Now that October is finally here, it’s time to prepare for Halloween! What better way to celebrate than to do some fun and easy halloween-themed STEM activities?! Projects should never be exclusive to only kids, so we found some that can involve students of all ages. Through project-based learning, students can learn in a hands-on environment, and it makes their education fun!
First on the list is spooky slime! This project is perfect to get elementary school students thinking about chemicals and velocity. This activity will show you how to make ghost, pumpkin, and frankenstein themed slime. For each batch of slime, the ingredients call for:
- 6 oz. of white Elmer’s glue
- Orange and green food coloring
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1½ tablespoons of contact lens solution
- It must have boric acid in it! This is what interacts with the glue to form the slime.
- ¼ cup of Water (if you want to make your slime stretchy!)
- Tiny mason jars, black felt, googly eyes, and hot glue (make sure there is an adult around for hot glue!)
To make spooky slime, you want to first get three different bowls to mix everything in together. Pour 6 oz of glue into each bowl. Then mix your green food coloring into one bowl of glue, and do the same with the orange food coloring. Mix up your slime and get it to the shade you want! Add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into each bowl and mix in thoroughly. If you want stretchier slime, this is where you add ¼ cup of water!
Finally, add in your contact solution. It’s important to do this part slowly, because if you add too much it can make your slime hard. If you don’t add enough, though, it might make your slime too sticky! While you mix your slime, you can start to use your hands to knead it to really get the right consistency.
Optional: when your slime is finished, you can put them into mason jars for storage and decoration! This part should be done with an adult because it requires hot glue.
- For your ghost (white) slime, just hot glue googly eyes onto the jar.
- For your pumpkin (orange) slime, cut out a pumpkin face with black felt and glue googly eyes.
- For frankenstein (green) slime, cut out black felt hair and glue googly eyes.
This next activity is perfect to get students thinking about engineering. Pumpkin catapults are great projects for home and school. To do this project, you will need:
- 7 wide craft sticks (easier to hold)
- 4 rubber bands
- 1 small cup (the website uses the top to a juice container)
- A hot glue gun (Make sure an adult is around for this part!)
- A bag of pumpkin candy corn (or enough candy for everyone involved)
To make a pumpkin catapult, you first need to stack 5 of your craft sticks together and wrap a rubber band onto each side of the sticks. This is the base and fulcrum of the catapult and it will allow a lever to pivot.
Next, stack the 2 remaining craft sticks and bind those together with one rubber band at the end. On the binded end, pry open the sticks (in a “V” shape) and place your stack of 5 sticks at the bottom of the “V”; use your last rubber band to bind everything together.
Finally, with an adult, hot glue the small cup onto the top of the stick, this is where your pumpkin will go). Make sure you leave room to push your stick down to create the catapult effect.
After completing all of these steps, you should have a functional pumpkin catapult. Now, it’s time to launch the candy! Place a piece of candy into your cup, press the end of the stick down, then let it launch!
Click the link on the project title to find ways to fine tune your catapult and play games with this project!
DIY Jack-O-Lantern Halloween T-Shirt
This final project is a bit more advanced than the other two, so it’s best for highschool students! Through this activity, students will get a chance to learn about technology through the process of wiring and lighting their t-shirt up with a pumpkin design.
The supplies needed for this project are:
- 16.4 feet of El Wire – This is available on Amazon.
- Plastic canvas – This can be purchased at any craft store!
- 2 AA Batteries – For the el wire!
- Black or dark electrical tape
- Orange t-shirt – Thinner material is better!
- 4 Safety pins
- A Sharpie
- A pair of Scissors
- Pen or pencil
- A sheet of paper
After gathering your supplies, you want to use your paper and pen or pencil to sketch out your pumpkins. Don’t be afraid to get creative, just make sure to get extra lights if you want to fully illuminate your design.
Next, trim your canvas down so it will fit on your t-shirt. Pick the design you want on your shirt, and sketch it onto the canvas (place paper under the canvas so it doesn’t stain!). Also, don’t worry if you mess up some, this sketch will be hidden, it is to give you an idea of how you want your lights.
Now, onto the fun part! Get your El Wire and tape off at least 6 to 9 inches of it, this is to prevent anything you don’t like from shining. Next, thread your wire through your canvas, making sure to follow the outline of your design. Once you get the perimeter of the pumpkin, check to make sure the wire fits snug.
After that, flip over your canvas and attach the wire to the mouth. Follow the same steps with the perimeter, outline the mouth with your wire, and be sure to cover any wire you don’t want showing with electrical tape. Repeat these steps with every addition to your pumpkin (eyes, teeth, etc).
Once you’re done, if you decide you want more to add. Go for it! If you don’t have anything else to add, you can trip and/or tape it up.
To add this design to your shirt, turn the shirt inside out and place your canvas face-side down. Using safety pins, pin each corner and add additional pins if your work is heavier. Finally, turn your shirt right-side out, turn the lights down, and turn your shirt on!
Optional: If you want your design to illuminate brighter, you can go back and add more el wire!
There you have it, three Halloween themed STEM projects for students of all ages to explore and enjoy.
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Written by: Kathryn Cottingham
October 17, 2021
