Autumn TK STEM Labs

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"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!" --- Anne of Green Gables

We have had so much fun with TK STEM Labs during the month of October. We run the same lab twice with the students visiting 5 of the 10 centers each time. Each lab lasts about 40 minutes, with time for directions and each station lasting about 5ish minutes. (With 4 year olds, that's enough time.) One lab focused on apples, and the other focused on pumpkins and leaves. They were both big hits with the kids who couldn't wait to get in and get started each week. Below are lists of the activities at each lab, followed by snapshots of the kids enjoying the centers.

Apple STEM Lab:

• Apple books
• Apple bowling (roll an apple into empty water bottles)
• Science experiment -- make apple seeds dance (using our old favorites vinegar & baking soda)
• Apple sink/float (use an apple and various other items)
• Apple Small Motor Activity -- use tweezers to move red, yellow, green pom-poms on a tray
• Apple tasting
• Apple building -- use toothpicks and cut-up apple pieces
• Balance Apples -- balance scale, an apple, and counters
• Apple Bump (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Bump-making-ten-878452  -- free downloadable game)
• Apple Cutting Practice (a big apple with stem and leaf for the kids to cut out)

Pumpkins/Leaves STEM Lab:

• Fall Books
• Pumpkin Hammering -- use rubber mallets to hammer golf tees into a large pumpkin
• Pumpkin Roll -- Roll plastic pumpkins down an incline, changing incline slope to experiment with rolls (The classes also watched The Roll Away Pumpkin book read on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ79vcJZXSk)
• Fall Obstacle Drive -- matchbox cars through obstacle course made of leaves and sticks (leaves from Dollar Tree)
• Pumpkin Toss -- toss cloth pumpkins into a bucket/bin
• Leaf Rubbings
• Leaf/Pumpkin Stringing
• Fall Pattern Practice (https://taminglittlemonsters.com/fall-pattern-cards/  free from Taming Little Monsters)
• Pumpkin Fine Motor -- use CFA tongs to place candy pumpkins into a garden; I just made a sheet with circles on it and printed it on green paper
• Pumpkin Transport -- build magna-tile trucks to transport as many candy pumpkins as possible

I always look forward to TK STEM labs and can't wait to plan the next one. The kids find so much enjoyment and discovery in the smallest things, and it is a pleasure to plan for them and watch them experience the wonder of God's creation.