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!