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Maker Club
2020-2021
Let's Be Creative!!
Welcome back! This year our Maker Club will be started as a virtual club. Beginning on Monday October 5, 2020, you can click here to find our Virtual Maker Club room. It is jam-packed with ideas for projects involving technology and arts and crafts. Members are encouraged to share all of their work by emailing Mrs. Somers photos or links to your digital creations.
In addition to the Maker Club room, I will be posting monthly maker club contests, just as we did last spring. See the contest page for more information.
June's Maker Club Challenge
Calling all chefs! Our challenge this month is to design and test one of the following DIY cooking techniques. Send a picture or videos of your finished product to Mrs. Somers and earn a prize!
* Please be sure to have parent approval and supervision before you begin!
Carboard Box Oven
Solar Oven
Plastic Bag Ice Cream
Here are some links for inspiration and instructions
Food Network Ice Cream in a Bag
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Here are the entries submitted for this month's Maker Challenge
Contgratulations to
Anthony Pernice and Shawn Ribeiro!
Click on their names to view their videos:
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Maker Projects for the Week of June 1st
This week we will focus on daily engineering challenges.
Don't forget to send Mrs. Somers pictures of your work.
Tuesday: June 2nd" Tower Challenge:
Build the tallest tower possible using only the following supplies:
- 12 index cards
- scissors
- tape
Monday, June 1st: Paper Cup Challenge
Can you create a cup that can hold as much as water as possible for at least 10 seconds from just one sheet of paper?
Maker Projects for the week of May 25th
Project #3:
Twig craft inspiration: Check out this website for some other twig craft inspiration. Twigs Crafts
I especially liked the stick mobiles, stick marionettes and "Stick-tac-toe"!
Project #2: Twig Frame
Project #1: Nature Weavings
Don't forget the Ping Pong Trick Shot Challenge deadline is Friday May 29th!
See below for more details!
Ping Pong Trick Shot Challenge
The deadline for submission of all Ping Pong Challenge videos is Friday, May 29, 2020. Have fun !
Daily maker projects will resume on
Tuesday, May 25th!
Our theme for the week of May 11th is our backyard! I will post activies that you can do in your backyard or a project that you can put in your backyard. Click on the picture below to find this week's project ideas.
Thank you Shawn Ribeiro for the amazing Chain Reaction Contest entry!
Be aMaker, Innovator, Inventor, Engineer, ArtistLet your creativity SHINE!For the next few weeks I will be posting daily ideas for STEAM related projects that can be done at home with a minimum amount of supplies. If you decide to try any of these projects, please take pictures or videos and email them to Mrs. Somers at asomers@wlbschools.com. I will add them to our Maker photo gallery.Click HERE to see the photo gallery.Click HERE to see videos of students' creations.*********************************************************************Week of April 27 Maker/Steam activitiesSince the weather should be nicer this week. The Maker Challenge for this week is to create nature pictures or collages. Go outside and collect leaves, stones, flowers etc.. and use them to create a picture. Don't forget to send a picture to Mrs. Somers!
Here is one created by Ray and Annael
********************************************Week of April 20, 2020 Maker/STEAM Activities
On Wednesday of this week we celebrate Earth Day. In honor of this celebration, each day this week our Maker challenge will be to reuse or upcycle a different product that we might normally throw in the trash. Let's see how creative we can be! Don't forget to send Mrs. Somers a picture!Friday, April 24th:- For our last recycling project ,create something from a plastic container that you would find in your recycling bin. It could be a plastic bottle, yogurt cup, margarine container, or coffee pod.
Thursday, April 23rd:- Find a way to make some spring flowers fro old newspapers, magazines , or junk mail that you probably have in your recylcying bins.
Wednesday April 22nd: Today is Earth Day!- Can you make something out of egg cartons to celebrate Earth day? See if you can create something from nature like an animal, insect, or flower.
Tuesday, April 21st:
- What can you make from a cardboard tube? Can you make something that moves?
Monday, April 20th:- What can you make from a plastic lid? The lids can be any size, shape or color.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Today's storytime read-aloud was about a bear and some honey bees. Bees are a very important part of our ecosystem and they are also the source of delicious honey. Learn more about how honey is harvested by watching this video:Then use the information at these two links to build your own bee hotel.https://www.vivifystem.com/blog/2019/4/22/5-life-science-stem-activities
or
https://www.pragmaticmom.com/2017/07/diy-bee-house-stem-project/
Tuesday April 7, 2020
It is a beautiful day today! It would be a great day to go outside. Today's STEM challenge is a nature scavenger hunt. Download the scavenger hunt page below and go outside and see what you can find. If you send a photo of the items you find, it will be posted to the photo gallery.Enjoy the sun today!Monday, April 6, 2020For today's challenge watch this short video and create your own bird kite.Please note that I realize we don't all have crafts supplies at home. I did not have a stapler, contruction paper, or a hole punch . So I made do without. I used tape instead of a stapler. I carefully used a pen to punch a hole and I used copy paper that I colored with markers instead of construction paper. For string I used some kitchen twine but any kind of string or yarn will work. Here is a picture of my kite. Have fun flying yours!
Friday, April 3, 2020
Today's storytime selection was The Tale of Peter Rabbit. In the story Peter had to weave his way through the maze, that was Mr. MacGregor's garden, in order to get back home to his family. For today's STEAM challenge you are tasked with creating a maze.It can be any type of maze. You could draw it. You can build it. You can create it on the computer. Be creative. Use recycled supplies from around the house. Create a maze for a marble, a ball, your pet, or for a person. If the rain lets up , go outside and create a maze in your yard. The idea is to think outside the box.I look forward to seeing pictures of your designs!Wednesday April 1, 2020Today's Story time theme is pets, so I have provided links for a variety of origami or paper craft activities relating to the theme of pets.Don't forget to send Mrs. Somers a picture of your finished project!Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The book I read in today's storytime video was called Piggies in Pajamas by Michelle Meadows. In the story the piggies have a very unusual bed. It is a bunk bed that stacks 4 high with a tunnel over the ladder. It inspired me for today's STEM challenge. See if you can build a bed using only paper and tape that can hold more than one stuffed animal. You can use any type of recycled paper like newspaper, magazines, copy paper, old junk mail.Monday, March 30, 2020
Your challenge today is make and fly a variety of paper airplane designs. Check out these links for different types of paper airplanes. Which plane flies the furthest? Can you design a plane that flies in loop-de-loops? Don't forget to send Mrs. Somers pictures of your planes.Friday, March 27, 2020Your challenge today is to make a pop-up card. watch the video below and then use the links provided to create a card. During this difficult time many people could use a greeting card to either cheer them up or to say thank you for their service. Take time today to make a card and make someone's day a little brighter!Links for pop-up card directions:https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pop-Up-Card
https://tinkerlab.com/simple-diy-pop-up-cards-for-creative-kids/
Thursday, March 26, 2020Your challenge today is a science and engineering challenge. See if you can create a flotation device for one of your action figures or dolls. Watch my science experiment below to see if it helps you with your ideas. Send me a picture or video of your design.Wednesday, March 25, 2020Tuesday, March 24, 2020Today's project is a paper loop STEM challenge.Monday March 23, 2020Today's STEAM challenge is inspired by the book, The Three Billy Goats Fluff. (See the story time page to hear this fairy tale adaptation). In the story the Three Billy GOats Fluff need to find a way to cross over the river to get to the fields of grass on the other side. The problem is a grumpy old troll loves under the bridge and he threatens to gobble them up if they keep bothering him with all their trip-trapping over the bridge.Your STEM challenge today is to see if you can use recycled objects from around your house to design a method for the goats to get to the other side of the bridge without bothering the troll. You can use any kind of recycled materials for this projects; Some ideas might be: cardboard tubes, paper plates, egg cartons, cans, plastic containers, and plastic lids. You can also use craft supplies, like yarn, string, glue and tape. Think outside the box to solve this problem. You should ot just design another bridge.Have fun designing and don't forget to send photos or videos of your finished project to Mrs. Somers!Check out Alice's design to help the billy goats cross the RIVER.Friday, March 20, 2020Create your own mini comic books!Thursday, March 19, 2020Blooming Paper FlowersCreate beautiful paper flowers that will magically bloom when they are floated on water. The only supplies you need are paper, markers, scissors, and a bowl or dish of water. See these sites for inspiration:https://teachbesideme.com/blooming-paper-flowers-experiment/
https://thematernalhobbyist.com/blooming-puddle-paper-flowers/
Don't forget to send me pics of your beautiful flowers!Wednesday, March 18th:Check out Angelo's Thaumatrope!Today's project is an optical illusion called a Thaumatrope.Here are some links to websites that offer directions or patterns so that you can create your own thaumotrope. You only need some paper, tape, a pencil, scissors and crayonsor markers.https://images.app.goo.gl/eod41W7GFD2WKUFt5
https://www.thelittlemonsterblog.com/2015/02/make-your-own-thaumatrope.html/
I'd love to see a picture of your finished project! Send pictures to Mrs. Somers at asomers@wbschools.com.Tuesday, March 17Today's project isth:See if you can build a trap to catch a leprechaun! Watch the video below. Build your trap then click on the green + sign below to create a video to show off your design. There are some links below to give you ideas.Links for ideas:
