STEAM Challenge Friday – Heart Cup Tower

Heart Cup Tower

Build heart-shaped towers using red cups and sturdy cardboard as the base. Start by planning your design—will your heart be wide and short or tall and narrow? Carefully stack the cups to form the heart shape, making sure each layer is balanced and secure.

Materials:
-Red solo cups
-Cardboard cut into strips

Simply use the suggested materials to build your very own heart tower!

Bonus Challenges to Try:

  1. Tall Tower Challenge: How tall can you make your heart tower before it topples over?
  2. Stability Test: Gently tap the table—does your tower stay standing?
  3. Speed Challenge: Can you build your heart in under 2 minutes?
  4. Design Upgrade: Add decorations with markers, stickers, or paper hearts.
  5. Team Build: Work with a partner—one person stacks while the other checks balance.
  6. Math Moment: Count how many cups you used and compare designs with others.
  7. Creative Twist: Can you build two hearts stacked on top of each other?

Encourage your little engineer to test, adjust, and rebuild as they go. Talk about what worked, what didn’t, and how small changes can make a big difference in their design. Most importantly—have fun experimenting and creating!

How did it go? Let us know below!

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. 

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Heart Marble Maze

Heart Marble Maze

Who doesn’t love a marble maze? This heart-shaped version is a fun and engaging twist on a classic game.

Materials:
-liquid glue or hot glue
-yarn
-marble or small ball
-cardboard box or poster board

Instructions:

  1. Take a piece of cardboard or poster board and cut to desired size.
  2. Take your yarn and create a heart-maze or path and glue it to your base. If using hot glue, parent assistance may be needed.
  3. Once the glue is dry, add your marble or small ball to the entrance and carefully guide it through the maze!

By carefully tilting the board, it allows for the strengthening of hand-eye coordination and patience as they navigate each turn. For younger kids, tracing the maze with a finger or pencil is a great way to practice control and follow a path from start to finish.

Encourage them to slow down and notice how their movements affect the marble’s path.

Extra Maze Challenges to Try:

  1. Eyes-Closed Challenge: Trace the maze with a finger or pencil while keeping your eyes closed.
  2. Speed Run: Time how long it takes to complete the maze and try to beat your record.
  3. One-Hand Challenge: Can you guide the marble using only one hand?
  4. Reverse Route: Start at the finish and work your way back to the beginning.
  5. Design Twist: Add obstacles or change the maze path using tape, string, or cardboard.
  6. Team Play: One person gives directions while the other moves the marble.

These challenges encourage focus, problem-solving, and perseverance—while keeping the activity fun and hands-on for kids of all ages.

We would love to hear how this maze challenge went at home! Let us know in the comments below.

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. 

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Bubble Art

Bubble Art

Come get artsy with us today! Bubble art is a fun and colorful activity for kids of all ages!

Materials:
-Cardstock or Paper
-Water
-Dish soap
-Food Coloring
-Straw

Instructions:

  1. Add dish soap with water in a small cup
  2. Add food coloring (darker colors work best) May stain so be careful.
  3. Have your child blow bubbles with a straw until they overflow onto a sheet of paper.

When the bubbles pop, they leave a swirl of bright, unique colors—making a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Extra Bubble Art Challenges for Kids:

  1. Color Mixing Challenge: Use two or more food coloring colors in one cup and watch as the bubbles mix to create new colors on the paper.
  2. Pattern Challenge: Try blowing bubbles in a specific order or direction to create repeating patterns or designs.
  3. Size Challenge: Experiment with different bubble sizes by blowing gently or more forcefully and see how the prints change.
  4. Timed Challenge: See how many colorful bubble bursts your child can make in 1–2 minutes.
  5. Team Challenge: Work with a friend or sibling to create a collaborative bubble masterpiece. Let the bubbles dry and add marker designs.

Bubble art is not only fun but also encourages creativity, experimentation, and a bit of scientific exploration as kids watch the bubbles form, rise, and pop.

What a fun project! We hope you had fun exploring with colorful bubbles. Send us a comment or pictures so we can see your beautiful work!

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. 

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Paper Heart Sculpture

Paper Heart Sculpture

Are you ready to get creative today? This simple paper heart challenge requires minimal materials but will add a fun and festive decor to your home.

Materials:
-Colored paper cut into strips (preferably white, pink, and red)
-Glue or tape

Instructions:

  1. Cut strips of paper in different lengths and gently bend each strip into a heart shape.
  2. Use tape or glue to secure the ends of each strip together at the top of the heart.
  3. Once you have several paper hearts, arrange them side by side and glue or tape them together to create a large, stunning heart structure.

This activity is perfect for practicing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and creative design.

Extra Challenges and Ideas for Kids:

  1. Pattern Challenge: Try alternating colors or sizes of the paper strips to create a rainbow or gradient heart design.
  2. Height Challenge: Stack the hearts in layers to see how tall you can make your heart sculpture without it falling over.
  3. Team Build: Work with a partner to see how many hearts you can link together in a limited time.
  4. Math Twist: Count how many strips you used and measure the width and height of your heart.
  5. Creative Twist: Create a 3D heart sculpture by bending some strips sideways to add dimension and depth.
  6. Decorate It: Add stickers, glitter, or markers to make each heart unique.

This hands-on activity encourages creativity, problem-solving, and experimentation, while also making a beautiful decoration to display at home or school.

We hope you had fun designing your Paper Heart Sculpture! Send us a comment or pictures so we can see your beautiful work.

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram.

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Cup Stacking Challenge

Cup Stacking Challenge

Your kids will love this cup stacking STEAM challenge! You’ll need 3 simple materials and 2-4 friendly faces. Work as a team, using yarn and a rubber band to build the tallest the cup pyramid! Make it a fun game and challenge each other!

Materials:
-Rubber ban
-10 Cups
-4 pieces of yarn

For some art, add some fun designs to your cup. Use sharpie or stickers.

Instructions:

  1. Tie the 4 pieces of yarn to a rubber band.
  2. Start with the cups upside down.
  3. Add the rubber band around one of the cups.
  4. Working as a team, use the strings and rubber band to hold the plastic cup.
  5. Pull on the strings to open the rubber band to release the cup.
  6. If working with 2 kids, each kid has 2 strings. If working with 4 kids, each kids get one string.
  7. Continue using this strategy stacking all the cups into a pyramid shape.

Did your pyramid fall over before finishing all 10 cups?

How tall did you get your pyramid? Try measuring it!

Can you try 15 or even 20 cups?

Can you create a fun shape instead of a pyramid?

We hope you enjoyed this fun engineering and team building challenge. As always, feel free to leave comments and pictures below!

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. We love sharing what our classes are up to as well as fun and free Challenges for you to enjoy with your family.

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Exploding Snowman

Exploding Snowman

Today’s STEAM Challenge is all about Science and a little art. Specifically, chemistry! This project requires minimal household ingredients. Simply put your bag and ingredients together and watch before your eyes a fun-filled chemistry experiment.

Materials:
-Sandwich size Ziplock bag (or larger if you want to double it for double the fun!) – the slide ones are quick and easy or little fingers
-vinegar
-blue food coloring (optional)
-baking soda
-paper towel
-black and orange sharpie

Instructions:

  1. Add snowman designs to your sandwich Ziplock bag. You can use marker/sharpie, stickers, or even construction paper.
  2. Put 3 teaspoons of baking soda in a paper towel. Wrap this up into a pouch.
  3. Optional: Add your food coloring to your folded paper towel pouch.
  4. Now quickly pour in 1-2 cups of distilled white vinegar into your melting snowman Ziplock bag.
  5. Quickly seal the bag and get ready for the chemical reaction to start with the vinegar and baking soda.

Before you add the vinegar to your bag, ask some questions to your little scientist. Like, what do we know about baking soda and vinegar. Make some observations. Then, based on our current knowledge and observations, ask what they think will happen? Make some predictions!

Now do your experiment!! What happened? Were your predictions correct? How did the ingredients change? What happened to the Ziplock bag?

What a fun chemical reaction!!

Here is what happened >>

The vinegar and baking soda creates a vigorous acid-base reaction. The bubbles you see are the rapid release of CO2 as unstable carbonic acid (formed first) breaks down, offering a fun way to learn about chemistry.

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. We love sharing what our classes are up to as well as fun and free Challenges for you to enjoy with your family.

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Polar Bear Home

It’s all about engineering in today’s STEAM challenge! Are you ready to build a Polar Bear Home? Grab some marshmallows and toothpicks for this activity. Challenge your child to create a home for a polar bear using a few simple materials. You will be amazed by what they can come up with.

Today’s STEAM Challenge requires minimal materials and a ton of fun.

Materials:
-Marshmallows
-Toothpicks

If you don’t have toothpicks, consider using q-tips with the ends cut off, straws, or even pipe cleaners. If you do not have marshmallows, considering using another kind of squishy candy, like gumdrops or even play-doh!

Your engineering challenge is to create a home for a polar bear! Will your home be big enough or sturdy enough?

No polar bear? Get creative and design a home for a penguin, artic fox, rabbit, or even a snowman!

We hope you had fun designing and engineering today. Don’t forget to leave pictures of your designs in the comments below. Let us know how the design and building process went! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. We love sharing what our classes are up to as well as fun and free Challenges for you to enjoy with your family.

xo Shiny Happy Kids

STEAM Challenge Friday – Pom Pom Popper

Create this adorable Pom Pom Popper and kids can challenge each other to pop the pom pom the furthest. Children can alter their design as they play to get the furthest distance.

Supplies:
-Paper cup
-Balloon
-Pom balls, marshmallows, or cotton balls
-Tape
-Markers

Putting together this Pom Pom Popper is so easy. Start with removing the bottom of the cup. This part may require adult help. Take your balloon and trim the top part off. Slip it over the bottom of the cup and secure it with tape. Tie the bottom of the balloon. Now the fun part. Add your snowman design. Simply use markers to create your own or get creative with stickers or other fun characters!

Now the challenge. Add your pom ball to the cup, gently pull the end of the balloon back and release. Watch as your pom ball flies through the air!

Want a challenge or contest?

  1. See who can pop their pom ball the furthest
  2. Create a bucket or goal to aim for. How many pom can you land out of 10?
  3. Create a target and point system on the ground and create a game out of it.
  4. Something for fun >>> See if you can pop a marshmallow in the air and catch it in your mouth!

I hope you had fun creating this STEAM Challenge! Stay tuned for next Friday for our next STEAM Challenge!

We would love to see your creations and/or the challenges or games you played. Feel free to leave a comment and post your photos below!

Be sure to subscribe to our Website and follow our Instagram. We love sharing what our classes are up to as well as fun and free Challenges for you to enjoy with your family.

xo Shiny Happy Kids