It’s the time of year when we have a ton of plastic eggs in our house which is what led me to start thinking about Easter egg STEM ideas. Once I started thinking about our overflowing bin of plastic eggs and the many ways we could play and learn with them, I found that I couldn’t stop. I even created a new resource using them as inspiration. Today, I thought I’d share one of the fun activities from this new resource. In true activity fashion, I’ll be including the supplies needed (things from around the house!), how to set up the play, and what your little one is learning during playtime.
Supplies for Easter Egg Stem Challenge
This activity only needs two supplies – plastic Easter eggs and play dough! Technically, you could use plastic balls in place of the eggs if you’ve already put them away. The results will still be similar.
How to Set Up for Easter Egg STEM Play
Set out eggs and play dough. Invite your child to use the materials to build different structures and buildings. What can I say? I like to keep the supplies and set up simple. If you want to vary things up, you could include additional materials for your little one to use when building. There are no rules against it. This challenge is actually perfect for all ages – even adults will find it entertaining to see what they can build with just two materials.
What is your little one learning with the Easter Egg STEM Challenge?
- The first thing they are learning is how to build and problem solve. I tried this activity out myself to get pictures and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Your little one will have to experiment with how much play dough it takes to connect two objects.
- Talk about the structures they build. This turns the activity into a chance to build vocabulary and communication skills as well. Let them tell you what they’re building – never guess! When we let our little ones tell us about their creations, we build their confidence and pride in their own work.
- Use the eggs to create different shapes. This is a great way to extend the learning or to engage your little one. My eldest often sits down and goes “I don’t know what to build.” By giving him a suggestion, I allow him to get started with the materials and sometimes getting started is the hardest part.
- Prompt your little one to count and think about the structures they are building by asking how many eggs does it take to build a ______? You can fill in the blank with any fun structure you can think of.
- Join your little one in the building! This will allow for bonding time and open discussion. As I mentioned above, this challenge isn’t quite as easy as it looks.
It’s time to play!
I value your time and like to keep these posts short, so we’re going to end this post on the Easter Egg STEM Challenge. Grab those eggs and some play dough and let’s see what you create! If you share your work on Instagram, tag it with #littlelearningmoments so that I can check it out. I love to see what you do with these activity ideas.
P.S. Here’s the link to that resource one more time in case you want to find out which 30 ideas made it into my Easter Egg Play and Learn Cards resource!
Looking for more easy ideas to do with your toddlers and preschoolers? Check out this free download of Play Moments: A Guide to Play-Based Learning. In it, I’ve included 20 of our favorite activities for little learners!