Paint with gears, popsicle stick STEM challenge, airplane & car snacks, and more!
Beep! Beep! It’s M A C H I N E week! My four-year-old, at the time, was SO fascinated with how machines worked, and wanted to learn about wheels, cars, robots, engines… (you name it) so we went for it! We also had a resident “expert” help us out, my dad, better known as “Lil Papa,” who has sadly since passed. So, this is a special topic for me to write about- some of the last memories my kids have with him. Lil Papa was a mechanic, so he was the perfect person to teach us about how engines worked, what parts are inside of cars, and more. My dad could fix ANYTHING that was broken, and simply watching him work with his tools was a fun and applicable activity for this theme. One of the highlights for my older son was sneaking peeks into an old junk yard and touring a motorcycle parts shop with his grandpa.
I will say this was one of our smaller weeks, as we just didn’t have time to accomplish much. Don’t let that stop you from taking on a themed week! As long as you’re exploring a topic that the kids are excited about and making some connections, it’s totally fine to do just two or three activities all week. The point is certainly not to stress over getting everything done- it’s to have fun! I’ll share all of the particulars in this post, and don’t forget to hop on over to my Pinterest Machine Theme Page for all the ways to boggle the minds of your little mechanics & engineers.
Let’s get started with some discussion questions to discover what your kids are most interested in learning more about, and use them to guide your teaching and Pinterest-ing:
- What makes something a machine? Define it!
- What are some different basic parts of machines, and how do they work (pulleys, gears, axls, etc.)?
- What are some objects that we know of that are machines (household items, modes of transportation, toys, etc.)?
- What types of jobs involve working with machines (auto mechanic, structural engineer, equipment operator, etc.)?
R E A D I N G
This was a trickier genre to come by, and I couldn’t really think of how to search for “machine” books, but our local library came through. Really, though, you can search “simple machines” on Amazon or at the library, and you should get a crop of books on wheels, levers, pulleys, and more. Our selection is a bit dated, but it did the job in educating us on the subject. I will share some that look interesting on Amazon.
- Simple Machines: Wheels, Levers, and Pulleys by David A. Adler: Kids use simple machines every day without realizing it. Teeth are wedges and so are knives, forks, and thumbtacks. Slides, which are inclined planes, and seesaws, which are levers, are also simple machines. Two appealing kids and their comical cat introduce levers, wheels, pulleys, inclined planes, and more, and explain how they work. This lively introduction to physics will get kids excited about how simple machines simplify our lives.
- Machines at Work: Tugboats by Cari Meister: In Tugboats, beginning readers will learn about the parts of a tugboat that allow it to move boats and freighters of much greater size. Vibrant, full-color photos and carefully leveled text engage emergent readers as they discover the unique features of these machines.
- Inclined Planes (Simple Machines) by Martha E. H. Rustad: Learn about how an inclined plane works! Beginner readers and budding young scientists will love learning about using simple machines in everyday situations. Readers will be excited to dig in and learn all about simple machines and basic physics concepts. Also see other Simple Machines books covering topics such as Wheels & Axls and Wedges
- Richard Scarry’s Cars & Trucks & Things That Go: Buckle-up for a fun-filled day of planes, trains, automobiles . . . and even a pickle truck! Featuring hundreds of clearly labeled vehicles, this is the perfect book for little vehicle fans from the one and only Richard Scarry.
M E D I A
Media! Devices! Good old fashioned TV! These things, my friends, are the best (and cheapest) babysitters. Especially when you need to do the dishes or go to the bathroom without 16 interruptions. Here are some hot tickets for machine week:
- Mighty Machines: An oldie but goodie. This one is getting hard to come by since Netflix let it go, but I think you can watch some of them for free on YouTube. All of the subject matter here is on machines, so you can’t go wrong.
- Brains On Podcast: This is one of my go-tos no matter the theme, and actually, whether we are studying a subject or not. They are AWESOME for calming down on long (or short) car rides. We liked this “What was the first robot?” episode for machine week. Or, here’s another about the inner-workings of one of the coolest machines there is- roller coasters!
- Blaze and the Monster Machines: This website includes information about the cartoon show, as well as games involving these machine characters so many youngsters know and love. If you have Nick Jr., you’re all set.
S T E A M (science. technology. engineering. art. math.)
Like I said, short week, so this is the ONLY time you’ll see me combining STEM & art, at least in the foreseeable future…Combining scientific aspects with creativity has its place in the world, though, and I think MACHINE learning is that place.
- Build a Winch Simple Machine by Big DIY Ideas: My four-year-old loved this one, and really got a lot out of seeing how old garbage (an empty ribbon holder, paper towel roll, etc.) could be made into fun, working machines. This activity came from a larger page with 35 ideas for building simple machines with kids, so be sure to check that out here.
- Painting with Gears by fun-a-day.com: This is a great one, designed for preschoolers, in which you can use objects found in your garage to make some abstract art! Just dip the gears in paint and use them like stamps, and walla!
- Simple Machines for Kids: Building a Lever & Pulley by Inspiration Laboratories: This one should be pretty easy to construct- you just need some hooks, string, and some type of basket. Try rearranging the hooks so that the pulley is being “pulled” in different directions with each attempt, and change the amount of weight in the basket to see how much it can hold!
- STEM Challenge: Popsicle Stick Gears by Frugal Fun for Boys & Girls: Just like the title says, all you need are popsicle sticks, bottle caps, and an adhesive. Your elementary aged kiddos will love trying this on their own, and putting the gears together in different ways to see how they connect and work together to make a MACHINE!
- Most of my Pinterest page for this theme is made up of STEAM projects and free printables for introducing littles to simple machines, so head over there for much, much more.
C O O K I N G & S E N S O R Y
From healthy and simple machine themed snacks to sensory blankets for the mechanically inclined, these quick (and some edible) ideas are great for filling up the down time.
- Apple Car Snack by See Vanessa Craft: This is such a simple kid snack to pull together- just make sure you have toothpicks on hand. It’s so easy, they can do it themselves! You need apple slices for the car, and either sliced bananas or grapes for the wheels. Yum, yum, super fun.
- We have this wonderful Melissa & Doug puzzle that is meant for practicing zippers, buckles, ties & more, all of which are mini machines in themselves! Any toys or activities like this that you already own are great for small motor development, and learning through play.
- I found a couple of machine sensory blankets on Pinterest that I thought were so wonderful, if only I had the time and skills to make one. But then I thought, you could probably throw together a lot of this using fabric, string, beads, buttons, and/or miscellaneous household items. Here is a really great Fidget Blanket by Do It and How that you could use as inspiration.
- Airplane Snacks by Preschool Alphabet: We definitely used these during Airplane Week as well, but everybody loves a good repeat, and with enough repetition they’ll be making their own darn snacks! Haha. Butter crackers, celery, peanut butter and grapes makes this a nutritious and filling snack that could almost pass for lunch. We’ve also substituted the celery part with rolled up lunch meat and cheese. Mmm, mmm, good.
F I E L D T R I P S
Machine week field trips are a great opportunity to explore parts of your city that you might not otherwise think of. We had some repeats for this week, but repetition in learning and looking at things with a new “lens” are key elements in learning, so I say go for it. Our three big hits for Machine Week field trips were the Museum of Flight, a local motorcycle parts shop, and Seafair Sunday!
The machine theme I think stemmed from my son’s interest in airplanes, which we eventually ended up doing as a theme the following summer. So, we took the opportunity to visit the Museum of Flight for the first time, and I can’t believe we waited so long! That place is HUGE, and incredible, and filled with stimulating information for the young and the young at heart. Learning about the inner-workings of airplanes, some of the first ever made by the Wright Brothers, and newer versions as well, was the link to machines.
The Seafair celebration is a token summer event in the greater Seattle area. Having been longtime boat owners (we just sold ours, no regrets here), we never miss a year, and the kids love it. See hydroplane engines from up close, watch them race, and view the Blue Angels in all their glory from front row seats at Lake Washington Genesee Park. All of these snazzy machines will get the kids’ (and your) gears running.
Finally, Lil Papa took us to this motorcycle parts shop in the Lynnwood area, but it doesn’t matter which place you choose, as long as you’re looking at parts of a machine. Other ideas might include a used car parts store, an auto wrecking, a lawn mower supply shop, or even an appliance store like Home Depot. Take it one step further and explain to an employee that you’re learning about machines with your child, and see if they will show you around. I’ve always had great luck with this, as people want breaks from the mundane and can never say no to a kiddo who wants to learn!
