• Home
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

My World Their Way

STEM Activities for kids

  • My World Their Way
  • At Home Learning
    • Math
    • Literacy
    • Science
    • STEM
  • Kids Activities
    • Art and Craft
    • Games
  • Books
    • Books for Kids
  • Parenting
  • PRINTABLES
    • Coloring Pages

Stick Man – Stem Activity

Have you read the book ‘The Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell. This has one segment primarily on “why achievement gap is really a summer gap” and addresses the disparity between children who do nothing during the summer and those who tend to get educational experiences. Overall, my kids have some fun educational activities set up every summer, the kids have playdates, we do a lot of outdoor events as a family together and I enroll them in the summer camp for a week or two. But this year is different and it has made me think about how much more important it is to prepare activities in advance during their summer break. I came up with a plan to integrate lots of STEM activities following a conversation with my kids. We are just starting a bit ahead of time as the schools are about to close in June. For this week’s STEM activity, we decided to make a stick man using straws.

The setup is pretty simple – gather all the materials and lay them out beforehand. I gave the kids : couple of flexible straws, paper plate and thread. They didn’t have to use all the materials , but they did need to use at least 2. And of course, there were basic supplies like tape, markers and scissors.

The stem activity is to create a stick man with moveable arms and legs.

Stick Man – Model 1

My younger son came up with the idea of a puppet whose thread can be used to control the hands and body.

  • Tie three straws close to the flexible end with a tape and attach all three of them to the back of the paper plate.
  • The middle straw is acting like a stick man’s body.
  • Then, tape two more straws at the other end of the middle straw. They’re acting like the legs of the stick man.
  • Cut a small piece of straw and tape it in near the top center of the plate.
  • Tape a thread at the end of each straw, the straws that are a stick man’s hand.
  • Gather the other end of both the thread and loop it through the small piece of straw attached to the paper plate.
  • Tape the threads together so that they don’t slide back down.
  • Turn over the paper plate and draw the stick man’s face.

He did have a good time playing with it as a puppet.

Stick man – Model 2

My elder son took a different approach. He only wanted to use straw, and only the smallest number required.

  • First, cut out the flexible section of the straw, leaving about two inch of straw on each side. This is going to be the body of the stick man.
  • Split both ends of the straw in half, leaving the flexible section intact. These are going to be the hand and the legs of the stick man.
  • Cut the flexible section of the straw out of another straw, leaving about half an inch of straw on each side. This is going to be the head of the stick man,
  • Snip both ends of the straw in half lengthwise, leaving the flexible section intact.
  • Bend the flexible section of the straw to make a circle and place both the snipped ends of the straw inside the hole of the other straw.
  • Your stick men is ready.

Further Extension

This challenge will be a perfect activity to do after reading the book ‘Stickman’ by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. For younger kids, you can grab some twigs from your backyard and googly eyes to make their own stick man.

Let’s stay connected, follow my blog facebook page My World Their Way to hear more about our STEM Challenges.

Happy Learning !

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin38
38 Shares
«
»

STEM 0

Subscribe

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Get connected

Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on all our latest product releases, sales, and some free goodies!

Our Privacy Policy

  • FREE PRINTABLES
  • SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS
  • Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

Footer

About the Designer

Follow on Instagram

🎲 Explore the Classic Fun of Dots and Boxes ! 📝
Remember those days huddled around a piece of paper, connecting dots to claim boxes? Relive the joy with our blog post on how to play Dots and Boxes – that classic paper and pencil game we all love! 📚🖊️
Bring back the timeless delight of Dots and Boxes. ➡️ https://myworldtheirway.com/2023/08/dots-and-boxes/
#DotsAndBoxes #ClassicGames #StrategyGames #FamilyFun
🎒 Back-to-School Vibes 🍎 Unleash the fun of 🎒 Back-to-School Vibes 🍎 Unleash the fun of learning with these vibrant color-by-number worksheets! From apples on books to globes and backpacks, these worksheets make numbers 1-20 an exciting adventure for all ages. Practice number recognition, addition and subtraction within 1- 20 📚✨ #BackToSchool #ColorByNumber #LearningFun"
Instagram post 18270364312104281 Instagram post 18270364312104281
GIVEAWAY CLOSED. Winner is @Teachingnextdoor . Con GIVEAWAY CLOSED. Winner is @Teachingnextdoor . Congratulations ! 
📣TPT is having a site wide sale on November 28th and November 29th , and I’d love to gift one of you with a $10 TPT gift card! 📣

To enter, simply:
Like this post
Follow me @myworldtheirway
Tag a friend
Comment below with an emoji

Bonus entries: 1 bonus entry for following me on TPT. Enter separate comment below for that 😄 (link in bio - Worksheets by Sush ) ⭐️

Check out my store during the sale- all my products will be on sale 🤩

Winner will be contacted by private messenger! Contest ends November 26th. Good luck!

( P.S. : Sale starts on November 28th at 12:01am ET and ends on Tuesday, November 29th at 11:59pm ET )

This contest is not sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Instagram or Facebook. Participants must be 18+. Contest ends on Saturday, Nov. 26th at 8 pm PST. Entries will be verified and a winner will be announced in time to shop the sale!
Make a Christmas Tree Tessellation. A fun math art Make a Christmas Tree Tessellation. A fun math art project to do with kids. #christmas2022
Who says #halloween has to be all about spooky thi Who says #halloween has to be all about spooky things ? Solve these fun rebus puzzle aka picture puzzle and get into the holiday spirit !

#halloween2022
#halloween
Recently, we decided to learn the different art fo Recently, we decided to learn the different art forms and techniques used by different artists by creating our own unique artwork using their methods. And what can be better choice to start with than using Eric Carle’s  art technique to create the vibrant and colorful bugs as illustrated in his most famous book ‘The very Hungry Caterpillar’ .  What will you create ?
As a math lover, all I see is a #fibonacci pattern As a math lover, all I see is a #fibonacci pattern in the spirals of Romanesco Broccoli. Math is everywhere around us. Love the variety of vegetables and fruits offered at #saratogafarmersmarket
🔸 WHY DOES A BALLOON AMPLIFY SOUND 🔸 When y 🔸 WHY DOES A BALLOON AMPLIFY SOUND 🔸

When you think of speakers, loud sounds are typically the first thing that comes to mind. Speakers have amplifiers built in to make sounds louder. But did you know that a balloon may also be used as an amplifier to boost the volume?

Find out how in this science experiment for kids! 

https://myworldtheirway.com/2022/01/balloon-amplifier/

#scienceexperimentsforkids #kidsactivities
Follow on Instagram

Subscribe for Updates

Copyright © 2023 · Darling Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in