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STEM Activities for Kids- STEAMsational

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in Engineering Activities

Q-Tip Bridge Engineering Challenge

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We had almost as fun with our engineering activities for kids as we did with our science experiments. For today’s STEM activity, I challenged Monkey to create a Q-tip bridge. She came up with the design completely on her own, with fantastic results. She and I were both pleased with her efforts in this engineering activity for kids!

This fun engineering activity shows kids how to make a Q-tip bridge that will actually stand. Part of the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series.

How to Make a Q-Tip Bridge

Materials:

  • Low-temp hot glue gun
  • Glue sticks
  • Q-tips (use colorful ones for even more fun!)

This fun engineering activity shows kids how to make a Q-tip bridge that will actually stand. Part of the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series.

The Challenge:

Tell the children they must create a design for a 3D bridge that has to stand on its own. They can use any design they want. We used hot glue to hold our bridge together because the glue dries quickly.

I didn’t give Monkey any input on this one. I simply let her come up with her own bridge design. She loves suspension bridges right now (particularly the Golden Gate bridge), so I think that was the inspiration behind her design. She sat for about 20 minutes creating the bridge seen here.

This fun engineering activity shows kids how to make a Q-tip bridge that will actually stand. Part of the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series.

We found the hardest thing about creating the Q-tip bridge was that the pieces wanted to sag until the glue was completely set. After the glue hardened, the bridge was perfect, but we had to hold each joint in place for about 10-15 seconds before the glue would harden enough. This made the design process a little trickier.

This fun engineering activity shows kids how to make a Q-tip bridge that will actually stand. Part of the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series.

Monkey was quite proud of her bridge, as you can tell from the photo. She was delighted her bridge held up and could stand on its own. She displayed it on a shelf as an art piece for several days until Bo got a hold of it and destroyed it. Monkey was gracious about that, however. :-)

If you make a Q-tip bridge as one of your engineering activities for kids, share your design with us on the Schooling a Monkey Facebook page! 

Looking for ideas for STEM activities for kids? Look no further than these 31 simple and fun STEM projects that will make learning fun.

Go see the other engineering activities for kids on the 31 days of STEM activities for kids page. Find more STEM activities for kids here. 

If you’re looking for more homeschooling advice, check out the 31 days of homeschooling tips for moms series.

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Filed Under: Engineering Activities Tagged With: engineering

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 about science to keep up with her daughter.

Through simple at-home science experiments, Brenda developed a passion for science and now acts as an advocate for STEM education for kids at her website STEAMsational.com.

« 31 Days of STEM Activities for Kids: Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Foil
Paper Airplane Engineering Challenge »

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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