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in Seasonal STEAM· STEM Activities· Valentine's Day STEM Activities

Conversation Heart Towers

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Don’t know what to do with your Valentine’s Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering activity for kids by building conversation heart towers! 

My kids don’t really like the taste of conversation hearts. But every year, they end up with far too many of the candies. But rather than throw them away, I like to transform the candies into teaching tools and STEM activities.

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

We’ve done all kinds of things with our conversation hearts, like make conversation heart oobleck, using them to make conversation heart Venn diagrams, and using them for conversation heart math!

Making conversation heart towers is a fun way to transform conversation hearts into tools of engineering. which makes for a fun low-prep Valentine STEM activity for kids!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you for your convenience. 

valentine stem challenge cards

DON’T MISS: Valentine’s Day Glitter Slime!

CONVERSATION HEART ENGINEERING FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

Construction heart structures offer a fun way for kids to learn about engineering and construction up close and personal. Challenge the kids to see if they can recreate some of the world’s most famous structures using conversation hearts and some royal icing.

YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: THE ULTIMATE LIST OF VALENTINE’S SLIME RECIPES

WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING WHEN MAKING CONVERSATION HEART TOWERS

With this conversation heart tower challenge, kids learn a lot about the basics of engineering, design, and some architecture.

Challenge the kids to think about why some shapes and building materials are used over others.

And if you need more engineering activity inspiration, try building a LEGO rainbow, drawing with a 3D pen, or making a LEGO heart. 

CONVERSATION HEART TOWER STEM INTEGRATION

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

Science: How does the amount of moisture in the hearts affect their structure integrity?

Technology: Use the computer to research structures to re-create.

Engineering: This activity is all about engineering! Kids can learn how to make a stable structure, what makes good building materials, why some designs are stronger than others, and more!

Math: Kids can measure how high they can get their structures, count how many hearts are in their structures, and see how long the structures last before falling over or breaking.

What you need for the conversation heart engineering challenge:

 

The Original Classic Flavor Necco Conversation Hearts 1 Lb BagThe Original Classic Flavor Necco Conversation Hearts 1 Lb BagNECCO Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, 1 oz Boxes (Pack of 36)NECCO Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, 1 oz Boxes (Pack of 36)Ck Products White Royal Icing Mix, 1lb/2 PackCk Products White Royal Icing Mix, 1lb/2 PackDoodle Hog Crafts Arts and Crafts Multi Purpose Medium Organizer Tray Set, Medium (Pack of 4)Doodle Hog Crafts Arts and Crafts Multi Purpose Medium Organizer Tray Set, Medium (Pack of 4)

 

  • Conversation hearts
  • Play tray
  • Pictures of famous architecture styles

HOW TO DO THE CONVERSATION HEART ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

These conversation heart structures are a simple engineering activity that will delight kids of all ages. Who new candy could be so educational?

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

What you’ll need to make conversation heart structures:

Give kids a pile of conversation hearts. Discuss different architectural styles and how they are made. This type of engineering is called “structural engineering.”

Talk about the different kinds of structures you cna make using conversation hearts and how you could make the structures more stable (by adding a glue-like substance).

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

Look at pictures of famous buildings, art pieces, and structures and try to re-create them with hearts.

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

My kids built a variety of structures.

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

My personal favorite was the rainbow wall.

Let the kids explore working with conversation hearts for as long as they like. My kids were quite happy to play with their conversation hearts after the lesson for a full hour.

Don't know what to do with your Valentine's Day conversation hearts? Turn them into an engineering project by building conversation heart structures!

They even tried making an arch-way, but they couldn’t quite get it to work without the addition of glue or a mortar of some kind.

More Things to Do with Conversation Hearts

Math can be fun even on Valentine's Day when you do your math using conversation heart manipulatives! Valentine's Day math is so sweet!

Conversation Heart Math

Kids can learn common factors between numbers in this super-simple, Valentine's Day themed Venn diagram factors math project!

Conversation Heart Venn Diagrams

Love STEM? Love Valentine's Day? You'll love this amazing and exhaustive list of Valentines STEM activities for kids of all ages!

Conversation Heart Oobleck 

valentine stem challenge cards

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Filed Under: Seasonal STEAM, STEM Activities, Valentine's Day STEM Activities Tagged With: valentines day

About Brenda Priddy

Brenda grew up thinking she hated science. But when her 4-year- old daughter was more interested in reading science facts than fairy tales, Brenda realized she had to learn more. Through simple at-home science experiments, Brenda developed a passion for science and now works as a STEMed advocate with a team of science educators to create hands-on STEM projects and curriculum for kids.

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What is STEAM?

STEAM activities for kids promote the idea that science, technology, engineering, art, and math can all work together to help kids become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators!

Join us on our journey to discover just how much fun science experiments can be.

What we do… 

STEAMsational offers STEM and science lesson plans and teaching resources to provide a firm STEM foundation for children in the classroom or home.

All you need to do is find your supplies, gather your scientists, and let the innovation unfold.

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