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Have you ever seen the Marshmallow challenge? It’s one of my favorite STEM challenges around. That’s why I thought it would be really fun to take that challenge and make it seasonal.
BUILDING WITH CANDY PUMPKINS
Materials
Toothpicks
Candy Pumpkins
Setup is super simple. I just put out a small bowl of pumpkins and a jar of toothpicks and let my kids go to town. I want to admit that we tried this with candy corn pumpkins (like the ones we dissolved in this experiment) but it didn’t work.
We had to go back to the drawing board and try something new.
Instructions
For this experiment, I let the boys choose how they wanted to explore.
Option 1: build the tallest tower you can with a set number of toothpicks and candy pumpkins.
Option 2: build structures with candy pumpkins and toothpicks.
The boys both decided that for this first exposure, they wanted free building and engineering. I have to tell you, I was pretty impressed by their creations!
It’s funny, when you let the kids take the lead you might be surprised with what they design. In my head, we should definitely only build up and build towers, but Legoman (9) had different plans.
When he told me he wanted to make a pumpkin and a witches hat, I thought he was crazy. I even told him “that might be really hard.” Now I feel bad that I limited him. Look what he created!
As he built, he counted and measured, using tons of math without even realizing it. There was so much trial and error involved and was great for his scientific thinking.
Once he finished, he was so proud that he had created his pumpkin. He loved the way everything turned out and the shapes that he used to create it. Now, on to the next challenge… a witches hat.
One of the coolest things he realized is that he could not make a round object without changing the pattern on the base. He needed to make a square-triangle pattern.
When I asked him about it, he said “Look, if I make squares it just goes straight. If I want to turn it I have to do this pattern. It makes the edges round. “
Honestly, not sure I would have figured that out on my own. I love watching children think!
Building Towers with Candy Pumpkins
Now, on the flip-side my other son wanted to build towers. He started out with a different plan and thought he would just stick the sticks in the candies and see what happens.
After he played with the materials more, he realized that he could build a tower if he connected the candies with toothpicks and made squares.
” If I connect these like this they are stronger and won’t fall over.”
Then, more trial and error. The poor kid started having his tower fall over. He had to problem solve! That is when he decided to expand his base and make it wider at the bottom.
Presto! The tower was stronger.
Turning STEM into STEAM
The tradition “STEM” activity includes science, technology, engineering and math. However, if you add in some art, you now have STEAM. For this activity the boys decided it would be really cool to make “blueprints” of their structures. They also decided that their structures were art themselves.
As an extension, we have talked about recreating these models with clay and toothpicks to make them a little more permanent. Maybe this week we will try this!
Looking for more STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) projects and inspiration?
Check out my new book STEAM Kids and get a FREE STEAM Kids Halloween bookif you buy during launch week! You can get both books (eBook PDF format) for only $9.99! But the sale and bonus book offer ends September 21, so grab your copy now and don’t miss out!
Every Saturday we will get so many wonderful ideas linked up from around the web that we have decided we want to feature some of these great ideas. That’s why every Saturday, I will pick from the posts linked up and feature my absolute favorites. This might be a hard choice to make, luckily you can always head over to last week’s post and check out more great science resources!
This InLinkz account has expired. You can still view the linkup here
","discussion":{"numPages":1,"confidence":0.13548171997070313,"diffbotUri":"discussion|3|-130013742","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","numPosts":30,"type":"discussion","title":"Building Structures with Candy Pumpkins","posts":[{"date":"Sun, 21 Sep 2014 20:09:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says","diffbotUri":"post|3|1327296933","html":"
Looks like they really enjoyed this activity! I might have to try this with Caden!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":0,"text":"Looks like they really enjoyed this activity! I might have to try this with Caden!","type":"post"},{"date":"Sun, 21 Sep 2014 20:37:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|1994022617","html":"
They did! It was so much fun! They want to do it again!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":1,"text":"They did! It was so much fun! They want to do it again!","type":"post","parentId":0},{"date":"Sat, 27 Sep 2014 09:09:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Emma says","diffbotUri":"post|3|442707466","html":"
So much learning going on here – and so much fun!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":2,"text":"So much learning going on here – and so much fun!","type":"post"},{"date":"Sat, 27 Sep 2014 09:50:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-706636182","html":"
Thank you !
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":3,"text":"Thank you !","type":"post","parentId":2},{"date":"Sat, 27 Sep 2014 13:30:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"lej says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1602466331","html":"
looks so yummy…no I mean smart…so STEMy.and yummy get in my tummy fun!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":4,"text":"looks so yummy…no I mean smart…so STEMy.and yummy get in my tummy fun!","type":"post"},{"date":"Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:45:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-195649404","html":"
What kind of pumpkin candy did you use? You said that you didn’t use the candy corn pumpkins, but I don’t know that I have ever seen another kind.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":6,"text":"What kind of pumpkin candy did you use? You said that you didn’t use the candy corn pumpkins, but I don’t know that I have ever seen another kind.","type":"post"},{"date":"Wed, 01 Oct 2014 21:46:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|1358486803","html":"
We used jelly candies. They were in the candy isle at our grocery store. Sorry I don’t know the brand. I think “branchers” makes some.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":7,"text":"We used jelly candies. They were in the candy isle at our grocery store. Sorry I don’t know the brand. I think “branchers” makes some.","type":"post","parentId":6},{"date":"Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:15:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Leah says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-564554670","html":"
Looks like so much fun! Quick question, where did you find the gummy pumpkins? I can’t seem to find them. Thanks!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":8,"text":"Looks like so much fun! Quick question, where did you find the gummy pumpkins? I can’t seem to find them. Thanks!","type":"post"},{"date":"Wed, 01 Oct 2014 20:47:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|720242090","html":"
We got them from our local grocery store.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":9,"text":"We got them from our local grocery store.","type":"post","parentId":8},{"date":"Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:03:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"The Math Maniac says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1803192167","html":"
Love the idea of making this traditional STEM challenge seasonal! This will be great to do with my students the week of Halloween or the short week leading up to Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":10,"text":"Love the idea of making this traditional STEM challenge seasonal! This will be great to do with my students the week of Halloween or the short week leading up to Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing.
Tara The Math Maniac","type":"post"},{"date":"Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:19:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-2081444996","html":"
Can’t wait to see how your students projects turn out! Don’t forget to share with us!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":11,"text":"Can’t wait to see how your students projects turn out! Don’t forget to share with us!","type":"post","parentId":10},{"date":"Tue, 14 Oct 2014 12:37:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Science Kiddo says","diffbotUri":"post|3|374517585","html":"
This is so fun and such a great way to apply STEM! I am featuring this in a Halloween activity roundup on my blog this week ��
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":12,"text":"This is so fun and such a great way to apply STEM! I am featuring this in a Halloween activity roundup on my blog this week ��","type":"post"},{"date":"Thu, 23 Oct 2014 06:35:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Alison says","diffbotUri":"post|3|623856993","html":"
What didn’t work about the candy corn pumpkins? I’ve looked everywhere for the gummies and just ended up buying the candy corn kind.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":13,"text":"What didn’t work about the candy corn pumpkins? I’ve looked everywhere for the gummies and just ended up buying the candy corn kind.","type":"post"},{"date":"Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:46:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1179354953","html":"
The candy corn pumpkins just kept breaking. �� Hopefully you will have better luck. I’d love to see pics!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":14,"text":"The candy corn pumpkins just kept breaking. �� Hopefully you will have better luck. I’d love to see pics!","type":"post","parentId":13},{"date":"Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:33:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Trooperly says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1525645321","html":"
Great Idea!! I cannot wait to share this with my scouts at our next meeting.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":15,"text":"Great Idea!! I cannot wait to share this with my scouts at our next meeting.
http://trooperly.blogspot.com/2014/10/pumpkin-stem-project.html","type":"post"},{"date":"Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:15:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-7246244","html":"
Let us know how it turns out! Thanks for sharing!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":16,"text":"Let us know how it turns out! Thanks for sharing!","type":"post","parentId":15},{"date":"Thu, 30 Oct 2014 13:56:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Shannon says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-318689572","html":"
I love your website! Thank you for all of the great ideas! I just tried the pumpkin building activity with the candy pumpkins and they did keep breaking… I can’t find the jelly pumpkins anywhere…. any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
~Shannon
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":17,"text":"I love your website! Thank you for all of the great ideas! I just tried the pumpkin building activity with the candy pumpkins and they did keep breaking… I can’t find the jelly pumpkins anywhere…. any suggestions?
Thanks so much! ~Shannon","type":"post"},{"date":"Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:57:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|1700967477","html":"
Oh man, I am so sorry. We found ours in the halloween isle at the supermarket. They were near gumdrops. (Which might give you a clue what we will use for the next season!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":18,"text":"Oh man, I am so sorry. We found ours in the halloween isle at the supermarket. They were near gumdrops. (Which might give you a clue what we will use for the next season!","type":"post","parentId":17},{"date":"Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:01:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Kim says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1776263633","html":"
Where can you buy the candy pumpkins? I am a librarian and I would love to do this with the kids, but I can’t find them anywhere! Any suggestions on what store/supermarket sells them?
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":19,"text":"Where can you buy the candy pumpkins? I am a librarian and I would love to do this with the kids, but I can’t find them anywhere! Any suggestions on what store/supermarket sells them?","type":"post"},{"date":"Thu, 10 Sep 2015 22:17:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1590316518","html":"
I got them at the grocery store last year. I saw them there this year too!
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":20,"text":"I got them at the grocery store last year. I saw them there this year too!","type":"post","parentId":19},{"date":"Tue, 13 Oct 2015 06:25:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Laurel Kochtanek","authorUrl":"http://Pumpkin/ToothpickExperiment","diffbotUri":"post|3|1655391405","html":"
Can you tell me if there is a good number of pumpkins & toothpicks to use for the experiment? I have a class of 26 kids.
Thanks
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":21,"text":"Can you tell me if there is a good number of pumpkins & toothpicks to use for the experiment? I have a class of 26 kids. Thanks","type":"post"},{"date":"Tue, 13 Oct 2015 08:53:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Lemon Lime Adventures says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-319992791","html":"
You can limit the challenge to 10 toothpicks and 10 pumpkins each if you want. We like to try 10, then 20, then unlimited free play in a center. Hope that helps.
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":22,"text":"You can limit the challenge to 10 toothpicks and 10 pumpkins each if you want. We like to try 10, then 20, then unlimited free play in a center. Hope that helps.","type":"post","parentId":21},{"date":"Sat, 24 Oct 2015 09:30:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"Jennifer says","diffbotUri":"post|3|-1586712619","html":"
Would love to do this! Has anyone been able to find these pumpkins this year?
","pageUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/","id":23,"text":"Would love to do this! Has anyone been able to find these pumpkins this year?","type":"post"},{"date":"Mon, 12 Oct 2015 05:30:00 GMT","humanLanguage":"en","author":"October 12","authorUrl":"http://lemonlimeadventures.com/building-structures-candy-pumpkins/#comment-111706","diffbotUri":"post|3|-597832014","html":"
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