A Summer of STEM: How My Troop Will do a STEM Program This Summer

I like to keep summer fun and give the kids an opportunity to not only be outside but also a chance to do things that we might not normally have the chance to do. Last year with my Cub Scout pack we did an entire summer of STEM activities and it was a blast. This year we'll  offer something similar to the Girl Scout Troop we have. 

Here's a Look at What We Are Doing for our Summer STEM Program

Meeting One: 
We will make our own bubble juice. It's an easy recipe made with Dawn dish soap. Use the blue one for the best results. It's worth it to buy the Dawn so you get better bubbles. 

Measure 6 cups of water into one container, then pour 1 cup of dish soap into the water and slowly stir it until the soap is mixed in. Try not to let foam or bubbles form while you stir. Measure 1 tablespoon of glycerin or 1/4 cup of corn syrup and add it to the container. Stir the solution until it is mixed together.

We will also make our own bubble wands and talk about why bubbles float. 

After cleaning up we'll talk about how things fly. The girls will get to make a paper airplane and we will see if we can get them to fly. This website has videos and printables so you can make some cool designs. Talk about why they flew, which style worked best and of course did the weight/type of paper matter. Topics covered: include those in Math, Engineering, and Science.


Meeting Two: 
We will have some fun Fourth of July Science fun with ideas from Kid Safe Chemical Reactions. The girls will be doing chemical reactions. This is always a fun meeting and almost everything can be purchased at the Dollar store on the cheap!  This summer we will be doing turning a penny green, Elephant Toothpaste (use glitter and red/blue food coloring for the 4th!), and Crawling Colors. Topics covered: include those in Math, Engineering, and Science.



Meeting Three: 
Ice Cream in a Can! This is such a fun meeting. I'll tell you right now just give in and make homemade whipped cream too. Since you won't have enough ice cream out of the cans for a good sized serving I would advise having some ice cream and let the girls compare theirs to the store bought. Then everyone can make a sundae with the store bought and homemade ice cream. You can also use this meeting as part of your home scientist requirements for brownies. Topics covered: include those in Math and Science.


Meeting Four: 
Making Pizza Crust. We will be making our own pizza crust and then a pizza. For us, we will be using tomatoes and herbs out of our "pizza garden" to have homemade sauce too. Cooking is a great way to teach about math. Plus the science of yeast is pretty neat! You can also use this meeting as part of your home scientist requirements for brownies. Topics covered: include those in Math and Science.


Meeting Five: 
We will talk about the solar eclipse and make solar cookies. We will also talk about the stars and create our own planets. When we create our own planets we will talk about the type of plant using words like volume and density.  We will talk about why the planets are the colors they are too (I picture a lot of pink planets!) Topics covered: include those in Math, Engineering, Technology, and Science.



Meeting Six: 
This is our final meeting so we will be mixing up some homemade beauty products. This will include homemade lotion, homemade lipgloss and bath bombs. This is a great one for the kids because it is really hands on. 

For the ingredients for these items, I purchase them through Amazon. I like to use things that I have experience with so I know they are good quality. 

Here's my list of items I have tested: 
Coconut Oil
Citric Acid
Olive Oil

Topics covered: include those in Math, Engineering, and Science. We will also research different recipes on the computer so there will be some technology work there too!


Possible Fun Patches from Snappy Logos
Possible Fun Patches from The Girl Scout Store