Craft Stick Creations connects hands-on learning and building to fun and educational STEM concepts. The kit includes a 44 page activity book with 10 different projects and building materials in a convenient storage box.
The activity book is a fantastic learning tool that includes step-by-step directions to build each project and learning materials to supplement each creation. It reviews fascinating STEM concepts like potential energy vs. kinetic energy. It explains how projects like the boomerang and chain reaction are evidence of how energy works.
Building projects such as a bridge, sailboat, catapult and marble maze demonstrate the concepts of force and motion. Some activities have additional parts called Imagine and Think Bigger! that prompt kids to predict, hypothesize, test, and record their findings in the activity book. The end of the activity book encourages students to make real-world connections showing examples of “real-life” building projects such as ferris wheels, bridges, and machines.
Our eager builders took one look at the Craft Stick Creations kit and immediately started sifting through the activity booklet dreaming of what to build first. Some projects require “around the house materials,” which we easily gathered.
Builders moved through the scientific method without even knowing it! They gathered materials, followed step-by-step instructions for building as they participated in hands-on learning. They made observations and revisions; they asked questions and predicted. They were experimenting, learning, and having fun!
One of our toy testers completed the catapult project. Our STEM’er searched the house for different materials to test on his newly built catapult. He made predictions on what would go the furthest. “I think the bouncy ball will go the furthest and the cotton ball the least.” He even got out some masking tape so that he could record distance traveled of catapulted materials on the floor.
Craft Stick Creations is a great learning kit for scientists, builders, and eager learners. Kids developed their fine motor skills when creating and exercised their brain when moving through scientific concepts, all while growing their minds.
