marshmallow toothpick tower science experiment

Get Your ALL ACCESS Shop Pass here →

Toothpick and Marshmallow Tower Challenge

Who doesn’t love a STEM project that includes a bag of marshmallows! This is one of my favorite, “totally do-able” STEM challenges. It’s super budget-friendly and super simple to set up at a moment’s notice. It’s awesome for both large and small groups too! Building with marshmallows and toothpicks is always a huge hit and a quick way to set up STEM building challenges for kids.

Building with Marshmallows and Toothpicks

Why are building structures excellent STEM play? You need a good design, the correct number of pieces, a solid base, and basic engineering skills to build a solid structure. All important aspects of STEM!

What is STEM ? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. These are all areas of learning that our kids need to be comfortable with to excel in the future. STEM makes creators, thinkers, problem solvers, doers, innovators, and inventors.

Exposing kids to simple STEM ideas early sets a foundation for higher learning tomorrow. We have many easy STEM projects that preschool and elementary-age kids can try!

We like to set up fun building challenges using easy and inexpensive supplies. STEM is all about the world around us , so let’s encourage kids to use what they have and get creative with their engineering skills! Shapes are everywhere and are the basis for all our designs and creations.

Bonus STEM Activities With Marshmallows

Want more things to do with marshmallows?

• Make marshmallow edible slime
• Build a marshmallow spaghetti tower
• Take the marshmallow catapult challenge
• Build a marshmallow igloo

STEM Resources To Get You Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce STEM more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

• Engineering Design Process Explained
• What Is An Engineer?
• Engineering Words
• Real World STEM
• Questions for Reflection (get them talking about it!)
• BEST STEM Books for Kids
• 14 Engineering Books for Kids
• Jr. Engineer Challenge Calendar (Free)
• Must Have STEM Supplies List
• Join us in the Club

What Can You Do With Marshmallows and Toothpicks?

Stem challenge #1: 2d & 3d shapes.

First, kiddos can build the 2D and 3D shapes printed on the cards below! This is an excellent way for them to familiarize themselves with the various shapes. Plus, it also provides a chance to work on building skills and problem-solving skills on a fundamental level. This might be just the right level for your junior engineers !

STEM Challenge #2: Marshmallow Tower

Do you have a kiddo looking for even more of a challenge? Take it a step further, combine the building techniques you’ve just tried with the shapes, and see who can build the tallest marshmallow and toothpick tower.

You can set this as a timed event or leave it untimed! Generally, 15-20 minutes is a reasonable amount of time.

For a simple tower challenge, you might start with around 50-100 toothpicks and a bag of mini marshmallows. If you find that the structures are too small or too large, you can adjust the quantity of toothpicks and marshmallows accordingly.

TIP: Consider increasing the number of materials for a more complex challenge or decreasing them for a quicker activity.

STEM Challenge #3: 100 Marshmallows

Try the 100 marshmallow tower challenge! The kiddos must build with 100 marshmallows in a set amount of time! Generally, 15-20 mins is a reasonable STEM challenge time frame. This is also a fun team-building activity! Use the free instant download below.

STEM Challenge #4: Famous Structures

Structure challenge! Research an interesting building or structure to replicate with marshmallows and toothpicks. It’s a fantastic opportunity to combine engineering, math, history, technology, and architecture for a STEAM project. Use the free instant download above.

What are 2 Dimensional Shapes?

Two-dimensional (2D) shapes are geometric figures that exist in two dimensions, namely length and width. These shapes are flat and can be represented on a plane surface. Common examples of 2D shapes include:

• Square: A square is a four-sided polygon with equal sides and four right angles.
• Circle: A circle is a perfectly round shape with all points on its boundary equidistant from its center.
• Triangle: A triangle is a three-sided polygon, and the sum of its internal angles is always 180 degrees.
• Rectangle: A rectangle is a four-sided polygon with opposite sides of equal length and all angles at right angles.
• Pentagon: A pentagon is a five-sided polygon.
• Hexagon: A hexagon is a six-sided polygon.
• Octagon: An octagon is an eight-sided polygon.

These shapes are fundamental in geometry and serve as building blocks for more complex geometric structures.

What are 3 Dimensional Shapes?

Three-dimensional (3D) shapes are geometric figures in three dimensions: length, width, and height (or depth). Unlike 2D shapes, 3D shapes have volume and occupy space. Common examples of 3D shapes include:

These 3D shapes are essential in geometry and commonly represent objects in the physical world. Understanding their properties is crucial in various fields, including mathematics, physics, and engineering.

For more 3D Shape building cards , grab this free printable.

• Cube: A cube is a three-dimensional shape with six equal square faces, and all angles are right angles.
• Sphere: A sphere is a perfectly round three-dimensional object, similar to a ball, with all points on its surface equidistant from its center.
• Cylinder: A cylinder has two parallel circular bases connected by a curved surface. It can be visualized as a can or a tube.
• Cone: A cone has a circular base connected to a single vertex (apex) by a curved surface. It resembles an ice cream cone.
• Rectangular Prism: A rectangular prism is a three-dimensional shape with six faces, each being a rectangle. It is similar to a box or a rectangular block.
• Pyramid: A pyramid has a polygonal base (such as a square, triangle, etc.) connected to a single apex by triangular faces.
• Cuboid: Similar to a rectangular prism, a cuboid is a three-dimensional shape with six rectangular faces.

More Fun STEM Challenges To Try

Straw Boats Challenge – Design a boat made from straws and tape and see how many items it can hold before it sinks.

Strong Spaghetti – Get out the pasta and test our your spaghetti bridge designs. Which one will hold the most weight?

Paper Bridges – Similar to our strong spaghettti challenge. Design a paper bridge with folded paper. Which one will hold the most coins?

Paper Chain STEM Challenge – One of the simplest STEM challenges ever!

Egg Drop Challenge – Create your own designs to protect your egg from breaking when it is dropped from a height. 

Strong Paper – Experiment with folding paper in different ways to test its strength, and learn about what shapes make the strongest structures.

Spaghetti Marshmallow Tower – Build the tallest spaghetti tower that can hold the weight of a jumbo marshmallow.

Cup Tower Challenge – Make the tallest tower you can with 100 paper cups.

Paper Clip Challenge – Grab a bunch of paper clips and make a chain. Are paper clips strong enough to hold weight?

Printable STEM Pack for Kids

80+ Doable Engineering Projects in one convenient pack!

• Full instructions with sample images
• Activity-specific instruction sheets
• Data Collection Sheets
• Questions for Reflection
• Architecture Building Cards: Try the tallest tower challenge
• Bridge Building Cards: Explore different types of bridges to build your own.
• Paper Chain STEM Challenge: Who can make the longest chain? Great icebreaker or quick challenge!
• 3 Little Pigs Architectural Pack: Design a house that won’t blow away!
• Great marshmallow challenge: A classic challenge kids love!
• Real-world STEM challenge lesson but don’t know where to start? Our easy-to-follow template shows the steps!
• What’s the difference between a scientist and an engineer?
• Crossword and word search with engineering vocabulary.
• Engineering vocabulary cards
• Design a one-of-a-kind invention and write about it with this 5-page activity!

15 Comments

I thought about doing this activity when Caden tried to stick a toothpick into a ball of foil! But I think he would rather eat the marshmallows than play with them. It’s one of his favorite treats! LOL

Cute! That little ice cube tray is so cool and is perfect for the marshmallows! Looks fun!

I love how flexible and versatile this activity is – lots of possibilities!

this is awesome! adding marshmallows to my shopping list 😀 although, i wonder if there will be any by the time we get home.. hehe

Love the fine motor work going on here! So cute! 🙂

Great classic fine motor activity! We did this while reading Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel and made some 3D shapes, too!

That sounds fun!

Thanks Claire! There are so many fun ways to work on fine motor skills!

Yea, there’s a bit of restraint involved but great for hot chocolate later. Get some rice krispies and you can make it a baking activity too!

Thanks George. I have embraced flexibility in my life. Just roll with it!

Thanks Laura!

I loved the activity using the tweezers with the ice cube tray. Marshmallows are an essential element of a good activity 😉

I love the idea! There are so many variations you can do with toothpicks, marshmallows, tweezers, and ice cube trays. 🙂

I would like to know where I might be able to purchase the tweezers you are showing. I watch my grandson 3 days each week and love doing activities with him. He is 16 months old and those tweezers would be great for his little hands.

This reminds me of my days teaching geometry and having the kids make solids with gum drops and toothpicks. So fun! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to receive a free 5-Day STEM Challenge Guide

~ projects to try now ~.

Marshmallow Tower

Have a race to see who can build the tallest and strongest tower out of marshmallows and toothpicks! This is sure to get the kids excited while learning about structural engineering! Our kids loved building (and eating) these towers. We learned the basics about structural engineering and how to make a stable marshmallow tower!

Marshmallow Tower Lesson Plan

To have a better understanding of how structures are built and what makes a strong building.

• Bag of Marshmallows (we used one bag for 4 structures.)
• Box of toothpicks (we used one box of 800, this was plenty for 4 structures.

A Few Points to Decide Beforehand

There are a few ways to do this lesson. Think through which variation will work best for your purposes and group.

• You can have the teaching discussion before actually building the tower. This way the kids know and understand the basics and can use what they learned while they build. Then build one tower.
• You can build a tower with no previous understanding. Then have the discussion, learn what might have helped to make a stronger tower and then build a second tower using the skills you just learned.
• You can build first, have the kids experiment and then explain what they should have done. This may just leave them, wanting to try again.

You can also choose different variations

• Limit the supplies- each kid gets a limited number of marshmallows and toothpicks.
• Limit the time- put a time limit on the building process. The kids only get 15 minutes (or similar) to build.
• Build individually- this works best in a home setting or with fewer kids.
• Build in teams- this would work best in a classroom setting or with more kids.

Lesson Discussion

We are going to learn how to build strong towers today.

We are going to use toothpicks and marshmallows to try and build the tallest tower possible.

Making Predictions-

Are the toothpicks going to be stronger if they are going vertically or horizontally? Answer: Vertical is stronger. Demonstrate by putting pressure on a horizontal toothpick and watching it bend. Then put pressure on the vertical toothpick, it doesn’t bend.

Will the toothpicks be stronger with 1 toothpick or 3? Answer: 3 Demonstrate: Take one toothpick and let a child break it, then take 3 toothpicks and try to break them. Which was harder?

Which shape is the strongest? (Triangle, square, pentagon) Answer: the triangle is the strongest.

What will make the base the most stable? Answer: Having a larger base and then becoming more narrow as you move up will be the strongest. Like a pyramid.

What is the weakest point? Answer: the joints. Demonstrate by building a square with two toothpicks and two marshmallows. Put pressure on the toothpicks and watch how the marshmallows break. The joints are the weakest. The fewer the joints the stronger the structure.

The fewer joints a structure has the stronger it is. What structure has no joints and would be stronger than a triangle? Answer: a circle.

The base has to support the weight of the entire tower.

Decide if you are giving limited time or resources. Tell the kids the parameters that they have (time, resources, teams or individually building.)

The goal is to build the tallest tower possible.

Divide up the supplies and begin.

Talk about what you see as you build. For us, two of the kids started with a small base. One started with a large base. We were able to compare the differences as they built. This really helped them learn and see the principles we had talked about during the discussion.

After the time is up, measure the towers and see how everyone did.

What did you learn about your structure as you built it?

What turned our differently than you expected?

What went the same as you expected?

If you were to do this again a second time, what would you change?

We hope you loved this marshmallow tower experiment! Check out our other lesson plans. We loved learning about chemical reactions with this kid friendly elephant toothpaste lesson!

Similar Posts

Kid Friendly Elephant Toothpaste

Elephant toothpaste is an exciting and fun chemical reaction. It creates massive amounts of foam that can shoot out of a container. The name originally comes from the fact that it looks like toothpaste being squeezed out of a giant tube, a tube of toothpaste clearly large enough to be used by an elephant. Of…

Building a Raspberry Pi RFID Reader

Turn your Raspberry Pi into an access control system by reading RFID cards

Controlling VLC Player on Raspberry Pi via API

Learn how to create a Python script that can control VLC player

7 Summer STEM Activities

Keep the kids happy and learning this summer with our 7 summer STEM activities! They will be sure to bring the fun to long summer days!

Marshmallow Shooter

Create this fun marshmallow shooter! Let your kids explore the engineer inside of themselves!

Create a Looping Video Display with Raspberry Pi

Set up your Raspberry Pi to automatically play a video when it boots.

One Comment

• Pingback: Popsicle Stick Catapult -

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

SaH: Toothpick Engineering

• May 18, 2020

If you take a look at a building, you will see that the architecture is made up of many shapes of all different sizes. Take a look at buildings and houses near you. Can you figure out what shapes are the best to use when building a tower of toothpicks? Share a picture of your design below!

How tall and strong can you build a tower of toothpicks?

• Gumdrops or mini marshmallows
• Build a tower as tall as possible using only toothpicks and a sticky candy (like gumdrops or mini marshmallows.
• Once you have a tower as tall as you can build it, begin testing the strength of your building.
• You can imitate natural disasters by blowing on the building (tornado) or jostling the base of it (earthquake).

Can you identify the strongest shapes to use in your tower?

How much weight can your tower hold?

What is Happening?

In this activity, you can explore the science and thought process behind engineering a building. You will learn more from this exploration if you test your design, rebuild, and keep testing it for improvements. Then you will be using the scientific method of asking questions, testing hypothesis, gathering and analyzing data, and asking new questions!

Share this post!

Join our mailing list.

Stay up to date on news and events by the Reading Science Center.

Spongy Kids

Sharing kids activities for fun and homeschool!

Marshmallow Engineering for Kids

STEM Hands-on Learning with Marshmallows

We got some mini marshmallows for hot chocolate. We got some extras left, so we tried this Hands-On Engineering activity. My son was in first grade back then, and he got very frustrated with the structure was too waggly and not stable at all. He tried many times, but the squared frame kept collapsing. He was so frustrated and disappointed, but he learned the concept, and we thought about how hard to build tall and safe buildings! Now my son is in 3rd grade, and he can enjoy this project more. Of course, he would be frustrated if the building is collapsed, but now he can handle it better, and he would challenge to come up with solutions! I am so proud of him. Solving a problem is excellent learning! The video above might help how to start the activity.

What We Used

• Mini Marshmallows (We used around 30 of them)
• Toothpicks (Uncooked spaghetti could be substitution)

Resources for Learning Topics

Marshmallow Toothpick Engineering Challenge (The Branch Museum of Architecture & Design)

This architecture and design museum offers printable lesson plans and activities.

Marshmallow and Toothpick Geometry Cards (Teach Beside Me)

This website is selling printable geometry cards for $5. Looks like fun challenges!

Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta (Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA)

Challenging Lesson Plan

Toothpick Tower Engineering Design Challenge (PBS)

1-minute short video: Details: Design and build your own marshmallow and toothpick tower! How tall can you make your tower stand? Use the Engineering Design Process to make the tallest building possible.

Videos (Introducing Engineers and Engineering)

Happy learning!

Share this:

• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

STEM Challenge of the Month: Marshmallow Tower

Published by stem like a girl on july 12, 2018 july 12, 2018.

You might have seen the Marshmallow Tower Challenge from a TED Talk.  While it’s fun to do and you get to test your building skills, it’s also interesting to see how different groups of people approach the challenge with varying degrees of success (hint – kindergartners actually perform better than most adults, including recent business school graduates!).  This short video talks about the need for a plan, multiple rounds of building and testing, and how teams work best together.  

When faced with a challenge, it can be tempting to jump right in and start designing.  But without a solid plan in place, that method often leads to frustration and failure.  Scientists and engineers follow what’s called the Design Process when faced with a challenge.  At STEM Like a Girl, we teach girls to take the time to follow this process when working on a challenge.  For the Marshmallow Tower Challenge, this strategy will help you develop a solid plan, create  your initial design, and modify your structure based on your testing.  While doing this, you will likely encounter some failure.  This can be really frustrating, especially when you work hard on something!  But what if you looked at failure as a good thing?   Instead of seeing the negative, ask yourself what you can learn from each failed attempt.  Take that information and use it to improve your structure!  

The Challenge

Build the tallest free-standing structure that can hold the marshmallow on the top.  This is a great activity to do as a team so work together to see what you can come up with.  For an added challenge, give yourself a time limit (~20 min).

• 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti
• 1 yard of string
• 1 yard of tape
• 1 marshmallow
• Measuring tape
• Marshmallow Tower Experiment Test Sheet

• Download and print the Marshmallow Tower Experiment Test Sheet .
• Take 5 minutes to brainstorm different ideas for your structure and sketch them out.
• Once you have a plan, start building.  When you think you have a solid structure, test your marshmallow on top.
• What are your results?  Did the tower hold the marshmallow or did it collapse?  What can you learn from this attempt to help you build a stronger or taller tower?
• Re-design your structure based on your evaluation.
• Continue testing and redesigning until you are happy with your result.  Remember it’s about building the best tower for YOU!

We’d love to see pictures of the Marshmallow Towers you create and hear how tall they were!  Email your pictures to [email protected] to be featured on our website or social media.  Or you can tag us on instagram @stemlikeagirl_pdx or use the hashtag #stemlikeagirlchallengeofthemonth 

Related Posts

Stem challenge of the month, new years eve poppers.

Celebrate New Years Eve (or any holiday!) by making these fun and easy poppers! You only need a few supplies and then get creative with different projectiles! STEM Application: The STEM concept behind the poppers Read more…

Candy Science

Who else is looking for ways to get rid of all the Halloween candy currently around their house 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️This is a super easy STEM activity you can try with Skittles or M&Ms that combines science Read more…

Spooky STEM With Dry Ice

Dry ice is a fun STEM activity anytime but it makes for an especially spooky Halloween 🧙‍♀️ Did you know that dry ice isn’t actually water? It’s the solid form of carbon dioxide. Instead of Read more…

engineering 4 kids

Engineering – making 'things' that work and making 'things' work better

marshmallow tower

What problems do you want to solve?

• use the classic [/Engineering%20Design%20Process Engineering Design Process] – ask, imagine, design / build (plan/ create / experiment), improve
• build a tower with marshmallows and toothpicks

Engineering Design Process

• NASA Now: Designing a New Martian Rover (video 6:20) – Aerospace engineer Jennifer Keyes shows how NASA engineers developed “TumbleCup,” a concept rover capable of traveling large distances on Mars. Engineering Design Process (4:33) – ask, imagine, plan, create, experiment, improve – YouTube
• Engineering Design Process form – Google docs

What’s the problem?

Marshmallow Towers (video 1:47) – Lucie and Bianca teach kids concepts of architecture and structural engineering through marshmallow towers

• build the tallest stable structure you can with 50 mini-marshmallows and 100 toothpicks

Ask – What? Ask questions, understand the need, identify the problem, define

• What is the problem to solve? How will we know when we solved the problem?
• What is already known?
• Are there guidelines for what we can or can’t do?

Imagine – So what? Imagine, brainstorm, explore, discover

• What are some other ideas for solutions to similar problems? * examples of towers and tall buildings, trusses, triangle – Pinterest board * tallest buildings and structures in the world – Wikipedia
• How is this problem different from the examples?
• Which ideas might work for solving this problem?

Design, Build – Plan, Create, Experiment – Now what? Plan, design. Do it. Create, try it out

• What are some ideas to include in the design?
• What does the best possible solution look like?
• Make a prototype, and test it.
• Does the prototype look like to plan? Does it still meet the requirements?

Improve – If this then what? Improve, make it better

• Is this a good solution to the problem? Could it be better? How could this be improved?
• How were each of the 4Cs – creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication – used during the project?
• How does the Engineering Design Process help?

That’s engineering

• triangles are stronger than squares
• make things strong – use trusses, or framing
• calculate the forces on a free-standing triangle or square, and prove that shapes other than triangles are statically indeterminate.
• for a static system, all the forces must balance out: The sum of all forces acting on the system must be zero. Which also means that: 1) the sum of the horizontal components of the forces equals zero 2) the sum of the vertical components of the forces equals zero

Engineering ideas

• forces, static system, truss, geometry, triangle, parallel, stability, materials, visualization, base, support, weight, strength, stability, symmetry, horizontal, vertical, components

Do It Challenges for you to work on…

• How was the Engineering Design Process used in the example of the tumblecup video?
• Build the tallest stable structure you can with 50 mini-marshmallows and 100 toothpicks
• Look at the towers made by other groups. What did they do differently? Are there some ideas that you could add to your tower to improve it?
• Take pictures, record your findings and suggestions for improvement
• Make a presentation including pictures, instructions for others to do this project on their own
• What are some interesting man-made structures and objects? What were the questions the engineers asked for each step in the Engineering Design Process?

Learn more…

• ScienceDays Cambridge Summer Tour 2008 – lesson plan , structures
• Spaghetti tower – Materials simplified – 15 sticks of uncooked thin spaghetti and 30 mini-marshmallows Many forces … with the marshmallow and stick in the sticks. Redesign to correct for any structural flaws – Think about all of the ways … spaghetti. Marshmallows. 100 cm (1 m) of masking tape. Scissors (to cut spaghetti). Science journal. Pencil
• Prototyping will come back – let cyclical process nothing physically to start – lots of recorded info Marshmallow … thin spaghetti and 30 mini-marshmallows What’s the problem? Ask * Imagine * Design, Build * Improve Ask – clarification ok to break spaghetti, marshmallows time limit must be moveable – not stuck
• Society of Women Engineers SWE “marshmallow” astronauts 1K. Engineering Accessories – Learn the unique properties of polymers and identify
• Force – absorbing system out of paper, straws, and mini-marshmallows; attach the shock absorber to a cardboard platform
• Engineering Design Process being on the inside of your process a bit more. Marshmallow Challenge – identifying the assumptions

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Published by ..

View all posts by ..

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Building Challenge: Make Shapes and Structures using Marshmallows and Toothpicks | STEAM Activity for Kids

by Emily | May 18, 2020 | STEAM Experiments , STEAM for Kids | 0 comments

I bought 2 bags of marshmallows when I stocked up on groceries a few weeks ago, and we burned through both of them in one day! First, we made practiced STEM concepts while making Rice Krispies Treats (this was one of my most popular posts from a few years ago). Our second STEAM Activity for the day was building geometric shapes and structures.

Ok, I’ll admit my kids ate WAY too many marshmallows during this activity, but I’m ok with it because we don’t do this everyday and they learned a lot too. Here’s the details of what we did.

• Marshmallows and/or play dough

1. Use the point on the toothpick to pierce the marshmallow pushing it about halfway through. The marshmallows are the joints that hold the shapes and structures together.

2. Start by building 2D shapes like triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, etc…

3. Try to turn the shape into a 3D structure by building up making a pyramid, cube, house, etc…

4. Play dough also works great rolled into small pieces the size of the marshmallows (we switched to this when my kids ate all the marshmallows 🤪)

STEAM CONCEPTS LEARNED:

• Engineering : This is great 3D thinking development. Your kids will slowly learn how to visualize structures in 3D, which is an important engineering skill.
• Math : We practiced math by making as many different shapes and structures as possible and then counting them.

We had a blast with this activity. It only requires 2 materials and is a no prep project. Just pull out the marshmallows or play dough and toothpicks and let your kids create.

I was so impressed with what my kids came up with and created on their own. I was also impressed with how many marshmallows they were able to eat in a short time period! We took a long walk after this activity to burn the excess energy!

I hope you give this a try and let me know what your kids create!

Share this:

Leave a reply cancel reply.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Hi, I’m Emily. I’m an engineer, mom, and wife. I encourage kids to love STEAM and motivate women to find personal happiness in their career and motherhood journeys.

Search the site

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Shop Engineering Emily’s Favorites

Popular Posts

• STEAM Experiments
• STEAM Books
• Interview Series
• Work/Life Balance
• Gardening with kids

engineering_emily

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. I only link to products and pages I personally use and highly recommend.   As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. I only link to products and pages I personally use and highly recommend. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Lesson Plan: The Marshmallow Challenge (STEM Education)

The Marshmallow Challenge is an engineering challenge that can be used in any content area or situation.  In this challenge students will work in groups of four to collaborate and build the tallest free standing tower out of 30 strands of uncooked spaghetti, a meter of string, arms length of tape, and a marshmallow that must be mounted on the top of the structure.  Students have 20 minutes to finish this challenge.  In this lesson students will use the Engineering Design Process to ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve their design. This lesson can be used as a get-to-know you activity, collaborative team building, engineering lesson, or lesson with Math connections. Students are assessed on how successfully they complete the challenge.

Author: Michelle Woods

Download (DOCX, 146KB)

Download (DOCX, 13KB)

Brain Brigade

11 Creative Marshmallow and Toothpick STEM Challenges – Brain Brigade

STEM Challenges can be low cost ways to incorporate learning concepts in your classroom or maker space. One classic favorite of mine are marshmallow and toothpick challenges. We started a Creator Club a few weeks ago. Our kids meet once a week to do hands-on learning projects. We have kids from 4K to 4th grade. As you know that range is wide in abilities. The great news is that there are plenty of activities to do with wide ranges of children. Our first week we dove right in and taught the students how to use hot glue guns so they could build craft stick truss bridges.  This past week we had so much fun creating with marshmallows and toothpicks. I created a list of challenges that I dug up from the internet to use. After a successful Club, I thought you might benefit from this list of ideas, too!

We did not get through ALL of these challenges in one night…but I’m happy to have these ideas all in one place for the next time around. Hope it helps you save some time, too!

Source: arvindguptatoys.com

Source: Arvindguptatoys.com

Source: Fantasticfunandlearning.com

Source: Simplydesigning.porch.com

Source: Classroomfreebies.com

Source: Pinterest.com

Source: Almostunschoolers.blogspot.com

Source: Apartmenttherapy.com

Source: Amazingmess.com

Source: Artsymomma.com

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Most Recent
• Free Silly Handwriting
• Easy Sub Plans Template
• Sprinkle Topped Shop
• My TpT Shop
• Amazon Favorites
• Free Video Series

The Sprinkle Topped Teacher

Easy STEM Activity for Elementary Students

Confession time. The idea of teaching my students a STEM activity in my elementary classroom used to sound anything but easy.

I didn’t take any college classes on teaching STEM. My school didn’t provide STEM curriclulum. As a new teacher, I wasn’t really sure where to begin.

It’s also no secret that STEM is a growing industry. As teachers, it’s our job to prepare our students for the real world.

Plus, there’s no down side to adding STEM activities to the classroom. It only increases student’s creativity, strengthens problem solving skills, and teaches perseverance.

When I finally made the decision to integrate STEM into our curriculum, I decided the first lesson I chose needed to be simple and easy to implement.

I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be too overwhelmed to ever try again!

Easy STEM Activity for Elementary Students:

For my first lesson, I chose to do a marshmallow toothpick tower experiment because I wanted something with minimal materials and that could fit into our busy schedule.

I saved the activity for our reward activity on Friday afternoon. I was confident that anything with marshmallows would be a hit!

Prepping the Marshmallow Toothpick STEM Activity:

My goal for the first lesson was to introduce the scientific method in a simple way. I created a mini-book for each student because I knew we would get off track if it wasn’t structured.

Materials: – Mini marshmallows (1 bag per group of 5-6 students) – Toothpicks (1 per group) – Scientific Method Notebook

How I Taught the STEM Activity:

We started by identifying the big question and creating our first hypothesis.

I then split students into groups of 5-6 and passed out materials.

TIP: Before releasing your groups to build towers, review ways that students can be helpful teammates.

Groups built different towers for about 15-20 minutes while I walked around. I asked them questions about their thought processes and challenged their initial way of thinking.

I’ve done this activity for years now, and I’m always fascinated to see the different ways student’s brains work! Some students start out with the most intricate structures, while others start by trying to stack one marshmallow and one toothpick over and over. It’s so interesting to see their minds grow and think creatively throughout the activity!

We then discussed how scientists record data with accurate drawings, labels, and each student recorded their data. The mini books were a lifesaver because it helped me stay on track and remember the actual science behind the STEM activity.

Another one of our favorite experiments is the Grow Your Own Polar Bear Experiment where students soak gummy bears in different solutions to see which makes the gummy bear grow the largest!

Here’s what other teachers are saying:

Conclusion:

It never fails. Every time we try a new STEM activity, one of my students who typically struggles, will absolutely thrive!

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in teaching from the textbook, that we forget to give students the opportunity to fail and grow their creativity.

For those of you who are like me and feel a little intimidated by teaching STEM, starting with the marshmallow activity is a great way to ease your way into teaching STEM. It’s such an easy STEM activity for elementary students!

It is simple, low prep, and with the help of the mini book, it’s easy to teach a meaningful lesson in the midst of a super engaging activity!

Ps. If you want to grab a whole bundle of 7 different science activities that focus on the scientific method, you can grab those HERE ! (Save 10% when you use code: THANKYOU! I appreciate you checking out this blog post!

Do you regularly teach STEM in your classroom? What activities have been your favorite?

Share this:

You may also like, reindeer research for kids, how to teach students to restate the question, exploding snowman science experiment, free cursive handwriting practice for kids, testing motivation for students – perfect for state tests.

Munchkins and Moms

30+ clever activities that use marshmallows.

By a virtual show of hands, who here *loves* marshmallows?!? If you could see through the screen, you would NOT see my hand raised. Nope. Not here. I am an absolute sugar fiend, but I just don’t like marshmallows…well…I don’t like eating them, at least. We happened to have a bag of them in the house and I finally decided to use them for good- educational and fun 😉 Turns out there’s a lot of ways to use marshmallows for crafts and activities! Here’s 30+ of the most clever ways to use ‘mallows for activities:

Building/Engineering Activities

Marshmallow and Toothpick Geometry Card s

Heart Marshmallow Toothpick Towers

Engineering with Food

Invitation to build a Tower

Marshmallow Building Challenge for Preschoolers

Sensory Fun

Marshmallow Sensory Bin

Marshmallow Sensory Dough

Marshmallow Magic Mud

Baby Bumblebee Marshmallows (to go with the song)

Marshmallow Ghost Hands

Marshmallow Science

Marshmallow Constellations

Marshmallow Science Experiment

Marshmallow Catapult

More Marshmallow Science!

Marshmallow Snowflakes

Launching Mini Marshmallows

Marshmallow Shooters

Microwave Marshmallow Science Experiment

Marshmallow Art

Spring Bug Marshmallow Art

Marshmallow Paint

Marshmallow Ghost Art

Marshmallow Campfire Art

Dot Painting with Marshmallows

Marshmallow Math

Marshmallow Hearts Math

Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Math

Marshmallow Addition Math

Hot Chocolate Counting Mats

Race to Lose a Tooth Marshmallow Game

Marshmallow Crafts

Marshmallow Igloos

Marshmallow Names

Paper Bag Hippo

Marshmallow Letter Recognition

How will you use your next bag of marshmallows? Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram !

Looking for more educational activities for your preschoolers? I’ve got you covered!

I’ve got 20 preschool unit plans that will help you teach your littles all year long! And right now we have an incredible sale that you don’t want to miss!

• ← Baby Bumblebee Marshmallows
• Toys That Teach – Learning through Play with a One Year Old →

8 thoughts on “30+ Clever Activities that use Marshmallows”

Those baby bumblebee marshmallows are simply adorable. That would be so perfect for a preschool class.

Thanks Erica! My preschoolers really got a kick out of it!!

• Pingback: 30+ Clever Activities that use Marshmallows – Munchkins and Moms – Kids
• Pingback: Marshmallow Tinker Tray - Munchkins and Moms
• Pingback: Marshmallow and Toothpick Building Challenge - Munchkins and Moms
• Pingback: Marshmallow and Toothpick Snowflake STEM Activity
• Pingback: Marshmallow and Toothpick Alphabet Building Challenge - Munchkins and Moms

I hate eating marshmallows too and I’ve just found the perfect activities to use the ones I get for free. Thanks for sharing!

Comments are closed.

Coffee Cups and Crayons

Simple play ideas, learning activities, kids crafts and party ideas, plus acts of kindness for kids!

June 20, 2022

Hands On STEM Activity: Marshmallow Engineering

Marshmallow engineering is a hands-on STEM activity kids adore!

Seeing a pile of marshmallows and some fun colored straws is sure to engage even the most reluctant learner–especially if they can sample while they build.

What could be more fun?

Not only is it fun to build with treats, it’s also an open ended activity that lets kids explore and create.

Parents can build on that excitement with this fun and simple STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) project. Creating structures out of marshmallows develops kids’ engineering skills and enhances their critical thinking.

While creating marshmallow structures, kids are working on the STEM concepts of design, building, shape, and structure in a fun and hands-on way. It’s an open-ended process that allows them to build and rebuild designs while problem solving and develops higher level critical thinking.

Marshmallow Engineering

Supplies needed:

• Marshmallows or mini-marshmallows (they hold better if they are a little bit stale)
• plastic drinking straws or toothpicks (if using mini-marshmallows)

Start off the activity by asking the kids to make two dimensional shapes with the supplies such as a square or a triangle. Then ask them to turn their 2-D shapes into 3-D ones by adding more sides. If they get stuck demonstrate how to turn a square into a cube.

Next ask them what other types of structures they can build. Let them to cut the straws or even the marshmallows if necessary to create the design they desire. As they work encourage them to “try something different” to overcome any problems they encounter. This open-ended exploration is a great way to investigate STEM concepts.

Marshmallow Engineering Challenges

Give them simple challenges to get them to think critically and to make the process more fun!

• Build a two or three story structure
• Create a marshmallow bridge
• Build a structure using only one shape
• Create a structure that can hold a piece of paper

Larger marshmallows can make it more challenging to build higher structures and mini-marshmallows limit the number of toothpicks that can be used in each one. Encourage kids to discover the limitations of the materials and add in more you may have around the house to achieve their goal.

You’ll be surprised by just how creative they can be!

Don’t let the fun and discovery stop there!

We have TONS of science experiments your kids will love on our  Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids  page! 

Take me to the experiments –>   Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids

About Megan Sheakoski

Megan is the creator of Coffee Cups and Crayons, a blog full of simple fun and learning. She believes that kids’ activities don’t have to be complicated to be fun and that learning is better with play.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *