Building coffee cup stacks are a really challenging STEM activity!  Each group gets 25 cups, no other supplies are needed.  Students can really build in creative ways in this challenge.  The cups are so light that building with them can be tough!

The kids had about 25 minutes to build their free-standing towers.  They all pretty much started with the pyramid idea, then began trying different construction ideas.

Stacking cups was a great way to add some weight to the cups.  Grab this challenge individually or as part of my September Calendar STEM Challenges!  Click here to check out this challenge in my tpt store!

Grab a few packs of cups and try this challenge in your classroom this week!

We read a fun book about the perfect square this week in class.  Perfect Square by Michael Hall is about squares of paper that get transformed into other things like fountains, rivers, and flowers.

In this STEM Challenge, students get nine squares of colored paper.  We used origami paper sheets for this challenge.  They can be found on Amazon!

Students worked in teams for this challenge.  They had to come up with nine different items.  They also had to use the WHOLE square of paper for the item they were creating.

My students came up with some really amazing ideas!

Students put all of their designs on one sheet of white poster board.  Click here to buy this STEM Challenge!

Have your students create their own perfect square challenge and discover their creativity!

You will be amazed by their thinking!

Building a Paper Box is a lot harder than it looks!  In this challenge, students were given a sheet of colored cardstock paper.  They had to build the largest possible box with just one sheet of paper.

We discussed using nets to build three dimensional figures BEFORE we started the challenge.  We used this challenge as we were studying VOLUME in math.

The students came up with many differen shapes of boxes.  Once the boxes were made, students had to find the volume of their box.

Grab this Paper Box STEM Challenge by clicking here!  It is just $2!  Materials are cheap and easy to find.

Engineer a Paper Box in your classroom!

Celebrate International DOT Day in your classroom this week!  This holiday began with a book - The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.  You can read the book OR you can find a read aloud of the book on youtube!  The book tells a great story of a child learning to value their own art.  At the end of the book this child passes on what they have learned to another child.

For this challenge, you need very few materials.  The STEM challenge is:

Can you create the largest paper dot from a sheet of paper?

Use any size paper you want and any color of paper.  I give my own students assorted colors of 8.5 x 11 cardstock.  These look great hanging on a bulletin board.  

You can also use white cardstock paper and have students paint dots on the paper BEFORE they make the largest dot. 

This pack also contains an informational page about Dot Day!

Click here to grab this pack.  It can be bought on it own, or within a pack of 5 September STEM Challenges based on different holidays celebrated in this month!  Click here to grab the larger pack.

Celebrate International DOT Day this year!

Did you know there is a holiday to celebrate Play Doh?  It is one of those supplies that kids absolutely love, EVERY time you get it out!  

Celebrate play dough all month with some fun activities!

1.  Make your own play dough!  There are SO many recipes out there, even edible ones!  The one with marshmallows may be one of my favorites!  Click here to go to the blog with the recipe and directions.

2. Build structures with play dough and spaghetti!  Balls of play dough at the corners work best to create these fun structures!

3. Write your name in play dough!  It is tougher than it looks, and a lot of fun.  For an extra challenge, write it in cursive!

4. Make a monster with play dough and some art supplies!  These are so funny!  Kids can write about their monsters, too!

I have a Play Dough STEM pack in my tpt store with some other fun things to do with play dough.  Click here to check it out!

I also have a STEM Fast Finishers pack that goes with play dough!  I put the cards in a pocket chart for the whole month!  The kids love working through the cards!

Click here to see this pack!

No matter what you decide to do, it is always a good idea to give students a chance to PLAY!  Any type of play dough will work!

Celebrate this holiday in your classroom!