This Conversation Heart STEM Activity for Valentine’s Day is perfect for a February STEM challenge in the classroom or as a fun building project at home.
It also works well as an easy Valentine’s Day activity for school parties. It’s common to think of only using games at a class party, but fun STEM challenges with a heart theme are the perfect quiet activities for kids!
I was hesitant when planning something less traditional for my son’s Valentine’s Day party, but this was a huge hit with the kids. A few of the adults at the party even got in on the building fun!
Whatever way you are planning on using the Conversation Heart STEM Activity there are tons of ways to make it adaptable for all ages. You can keep the STEM project simply a creative building experience for preschoolers, add the tallest tower challenge for Kindergarteners, or make it even more advanced for middle schoolers.
Keep reading to find out the supplies you will need, as well as the many ways you can change up the challenge to keep kids building.
This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on something and purchase it, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission. Read more about this in our Disclosure Policy.
Where to use the Conversation Heart STEM Activity
There is no limit on where you could use the STEM Activity. It’s easy preparation and low cost means that you can use it for a large group of children, or only one child at home.
USING THE ACTIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
This is a great activity to include a little Valentine’s fun into your normal classroom routine. You could request parents to donate the conversation hearts and keep costs minimal too.
A SIMPLE VALENTINE’S DAY ACTIVITY AT HOME
No matter if you homeschool or are just looking for a fun weekend project, this is a great STEM activity at home.
There’s minimal mess and the supplies can be found at your local chain or dollar store.
USING THE ACTIVITY AT VALENTINE’S DAY SCHOOL PARTIES
My favorite way to use this activity as a classroom party game is to pair it with an active game. This lets the kids get their wiggles out with an out-of-their-seat game, then they can refocus on this activity.
A tip for making the process smoother is to use paper plates for the children to keep their building supplies contained. They can all build on their desks this way without making them too messy or having supplies fall onto the floor.
Another idea is to pre-make the kids’ bags of supplies. Simply place a handful of hearts and 20 to 30 craft sticks in a ziplock or fun Valentine’s Bag and you’ll have an easy way to hand everything out.
This bag also lets the children easily take all of their building supplies home if you aren’t wanting them back.
You can always keep extra conversation hearts & crafts sticks on hand if children request more supplies.
Want another easy game for the kids at a Valentine’s Day Party? Then take a peek at our Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe Printable.
OTHER PLACES TO USE THE STEM ACTIVITY
You can use this Conversation Heart STEM Challenge anywhere you wish!
It would work great for Girl Scout or Boy Scout February Meetings, Kids’ Church Events, or even simple playdates.
Supplies Needed for the Activity
The supplies needed for the Conversation Heart STEM Activity are super easy to find and fairly inexpensive. First, you will need the classic Conversation Hearts of course.
Next, you will need wood craft sticks. These are also known as popsicle sticks or as my boys call them, doctor sticks.
Yep, that is all you need for the activity!
People have asked how many of each you will need per child and that is a hard question to answer. It depends on how long the children will have to do the activity, as well as their ages.
Older preschool children aren’t going to build as quickly as a group of third-graders would. If you want to save money, I highly recommend having the children work in small groups. This cuts your supplies needed down drastically.
Also, you can simply let the children know that the materials they have on hand are all they have for their challenge so they will have to plan accordingly. Another great skill for kids to practice!
If you want to provide the kids with bags to take their supplies home, then check out my favorites! These Colorful Hearts Bags are adorable!
There are tons of options when it comes to finding cute Valentine’s bags! Just make sure you check the sizing so that the craft sticks will easily fit into the bag so you can fold it over or staple it shut.
A few more supplies that go beyond Conversation Hearts
If you are thinking of using something besides the conversation hearts, there are a few things to consider.
First, if you are thinking about chocolate hearts, be prepared for the children to eat their building materials. Also, chocolate melts quickly in little hands, so the mess factor will be high. Chocolate typically comes individually wrapped, so there will be some prep work for the kids too.
Second, you need to make sure that the candy you pick has somewhat of a flat surface. For example, building with Hershey’s Kisses would be an extremely difficult task for younger children in first or second grade. But it could be just the challenge children in middle school need.
Here are a few fun heart-shaped candies that won’t melt and still have the flat surface needed for building easily:
Wonka Sweetart Conversation Hearts
Another thing to consider would be using a variety of different hearts for the building challenges. More on this later!
Tons of Conversation Heart STEM Activity Challenges
There is nothing wrong with giving the children the supplies and letting them guide their learning and fun.
If you want this to be more of a STEM challenge, however, here are a few ways to do so easily.
INDIVIDUAL VS. GROUP WORK
First, this activity works great as both individual and group work. Perhaps having the children work individually on challenges and then slowly combining them into teams is an option.
You could go from having one small structure built by one child to massive structures built by half the group!
TO BE TIMED OR NOT TIMED
Another option that works great with older children in middle school would be to make the challenges timed.
You could give each individual or group a certain amount of time, like 5 minutes, to create the structure.
This is also a great way to keep the supplies you need to a minimum.
TALLEST BUILDING CHALLENGE
When I did this activity with my son’s fourth-grade class this was by far their favorite challenge. The children had to decide if they were going to risk it toppling over by using minimal structures, or go safe and make the structures sturdier, but not as tall.
You will see the children adapt to the toppling towers and begin again with a little more thought. There will be those making triangles and squares, as well as kids debating the best placement of the conversation hearts in relation to the edges of the craft sticks.
You can either measure with a ruler or use the simple method of counting how many hearts & sticks tall each building is before it falls or they run out of supplies.
STRONGEST BUILDING CHALLENGE
Unlike the tallest building challenge, the strongest building challenge is a little harder to pick a winner. However, the point is to encourage the children to make a structure that when under pressure could handle easily.
Therefore, anyone whose building doesn’t crumble under the weight would be a successful build.
The pressure can be applied by placing anything heavy on the top of the structure. For example, you could use a heavy textbook or if you have a lot of faith in your students, you could even bring a brick or something truly having some weight.
DESIGN CHALLENGES
Sometimes it’s fun to have a challenge that appeals to the creative side along with the engineering aspect of building.
For this Conversation Heart STEM challenge, the goal isn’t to make the tallest or sturdiest structure but to design a unique building or structure.
This is a more low-key way to enjoy the activity since there is less focus on competition and more focus on building something artfully.
Taking it a step further, the children could even use markers to draw on the craft sticks to make their designs even more unique.
USING MULTIPLE HEARTS FOR BUILDING
Earlier I hinted at using more than one type of candy hearts for the kids to build their structures.
This works best for older children simply because the different heights of the candy can make the structures less stable.
With less stability, the building of the structures becomes just a little bit trickier.
More Valentine’s Fun for Kids
I know you are probably wanting to head out and grab some supplies so you can tackle this Valentine’s Day STEM challenge, but take a peek at a few of our other fun Valentine’s Day posts first!
We have this super cute Chocolate Teddy Bear Bites snack that is easy and perfect for kids’ Valentine’s Day parties!
Also, we have these delicious Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Crisp Hearts that not only do kids love, but adults find them addicting too!
Also, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter below. You’ll know about all of our fun activities for kids (including free printables), as well as our tips for being a more productive mom!
No Comments