#BabipurSTEM – Earthquakes
It’s time for a new STEM challenge and this fortnight we want you to have fun with your littles and “rock their worlds” (sorry) whilst exploring the topic; Earthquakes! Feel free to get creative with your toys, your sweetie tin and your recycling bin for this one.
Earthquakes
We used the wobbel360 to demonstrate this as a visual. We used the Grimms Pastel Boards and laid them out to resemble the tectonic plates then we shook and wobbled the 360 and watched them separate and move around. You could recreate this with baking trays, or jelly and use terminology where appropriate depending on the age of your little ones.
We explained that most common causes of earthquakes are;
- Sudden shift in the plates can cause an energy build up
- Volcanic erruptions
- Human made explosions/drilling
Volcanoes
Our fabulous new Buddy Maria has done some lovely educational volcanic themed flat lays for her children. These are brilliant and as well as being a fantastically informative set up, it doubles as a perfect scene for some small world play. This activity is great for multiple ages and/or siblings!
Maria has used the monochrome Grimms Building boards and Mini Rainbow, Grapat coins and Mandala pieces and the Grimms Semi Circles. We also spy one of our Babipur exclusive Real Nappy Week notebooks!
Earthquake Tower Experiment
We challenged our boys to build different towers to see which would be the best build to withstand an earthquake. They kept it simple and we did this after school so it was really good activity to do before dinner. We used the Trigonos Mini Medium Set, which is amazing. You could easily use cotton buds and sweeties (think marshmallows or jelly sweets) instead as a fab alternative.
Our youngest opted for a simple structure, the most basic of towers. In fairness the Trigonos set requires a certain amount of force and dexterity that our 3 year old does not possess! We stood it on the wobbel360 and gave it a wobble to imitate an earthquake. Obviously it toppled instantly.
Our middlest designed a 2D house and added the fabric sheet for “balance” apparently. This didn’t work either and fell down quickly.
Our eldest, who is rather taken with the Triginos set, sat and built a solid 3D structure. It was a straightforward design with a square base and sides finished off with a roof and a flag! When we did the wobbel test, they all thought it would fall but it remained standing even after some extra vigorous wobbeling!
We left the boys to it while they made tower after tower to see what would withstand an earthquake. Their findings were presented to me over dinner; Short and solid structures were the best. Tall and narrow were the worst.
A lovely bit of child led play and experimentation, we’re going to call that a win!
How do you enter?
All you have to do is post a picture or video on your public Instagram account or in the Babipur Hangout Group on Facebook showing your little ones making learning fun whilst exploring the topic of EARTHQUAKES. Use the tag #babipurSTEM so we can find your entries and on Instagram don’t forget to tag @babipur too!
Multiple entries are always encouraged and we’ll post some STEMspiration for you over the fortnight. The challenge will run for 2 weeks and entries will count from today up to Wednesday 12th June 2019 at 11am. Both the winner and the next challenge will be announced shortly after.
What’s the prize?
This fortnight we’re giving away a set from one of the new brands to Babipur; a Trigonos Mini set, size Medium. This is an amazingly creative open ended set that’s not just fun to play with but educational too, perfect for entering future STEM challenges!
You can find a blog post >here< explaining the concept of STEM if you’re unfamiliar with the idea. Please feel free to ask us any questions, this challenge is all about having fun whilst exploring a simple theme in an educational way.
We can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this challenge. We love looking through your entries and seeing how you make learning fun with Babipur!
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