STEAM Challenge - Baby Bear's Chair

Activity: Baby Bear's Chair

• Read any version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears with your child
• Wonder aloud what the bears might have done about the broken chair. How would they have fixed it?

• Wonder aloud about things that have broken that you've had to fix. Share how you did it.

• Pretend that the bear family has come to your "Fix-It Shop In the Woods" and asked you to fix Baby's Bear Chair.

Materials

• Cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, craft sticks, egg cartons, etc

• Tape, glue, paper clips, brads, rubber bands, etc (aka "connectors")

• Scissors (children will need help cutting cardboard)

• Paper, markers, crayons, markers

Questions

• How will you build the chair?

• What do chairs need?

• Where does Baby Bear sit?

• How can you build a strong chair that won't fall down?

• Why do think Baby Bear's chair broke but the others didn't?

The MOST IMPORTANT Questions and Comments

• What do you think will happen if . . . 

• Tell me about your chair.

• What part needs to be stronger to keep the chair from falling down?

Time

• 30 minutes (at least!)

Extension

• Find a weight of some kind (maybe a small toy) to test the stability of the chair. If/when it falls down, try again!

• "I have not failed. I've just found 1000 ways that won't work." - attributed to Thomas Edison

Skills Learned and Practiced

• Social-Emotional - cooperation, collaboration, tenacity

• Language - vocabulary

• Cognitive - cause and effect, problem solving, scientific process/inquiry

• Physical - fine motor, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness

Credit

Making and Tinkering With STEM, Solving Design Challenges with Young Children 

by Cate Heroman (NAEYC)

Take pictures of your child's creations and share them in the comments section below!