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Measurement STEM Lab

Since my daughter is a very kinesthetic learner, I've been trying really hard to come up with more hands on math activities for her. We recently spent couple days working on a series of measurement and geometry activities that ended up being really fun. 
#thebarefootmom


 Create Your Own Unit Of Measurement
Have a discussion about different units of measurement for measuring distance like feet, inches, meters, miles, etc... Talk about how some units of measurement are more practical for certain situations. Measuring the distance between your house and the grocery store is generally done in a large unit of measurement like miles or kilometres. Measuring that large of a distance with a small unit of measurement like inches or centimeters would be impractical.  Then challenge your child to come up with their own unit of measurement to measure a set of distances. 

 For our challenge, I asked my daughter to create a unit of measurement to measure from one side of our house to the other, and another unit of measurement to measure the height of her table. She decided to use her own feet to measure across the house, and a marker to measure the height of her table.


Make A Simple Balance Scale
For this activity you will need:
-a hanger with hooks or notches
-string
-scissors
-2 paper or plastic cups
-a hole punch 
-scissors
-rice
-a tape measure or ruler


Using your tape measure or ruler measure six equal lengths of string one foot long.

 Carefully punch three holes around the outside of each cup a half inch below the rim. 

 Tie a string in each hole in one of the cups and hold the other ends of the three strings together and tie them from one of the hanger's hooks or notches. Repeat with the other cup and hang it from the hanger's other hook or notch. 



Hang the hanger from a door knob, and now you have a simple balance scale.


Pour a small amount of dried rice into one of the cups and observe what happens to the scale. Then give your child some rice and challenge them to use it to balance the two sides of the scale.

 Then just let your child explore with it. My daughters had fun comparing the weights of different coins in their coin collection. 


Edible Volume Activity
This is a fun activity for exploring volume. Pull out a favorite snack that comes in small dry pieces like gold fish crackers, popcorn, raisins, or dry cereal. Pour a couple cups onto a tray or baking sheet. Then challenge your child to try to build a container to hold exactly that amount of snack. 

 Let your child get creative and have their pick of materials to build their container with. Construction paper, aluminum foil, tag board, tape, glue, and popsicle sticks are some ideas they could explore. 

 When your child is finished with their container, test it out. Does it hold all of the snack? Is there extra space?

Level Activity
Discuss what it means for something to be level. If you own a level, pull it out and let your child test if surfaces, tables, and picture frames around your home are level. 

 Then try constructing your own level. Get a plastic drinking cup or water bottle, one with rings around it. Fill the cup or bottle with water to one of the rings. Then show your child that it can be used as a level. Just set it on a surface and look to see if the water is aligned with the ring or not. Try using it to straighten a picture frame or something on your wall.


Can you come up with any other ways to make a simple level?


If you enjoyed this post, check out:
-Edible Division Activity 
-25 Awesome STEM Activities 
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