Marshmallow Building

All construction should be this sweet

by Jennifer Cooper, posted on January 26th, 2011 in Arts & Crafts, Science Fun

Today, we’re wrapping up our Science for Kids activities. Although, I guess, technically, this is probably more of a math or engineering activity. In any event, I’ve saved the easiest, and tastiest, one for last.

Kids, remember on Monday when I said, “Don’t eat what you make.” Well, you can ignore that for this project. Yum!

Parents, your turn: You don’t have to do much of anything for this one except provide a bag or two of mini marshmallows and toothpicks. Feel free to provide a helpful hint or two about how triangles can be used to reinforce objects (think bridges) and encourage them to try something different if the first structure doesn’t work out (power of perseverance) but generally, just let them take it and run with it. The kids will be highly entertained. In fact, these kids below built for an hour or more. True story.

Oh! Almost forgot! Note learned from experience: if you’re combining the science experiments in this series for a birthday party or playdate, this activity is a great one to do while the kids let their Preposterous Polymer rest. You can even break the kids into groups and have them work together on this one.

Okay, enough from me. Let’s get on with the good stuff! We give you: Marshmallow Building