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Hi STEM Sparkers. We hope you are hanging in there with stay at home orders and online schooling. At STEM Spark, some days are really...

Hoppy Easter and Passover and Spring Solstice STEM Sparkers! To celebrate, we're tie dying eggs. I wasn't sure whether to categorize...

Talk of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is everywhere in the US right now. At STEM Spark, we know the news can be overwhelming - it is for us...

Ho to the 3rd power STEM Sparkers! 'Tis the season to fa la to the 3rd power! Okay, enough 3rd power math puns there, it's time to make some Crystal Pipe Cleaner Ornaments using Borax powder and boiling water. This STEM (or STEAM) Activity is a great way to decorate for the holidays! You'll Need Pipe Cleaners Glass Jar Water Borax (powder form) Pencil Measuring cups/spoons Instructions 1. Create ornament shape using pipe cleaner. I made a spiral using a pencil and Jack ma

Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Festivus for the rest of us STEM Sparkers! To celebrate these wonderful holidays, we're giving away a Goldiblox DIY Glowing Unicorn Pillow! I mean, nothing sparks STEM joy like a light up unicorn pillow, am I right? And it is one sharp pillow (get it? alright let's move on)! Will your kids like it and/or will you hate it? Jack was very excited when he opened the mail box the pillow kit came in. He screamed Unicorn Pillow! I was also v

Gobble, gobble! Jack and I had a lot of fun with this Flying Turkey STEM/STEAM activity-- releasing a balloon and hearing it make that swish, pffft sound is fun for kids and adults (I giggle every time at that pffft sound, haha), The anticipation of flight and a successful launch is exciting too! Below is how to build your own Flying Turkey. You'll Need Balloon Turkey Print Out (I found mine in MS Word) Tape Makers, crayons, or colored pencils (optional) Instructions 1)

A couple of weeks ago, Jack, Bobby and I went to Disneyland's Oogie Boogie Bash. Unfortunately tickets are sold out, but you can read more here if interested for next year. I recommend going once if you're not that far away as the Halloween themed bash at Disneyland is super fun and of course spooktacular (insert groan)! We had a lot of fun trick or treating, riding the coasters, and costume watching! People get really inventive in their Disney and non-Disney costumes duri

Hello STEM Sparkers! Things have been a little hectic at STEM Spark HQ as we prepare for a move, but among all the chaos, we haven't forgotten to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon! NASA is of course celebrating, and you can check out all their cool celebrations here . Jack choose to celebrate the Moon landing by building his own spaceship out of cardboard boxes. Bobby and I were so busy helping him that I forgot to snap photos for how to build

STEM Spark wishes you a Happy Summer!!! Summer usually means more swimming for us here at STEM Spark, and we have the perfect STEM activity for swimming-- a pool noodle math game! It's guaranteed to make your math happy kid grin and your language happy kid groan. You'll Need A Foam Pool Noddle Scissors or Exacto Knife Permanent Marker Instructions 1) Cut the pool noodle into 10 pieces. This step should probably be done by an adult since scissors or an Exacto knife are in

That's right, we're celebrating May the Fourth here at STEM Spark! For those of you unfamilar with May the Fourth Be With You, it's an unofficial holiday celebrating the Star Wars franchise. It was derived by fans and is a pun on a famous line from Star Wars, May the Force Be With You. And I can't think of a more STEAM inspired holiday than May the Fourth-- there's so many fun STEAM crafts and activities to celebrate the day! One of the STEAM crafts we did here at STEM Spar

Plastic eggs are soon to be filled with goodies as Easter approaches here in the States, and if you're like me, you wonder what you can do with all the leftover plastic eggs. Last year, Jack and I reused our plastics eggs as a counting game; see our video here . This year we're covering the art and engineering part of STEAM by remaking our plastic eggs into parachutes. Read on for how to do this eggcellent (yep, I went there) STEAM project! You'll Need Plastic Eggs Pipe Cl

For some more STEM-entine's fun, I've made a quick video tutorial on how to make a Lego heart! This Lego heart is geared towards people whose dexterity is limited; so like preschoolers, arthritis patients (like me), the elderly and so on. Plus, the bricks should be easy to find in any Lego stash or store. I think it will make for a fun STEM project to do with your family and friends on Valentine's Day, so have fun building the heart STEM Sparkers! You won't wanna Lego of t

Time for my second review for Multicultural Children's Book Day ( MCBD ), which is on January 25 this year-- Aliana Reaches for the Moon by Laura Roettiger. I'm so thrilled that STEM Spark received another picture book featuring a girl enjoying STEM activities to review for MCBD ! And as a reminder, here's a little bit about MCBD . Multicultural Children’s Book Day in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom .

As we make plans for the new year, I want to encourage everyone reading STEM Spark to include STEM or STEAM activities into their 2019 plans. And I think one of the best ways to do so is with a STEM/STEAM subscription monthly subscription box like Kiwi Crate , Mel Science or Green Kid Crafts ! Now, we've only tried out Kiwi Crate in our house (thanks Auntie T for a subscription; you know us well!), but Mel Science and Green Kid Crafts look like they'll be just as fun as Kiwi

Wow, 2019 is right around the 90 degrees (get it? 90 degrees is a corner, haha)! I sincerely hope everyone had a few highs and good times in 2018, and as you ring in the New Year, may you enjoy this STEM/STEAM inspired activity! Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Happy New Year to all the STEM Spark readers. You'll Need: Balloons Toilet Paper Tubes or Paper Towel Tubes Scissors Tape Colored paper (optional for decorating outside of tubes) Stickers (optional for decorating out

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell slime Jingle bells chime in jingle bell slime Twisting and stretching on Jingle Bell slabs In the frosty lab What a bright time, it's the right time To count with an aardvark Jingle bell slime is a swell time To go sciencing with Annie and STEM Spark Alright now that that is out of my system, we recently did a holiday twist on classic slime by adding jingle bells, glitter and glitter stickers to the classic slime recipe listed below (hey