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easy experiment

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STEM

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Take one end of the copper wire and tape it to the dowel. Begin winding the copper into a coil, making sure the coils are as tightly packed as possible but do not overlap.

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Keep winding until you have created a coil that's at least 5 inches long.

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Remove the coil from the dowel, and stretch it out just enough so that each winding on the coil doesn't touch the one next to it.  

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Make two stacks of 3 neodymium magnets. Orient the stacks so they repel each other, and stick one stack to each side of the battery.&nbsp;

This project won't work with regular magnets like you'd use on a noteboard. We ordered these online.

Be very careful with these magnets and keep them away from small children! They can be very dangerous if swallowed.

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Slide your train into the copper coil. It should zip down the coil and out the other side! If your train doesn't move, try flipping the train around. If it still doesn't work, try flipping one of the stacks of batteries around.Experiment by adding or subtracting the number of magnets, or making a longer coil. With a long enough copper coil, you'll be able to make a circle that the train zips around continuously!What's going on?Try this. Grab a couple of fridge magnets and flip them so they repel each other. If you place one on a table and bring the other one close, the magnet on the table will slide away. That same magnetic push is what moves your train!How? Well, placing the battery inside the coil of wire creates an electrical circuit. (In fact, it creates a short circuit, which is why the battery burns out so quickly in this experiment.)And here's the part where the connection between electricity and magnetism becomes important. An electric current creates a magnetic field. In fact, a coil of wire like you made here creates a magnetic field very similar to the magnetic field of a plain old bar magnet. Now, the neodymium magnets have their own magnetic field, and they're sitting right in the middle of the wire's magnetic field. And just like a couple of fridge magnets, those magnetic fields interact with each other. That's where the push that propels your train comes from. The neodymium magnets get pushed along by the magnetic field of the coil of wire. 

20 Gauge Copper Wire

aaa battery

6 neodymium (12 mm diameter)

wooden dowels (1/2 inch diameter)

Tape

Electromagnetic Train

indoor project

launcher

food play

food experiments

toy design

winter

winter crafts

sweet snacks

Create mini marshmallow launchers with everyday household items. Get extra cozy with some hot cocoa and see how many marshmallows land inside your mug!

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Carefully cut out the bottom of the plastic cup. If needed, your grownup assistant can do this for you!

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Leaving the balloon deflated, tie a knot to close the opening. Then, cut about a quarter inch off the top of the balloon to create a large opening.

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Stretch the balloon over the bottom opening of the plastic cup. Give the knot a tug to make sure it is on securely.

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Now your marshmallow shooter is ready! Load up the marshmallows and give the balloon a tug to see how far they go!

balloons

mini marshmallows

plastic cups

scissors

Marshmallow Launcher

mechanics

KiwiCo crate box

science project

pretend play

recycled craft materials

recycled

Explore engineering with this simple cardboard elevator. Then use your imagination to turn it into a parking structure lift, a dollhouse feature, or anything you like!

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Cut the lid off your crate. We'll use both the base and the lid in our lift construction.

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Cut a strip of cardboard from the lid, making it slightly narrower than the interior depth of the crate. If you're using a crate, this would be about 3 inches. Next, place the cardboard strip next to the box. Note where the sides of the box end, and mark the placement, going a little narrower than the width of the box. If you're using a crate, this would be just under 6 inches. You'll use this portion to create the inside of your lift. Score and fold the edges of the strip up. Make sure that both of your tabs are even in length. This piece will be the base of your lift.

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Next cut a thin strip from the remaining cardboard lid, about 1 or 2 inches. Place this strip next to the first wider strip and mark just inside the fold lines of the last strip you cut. Score and fold the flaps of this thinner strip down. This thinner strip will be the top of your lift.

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On the thin strip of cardboard, measure roughly a half inch from each side and punch a hole.

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Place the wider strip of cardboard on a flat surface with its tabs folded upward. Then, put the thinner strip on top and fold its flaps downward. The thin strip should fit just along the inside flaps of the wider base strip, creating a rectangular shape. Use hot glue to attach them together.

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Measure out and cut a length of string that is about twice the height of your crate when it's standing upright. Loop the string through the holes and tie your string together in a simple overhand knot.

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Now that all of your pieces are made, It's time to decorate! Use assorted cardstock and patterned tape to design your lift any way you would like!

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With the base of your crate upright, mark two holes along the sides of the box, about an inch from the top. Use a craft knife to cut these holes out, cutting them wide enough to fit the wooden dowel.

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Insert your dowel into the two holes. Your dowel should be level.

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Place the lift at the base of the crate, with the string and holes on top. Find the center of the looped string and tape it to the center of the dowel rod. It is important to get this centered or else your lift will not operate correctly.

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You now have a working lift! To make your lift go up, twist the dowel so the string wraps around the dowel, pulling up the lift. What fun objects can you find to put on your lift? What are some everyday machines that use a similar mechanism?

Want to make your elevator less work to use? Try cutting a cardboard circle and attach it to one end of the dowel. With the wheel added, you’ve turned plain old dowel into a wheel and axle mechanism. A wheel and axle is a super-handy simple machine used in everything from doorknobs to vehicles to — you guessed it — elevators. Together, the wheel and axle allows you to lift heavier loads than without it. If you’re only lifting pom-poms and cardboard, of course, it doesn’t make much difference. But if you were building a real elevator lifting thousands of pounds, you’d want all the help you could get!

crate or box

dowel

string / twine

tape

hot glue

craft knife

cardstock

hole punch

Cardboard Elevator

spinner

origami

indoor game

game

Use four coins and colorful origami paper to create your own personal spinner to both amuse and amaze. Or, replace the coins with metal rivets for a sturdier version.If you already know how to fold an origami ninja star, skip to Step 19!

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Take 2 pieces of paper. Use different colors for a more whimsical look. 

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Tear along this crease to get two pieces of each paper. Put aside one set and work with the others first. 

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Fold the top of the pink piece to the left and the blue piece to the right. Use the previous halfway crease as a guide. 

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Fold the bottom half of the pink piece to the right and the blue piece to the left. 

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For the pink piece, fold the top part of the upper square to the bottom left corner. For the blue piece, fold down the upper square to the bottom right corner.

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For the pink piece, fold the bottom square up to the right corner. For the blue piece, fold up to the left corner. 

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For the pink piece, crease the top triangle inwards to the left. For the blue piece, crease inwards to the right.

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For the pink piece, fold the bottom triangle inwards to the right. For the blue piece, fold inwards to the left.

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Unfold steps 11 and 12. Flip the blue piece over.

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Tuck the upper right flap of the pink piece left, into the upper triangle of the blue piece.

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Tuck the bottom left flap of the pink piece right, into the lower triangle of the blue piece. Flip over

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Tuck the top flap of the blue piece down into the middle. 

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Tuck the bottom flap of the blue piece up into the middle. You created the first part of your spinner! 

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Use the thumb tack to poke a hole through the middle Repeat steps 4-19 to make the other half of the spinner

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Once you have both sides, use a hot glue gun to stick 4 dimes on the edges of one of the origami halves.

Have caution when using hot equipment. Exercise parental supervision during the gluing stage of this project.

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Put glue on the top sides of the coins and stick the top half of the origami spinner on.

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Bend a paperclip so that it is straight in the middle. Feed it through the holes you poked. Press down on the ends to create finger holds. Flick your spinner and watch the colors dance in the air! You can experiment with different objects glued to the ends and other papers!

What is going on?
Fidget spinners keep spinning for two reasons. First, many fidget spinners have a ball bearing at their center, around which the rest of the spinner rotates. Ball bearings use many small, metal balls to reduce the friction between an axis (the center of the bearing) and the object rotating around it (the spinner). Rolling objects produce less friction than sliding objects, so ball bearings allow fidget spinners to "roll" around their central axis, rather than slide around that axis.&nbsp;
Your DIY spinner doesn't have a ball bearing to reduce friction around its axis (the paperclip), but it does possess the second key trait of a good fidget spinner: a lot of rotational inertia. Inertia refers to an object's resistance to any change in its motion. The four, symmetrically-located dimes in your fidget spinner give the outside of the spinner a lot of inertia, so once it starts spinning, it strongly resists slowing down. By reducing friction and increasing rotational inertia, fidget spinners will continue to spin for some time.

Fidget spinners act like gyroscopes once they begin to spin, creating torque around the gyroscope's axis of rotation. Torque is a type of force that is created by the rotational movement of an object. If you're looking down at your fidget spinner, and you spin it counter-clockwise, the resulting torque will push the spinner towards you. Try rotating your spinner in different directions after you've given it a good spin, and see if you can feel the resulting torque.

origami paper (2 sheets)

coins (4, same size, pennies and dimes work best)

paper clips (2)

thumb tack

Origami Fidget Spinner

confetti

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve activities

New Year's Eve crafts

craft

For our New Year's Eve get-together, we created little confetti treat pop party favors to pass out. They were super simple to make and even simpler to pop! They're perfect for any celebration. We plan on making another set for an upcoming birthday party too.

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Cut a piece of 5.5" x 1.5" cardstock and roll it into a cylinder shape. Then, slide the rolled piece of cardstock all the way into the treat pop. You can set the treat pop cap aside as you won't need it for this project.

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Cut a few long strips of cardstock (ours measured 11" x 1/2") and fold each strip like an accordion. Then, place them in the treat pop.

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Cut some tissue paper into small pieces to make confetti. Then, press down on your accordion strips and fill the treat pop with confetti. 

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Cut a square out of tissue paper making sure it's large enough to cover the opening of the treat pop. Then, cover the top of the treat pop with the tissue paper square and secure it with tape.

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Cut a piece of cardstock large enough to wrap around the outside of the treat pop (ours measured 3" x 6.5"). Then, wrap and tape it around the treat pop, and you're all set! 

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Make a whole set for your friends and family to pop open at midnight!

Panda Crate

Sprout: Koala Crate

Labs: Kiwi Crate

World: Atlas Crate

Studio: Doodle Crate

Labs: Tinker Crate

Studio: Maker Crate

Labs: Eureka Crate

37 at-home engineering projects for kids

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