STEM Activity: The Great Marble Pass

Are you ready to take the challenge? In this activity, get the kids together for a fun and exciting race filled with innovation and creativity. Challenge children to think creativity, test their inventions and make modifications to retest!

Materials Needed

• Two marbles
• A full recycling bin or craft supply area
• Scissors and tape

At-Home Instructions

Gather the whole family or invite some friends over for this fun activity! Divide into even teams and have each team form a line, standing side by side, with a few inches in between each person. Tell them that their challenge is to use recyclable items to pass a marble from one end of the line and back as fast as possible making sure no one’s hands ever touch the marble.

Give 10 minutes for individuals to build their inventions for moving the marble quickly to the next team member. Once done, have them return to their lines to begin the races!

Once teams have completed their first race, have them brainstorm ways of adapting their passing mechanisms and strategies to improve their speed. After a third round, tell teams that they must make at least three changes to their approach and try again. Encourage creativity, open mindedness and ingenuity!

Educators: Use this activity in the classroom with these modifications!

• Consider breaking into additional teams based on the number of students in the class
• If there are an odd number of students, join in on the fun to make the teams even!

What are we learning?

In this fun activity, students are learning the importance of thinking creatively and making improvements and modifications to achieve even better results. Students are challenged to face failure and overcome assumptions to test and retest until they find the best solution to move their marble as quickly as possible!

Looking for more STEM activities?

Check out our weekly STEM activities on our blog and be sure to share your favorite activities with us on Facebook and Pinterest!