Summer Stem Challenge: Balloon Race Cars

We feel like time is running away from me this summer!  Maybe we've been too lazy.  I don't know.  I like the lazy days of summer!  But, I am determined to finish this blog series!  We have 3 more weeks of summer and we are half way through our Summer Stem Challenge.  It's probably the only thing I've done specifically lately.  I seriously can't find any motivation.  Friends, this is so serious!  My motivation is seriously lacking.  I blame the 3 digit temps we are enduring (and praising God for air conditioning because we are NEVER leaving this house!).  just kidding. 

Anyways, let's get on with this current Stem Challenge.  Most of you all know that my boys are pretty much obsessed with legos.  Weston saw a commercial on tv one day last Spring that showed kids racing legos with balloons and that has pretty much been his goal for this summer.  We finally did it this week (because I kept forgetting to buy balloons (oops!).  It worked out great because his friend Tanner came over and we really needed something fun to do. 

I sent the kids into the bedroom to build a car.  I didn't give them any rules, I just wanted them to build.  Weston and Tanner had a fun creating their cars and giving them mini figure drivers.  Ethan (who was doing his best to stay out of his brother's way) just grabbed a race car he had already built (from a creator set).  Each car was so different from the other which is what I wanted.  The only thing they had have was a clamp piece. (I knew we had some, but I was surprised at how easy they found them! That was the piece they used to connect the balloon to their car. 

We blew up the balloons, fastened them to their cars and watched them go. . . or not move.  Then we talked about why one moved and why the others didn't.  The looked at the design, the weight, and then rearranged the cars and tried again.  This time they all went a little further than they did before.  We then tried again and again until basically this mom ran out of air (ha ha!).   

This activity was a ton of fun and I can see us doing it again.  Maybe on a rainy day (I'm totally dreaming of weather right now) or a day that we just need something fun to do.  I love how this teaches them that it is okay to fail.  It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. . . or even the second or third.  We need to be able to allow our kids to fail so they can see and learn from those experiences!  What better way to make this happen by including legos!  I will be honest with you, the first time there was a little disapointment when one of the cars did not move at all.  But, we talked about it, the design was changed and each time he changed something it went a little farther and each time the smile got bigger and bigger as the pride that came from him doing something on his own. 

Have you done any STEM activities this summer?  Send me a picture or tag me in one. . . I would love to do a wrap up at the end of this series and include your pictures.  (Jolieklassen@gmail.com, @jolieklassen on instagram), our outoftherightbrain on facebook.  Come find me and share your pictures! 

Traveling with kids and loving it!

We've reached that sad point in summer, where it's over halfway done and school supplies are all ready out and I am sitting here ignoring it. There was a day, that I could NOT wait for my kids to start back, but guys, I DON'T want summer to end.  It's true.  I really love just hanging out with my kids and oh, yeah, they do a lot of stuff on their own, so they really don't need me all the time, so it's totally not as exhausting as it once was.  (Mom's of littles, there is hope.  I promise you!). 

Anyways, I thought I would take a few minutes today and share what we took with the kids on our summer adventure.  Each year, we pick a spot and spend a week or two exploring.  This year, we decided to stay local and head for some Northern California fun.  Ethan is heading into 4th grade, which means California History and we just want to soak that in this year.  California has this rich, diverse history that is super fun to explore! 

This year we headed North to Pacific Grove and Carmel.  Drove along 17 mile drive, had lunch at Pebble Beach and dreamed of the day the kids would be good enough golfers to go with their dad.  Then we headed up to San Francisco for a Giant's Baseball game and exploring (and shopping!).  We found a lego store and despite how tired every one was, both boys perked up exponentially!  The next day, we walked half way across the Golden Gate Bridge and Ubered around to the Mission District and Fisherman's Wharf.  We even took a spontaneous boat ride around the Bay! The next day we hit the road and drove South to Palo Alto, for some exploring around Stanford and then a professional soccer game.  Our last night was spent in San Jose, where we explored the downtown area, ate delicious food, and had some fun at the Tech Museum.  On the way home, we drove South and hit 2 more California missions making a total of 5 for this trip (there are 21 up and down the coast of Californai) and went and saw the Pinnacles National Park.  It was way too hot to do any hiking, so we headed over the hills and back home.  It was quite the trip! 

We've been traveling with our kids since they were born and we don't plan on stopping.  Our kids love it!  Weston woke up on our first day, and jumped into our bed proclaiming it "Adventure Day." We are firm believers that traveling with our kids gives them a view of how big and diverse the world is and allows them to see that it is so much bigger than our town and neighborhood.  It is hands down the highlight of our year and even Weston is still talking about last year's Chicago trip!  I think that sometimes we underestimate just how much our kids are capable of, because these kids walk so many miles each day exploring fun places wherever we go!  So, here are a few suggestions to help make your trip fun and keep you sane.

First of all, each kid is responsible for their own stuff.  They each have a rolling suitcase and a backpack.  We Love the quality of Pottery Barn Kids luggage and backpack collections, so that's what we use.  This year, since we were spending more time in the car, we gave them lap desks that had storage and handles.  Super easy!

The lap desks came in handy in our hotel rooms when we were just  hanging out before bed.  The kids were able to write in their journals and work on stuff while they chilled under their blankets. 

One thing we bought this year, that I wish we would have known more about before, was the MiFold booster seat.  This was a life saver for Uber rides!  In San Francisco, we knew we were going to try to hit a bunch of places on different ends of town, like the Golden Gate Bridge and Tartine  (oh, the delicious bread!) and the Mission.  This was so easy to set up, and was super easy to carry around.  And Weston was safe in the car, which is what really mattered. 

This year we didn't fly anywhere, which meant more time in the car.  The longest we drove was about 3 hours, which really wasn't that far.  I still wanted to get the kids some things that were new and exciting for the kids to enjoy on the road and in the hotel room. 

I filled both kid's backpacks with our go-to travel stuff like their kindles, ear phones, Twistables, and their binders filled with papers, stickers, games.

This year, we added:
What was the San Francisco Earthquake plus I survived the San Francisco Earthquake on his kindle, Travel Boggle, Activity Book (those Kids Unplugged books are super neat and perfect for both Weston and Ethan, our tween), Road Trip Brain Quest, and another activity book I found in the dollar spot at Target. 

Weston's was very similar, but a little different.  I found magnetic pixels at our Home Good's Store on clearance!  That ended up being the most popular! Magnetic checkers, a different activity book by the same people, and some fun books I found on clearance at GW, along with some Captain Underpants books I downloaded to his kindle. 

Each year, I make the kids keep a journal of their adventures and I am always scrambling to make one and get it bound before we leave.  This year, I found these cool adventure logs in the Target Dollar Spot (guys, this is probably the best thing Target has ever done!).  They were a dollar and will last more than this trip! The kids willingly wrote in them each night before going to bed.  I think they may have liked it! 

Along with all of the fun stuff, we also bring snacks.  Our favorite travel snacks are:
Goldfish, Epic Meat bars/sticks, Annies Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Justin's Peanut Butter/almond butter pouches, and Gold Fish. 

We specifically pick our hotel rooms that have great breakfasts.  We stayed at a few Best Western hotels for this very reason.  They get both waffles and eggs and it keeps them happy until we find lunch somewhere. I'll be honest with you, because of these breakfasts and not always being around food that was allergy friendly, we ate at really odd times and nobody really minded.  We always had snacks or bought  snacks when it was needed.  We tried new coffee places and even had our coffee made by a robot (which was my favorite the whole trip!). 

Have you traveled anywhere this summer?  Do you take your kids?  What kind of things do you pack for them?  I am always looking for new ideas!  Feel free to send them my way if you have one! 

Summer Stem Challenge: Pom Pom Catapults

 I've sat at my computer for an hour.  I've gotten up a bazillion times (so, maybe not a bazillion, but you get my point!).  I now have coffee and maybe I can sit here and focus on my writing.  The hubby took two weeks off and it was lovely (sorry about the lack of blog posts!).  Today, he went back and we are all wandering around like lost puppy dogs.   It's hot and we are so unfocused.  We need to get back into our routine, but reading all day and traveling have kind of been the agenda and well. . . that's more fun that laundry.  We are also tired.

The one thing that has been constant is that the kids got up thinking we were going to do a STEM activity today, and I was like, umm, no.  We will get to the next one, later this week, but first, I need to find my groove. . . and my house.  The point of that, is they are just loving this Summer Stem Challenge and I hope you all are too!

So, let's get to it!

I think anytime my boys get to make things fly, shoot across a room, or even knock something down makes them giddy.  Since this one did all of those, let's just say that it went over VERY well. . . even with the hubby! Also, this was a great boredom buster, on top of some science and engineering.  They played happily for over an hour both days we pulled them out!  Definitely a win!  And, I am sure now that we are back from vacation, they will come out as a way to keep them busy.  So, really, this STEM project will save you so much of your sanity. . . if you can tolerate some pom poms flying around! 

First thing:  Gather your materials. 
You will  need popsicle sticks (2 sizes), rubber bands, plastic spoons and some pom poms.  You could even use marshmallows, but it summer and ants are just waiting for an excuse to come in!  All these things you can find at your local dollar store (probably), if you don't have them laying around, like we did. 

Next:  Build your catapult.  

 Step 1:  Gather some small popsicle sticks and stack them.  Probably around 8. . . it's up to you how tall you think will be best.  Keeping them stacked, wrap both ends tightly with a rubber band.  Set aside.

 Step 2:  Take a 2 bigger popsicle sticks and wrap one rubber band around the end. 

 Step 3: Lay a spoon over the top of that stack and wrap a rubber band around one of the popsicle sticks in your stack.  Spread them apart slightly and wedge your smaller stick stack inside.  Like an alligator. 

 Step 4: Place pom pom onto spoon and bend backward to send it flying!  Don't try to get your kids to stop. . . it's hard. 

I even set up different sized containers for them to aim the pom poms in.  Surprisingly, they made some "goals" and kept trying.  When we asked them to clean up, they didn't want to!  Total win!

Also, the looks on their faces say it all!  They had a blast building, exploring, and playing.

Have you tried out a STEM challenge yet?  I would love to hear about it!  Feel free to comment below and make my day!