Gumdrop STEM Structures

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Grab a box of toothpicks and a bag of gumdrops for some hands-on and festive STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) structures!

Snag these gumdrop STEM challenges and lots of other STEM challenges with our Epic STEM Chalone Bundle!

Getting Ready

To prep the STEM structure activity, I printed the challenge cards on cardstock to give them extra durability and laminated them for easy reuse. Then I cut along the thin grey lines to separate the pieces.

I grabbed a Vis-a-vis marker, a box of toothpicks and a bag of gumdrops.

That’s it! We were ready to jump in and start building.

Gumdrop STEM Structures

I included two levels of difficulty in the STEM pack – a batch of 2-dimensional shapes for newer builders and a set of 3-dimensional cards for kids who were ready for a challenge.

To start, I gave my son the 2D cards so he could review the characteristics of each one.

He grabbed one at a time, built it, and then counted the number of sides and vertices (corners) it had.

The next day, he was eager for a challenge so I pulled out the second set of 3-dimensional cards. He used the picture as a clue to figure out how to build each shape.

There was plenty of trial and error but, after a few minutes, he finished the project and proudly counted the number of edges and vertices.

The toothpick challenge cards were such a simple way to add some Christmas-themed STEM learning to our day.

And I’m excited to swap out the gumdrops for jelly beans this spring!

Download Your Set

Grab more STEM challenges your students will ASK to repeat with our Epic STEM Challenge Bundle!

 
 

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