Challenge your children with this fun STEM activity. It will develop fine-motor skills and problem-solving abilities. Can they make the Christmas tree stay upright without falling over?

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This sensory experience of engineering with straws and play dough is a great activity to do together. Younger children may need a bit of guidance, but resist the urge to “show” them how to do it. Let them experiment with the project and find solutions through trial-and-error. This is an open-ended activity with many different outcomes, so be open to new ideas!

For this activity you will need:

Plastic straws, play dough and creativity

1. Start by discussing the base of the tree. How can we make the tree stand up – do we need a wide or narrow base?
2. Make small balls from the play dough to use as the connectors. 
3. Experiment with simple trees and then try to build more complex, larger structures. 
4. Afterwards, discuss which trees were the most successful? What common qualities did they have?