Shape Puzzles

Working with a small group of students, I placed the square-based pyramid label in the center of the table.  I explained that students would need to find three bottom pieces that fit with it:

• a line drawing of the shape
• a count of its faces, vertices and edges
• a real world object that matched

The kids were eager to get started, so they quickly found the line drawing and slid it into the first spot.

To help them figure out how many faces, vertices and edges it had, I gave them a square-based pyramid model that we had in our set of 3D shapes.  Then, I had them count each characteristic.

Then, they found the matching piece and placed that in the next spot on our puzzle.

With just one piece left to go in our 3D shapes puzzle, I challenged them to think of a few real world objects that were square-based pyramids. It was a stretch, but one child remembered seeing a picture of the Louvre Pyramid in a book.  Another student excitedly recalled the Egyptian Pyramids.

Voila! It was a match.

The children continued working their way through the puzzles until all pieces had been matched.

Grab Your Download

Ready for some fun 3D learning? Click on the blue button below for your free download and then hop over and grab our popular 3D Shape Activity Pack in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers!

The post 3D Shape Puzzles appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.