Are you searching for the perfect Halloween STEM activity for your classroom this year? Whether you are planning a grade level gathering, Halloween parties, or just a fun, easy-themed activity for October, I have the PERFECT challenge for students. It’s Catapulting Pumpkins STEM!
Have you ever tried a STEM challenge with your students? Not only is it super engaging, but it also allows for creativity, hands-on learning, and so much more. The prep is minimal and the fun is endless. You will be amazed at how into this activity your students get! So what does it entail? Let’s dive in!
The Halloween STEM Prep
To prepare for this Halloween STEM activity, you will need a few materials. If you plan ahead, you can ask families to donate. If not, you can always hit the dollar store to grab your materials. I like to partner students up, so you will need enough sets for pairs or groups of students. So what’s needed?
Things to Launch: candy corn, candy pumpkins, marshmallows, or plastic eyeballs
These are all suggested materials. You can use as few or as many things on the list as possible! You can also grab some mini cauldrons and try to have students launch into the cauldron!
The Halloween STEM Challenge
After you have gathered the needed materials, it’s time to present the Halloween STEM challenge to students! You will explain that students will design their own catapult to try and launch their candy as far as possible. Before students are ready to design, you can show them sample catapults and design tips for creation. Share as little or as much as you want to support your little learners. For example, we completed this activity with our fifth-grade buddies. The fifth graders had already learned about catapults so they helped our littles design and put together their catapults. The teamwork element worked out great and the fifth graders were great mentors during the process!
When you’ve spent some time teaching students the basics, it’s time to get designing. Students will work to create their design of their catapult before building. They will discuss what materials they need and draw their design. We typically give students 10-15 minutes on this part of the process. After they have finished drawing their design, it’s time to build! They gather their materials needed and build their design. Again, we typically give students about 10-15 minutes to build their designs before testing.
You can provide each group with the same materials or be more flexible and give groups more materials if they need them. It’s totally up to you! And of course there’s no tricks, just treats over here so treat yo’ self with this freebie! To thank you for subscribing, check out this amazing and] fun Dissolving Candy Experiment activity to help you enjoy all the spooky vibes!
Ready, Set, Launch!
Are you ready for the fun part?! It’s time to test the designs! Have everyone start at the same spot and see how far their pumpkins will launch! You can bring out rulers or yardsticks or just have fun. That’s the best part of this easy and engaging activity: it’s flexible and entertaining! Students will love testing their designs to see how far their pumpkins fly. You can even have students see what went well or fix any needed design flaws before testing again. Don’t forget to reflect and discuss after the activity is over. This is an important piece of Halloween STEM for your little engineers!
All Fun and No Stress
Want all the fun with none of the stress? You’ll love the jam packed Halloween bundle found HERE! It’s got everything you need for a fun-filled October! From center activities to projects and more, your students will have a blast, and you’ll have everything you need!
If you loved this and want even more Halloween ideas, check out these posts below!!
10 Frightfully Engaging Ways to Celebrate Halloween
5 Fun Halloween Must Have Activities
I hope you enjoyed learning about this super fun Halloween STEM challenge for your classroom! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Dissolving Candy Experiment FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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