My son gets pretty excited when I break out any kind of candy activity, and it seems like Valentine’s Day is one of the best holidays for combining candy with easy Valentine STEM activities. We went all out with our Valentines Day Candy Building for a real blast of a time!
VALENTINE’S DAY CANDY STRUCTURES FOR STEM!
BUILDING STRUCTURES
Soft candy and toothpicks are a winning combination for building structures for STEM. Depending on the season or the desired outcome, there are so many variations to try. If you don’t want to use candy, consider straws and play dough or even apple chunks! We have enjoyed using gumdrops in the past.
Check out more fun candy science experiments!
VALENTINE STEM ACTIVITIES
What is STEM all about? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math! STEM is amazing for young kids because they are naturally curious and love to test and experiment with their ideas and discover new things.
I love to share STEM with my son because it provides so many valuable life lessons he can use forever. Not only are great STEM activities education, but they are also playful.
Plus, as a bonus, we like to share inexpensive STEM ideas that can be so simple to get started with at home. Candy buildings use at least two of the STEM pillars. Kids get to try out their engineering and math skills.
CANDY BUILDING
Open the cupboards and get set for a little kitchen science…
NOTE: If food is not a possible supply option, make playdough. Click here to see our assortment of playdough recipes!
SUPPLIES:
- Candy Jelly Hearts or Marshmallows
- Toothpicks
BUILDING VALENTINE’S DAY STRUCTURES
You can enjoy this Valentine’s Day candy-building activity in many ways. Get out the candy and toothpicks, and choose what you want to build first.
Some of our ideas include sculptures, animals, shapes in both 2D and 3D, towers, domes, and now a rocket! Check out our cool heart rocket below. It’s pretty strong too!
So many terrific skills are used for building Valentine’s Day structures. It’s a fantastic way to encourage fine motor skills through play. Kids are so busy designing, building, problem-solving, and having fun to notice all the fine motor work!
VALENTINE STEM CHALLENGE: BUILD A HEART “ROCKET”
First, we started with a base such as a hexagon shape. Each row has two toothpicks in each heart. Next, we used pieces of toothpicks {easy to break} to stabilize the structure as you build upwards. Our design came to life as we went along.
Keep adding layers with the same pattern. Towards the top, we adjusted the number of toothpicks we used per heart as it got tight.
FREE PRINTABLE VALENTINE STEM CALENDAR AND CARDS!
Remember, the bigger the base, the taller it will be, and the more hearts you will need to use! We used the whole large bag.
This makes a terrific open-ended invitation to build for kids of all ages! Plus, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon.
Printable Valentine STEM Project Pack
Countdown to Valentine’s Day with science and STEM! Pack includes complete instructions, templates, and images for 20+ activities. Bonus: printable science Valentine’s Day cards!
These are amazing ideas! And so simple I can do them for my grandkids in minutes. Thank you so much