At CodeREV Kids, we’re always looking for kids to get involved with STEM related activities and as the holidays creep up on us, we’ve been thinking about ways to keep kids excited. We came up with a way for kids to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving while becoming involved in STEM activities – and all it takes is toothpicks and cranberries.

The easiest way to get started is to divide up your cranberries and toothpicks and give each child their own baking sheet with their own supplies. This helps to ensure you don’t have to deal with crushing cranberries under your feet while you’re preparing your Thanksgiving feast! Begin by making a structure so they’ll know how it works. Essentially, you take a toothpick and put a cranberry on each end of it. Then add more toothpicks to each cranberry and before you know it, you have a structure that can be built upon.

Depending on how old your children are, this is a good time to talk to them about STEM issues like what the center of gravity is, and why a structure that has a larger base can be stable at a much higher height than a base that’s smaller.

Once they have the basic idea down, you can get creative and ask them for some interesting projects. For example, you might ask them to build a Christmas Village, or a rocket to the moon. Ask them to build something that’s even taller than the table, or even something taller than they are! If you have several kids working, you can also ask them to work collaboratively.

Remember that this project isn’t about your kids creating a perfect result. Instead, it’s a way for them to learn. If their structure breaks apart, help them figure out why. This is a great hands-on way for kids to begin to understand some of the basic principles of gravity.

At CodeREV Kids, we think projects like this are very interesting but of course we encourage kids to get involved in our comprehensive coding classes too. Like the above project, they give kids the chance to learn STEM concepts in a hands-on environment. In fact, our students wouldn’t know they were actually learning new things if we didn’t tell them – they just think they’re having fun, gaining confidence, and making new friends! The fact that they’re actually increasing a host of other skills is just an added bonus for them.