STEM building challenges are all over Pinterest. Just do a quick search and you can see a ton of different ideas and ways to modify the difficulty for your child. I needed a quick activity one afternoon to keep Brixton (4) quiet during nap time. We had bad weather move in unexpectedly and I didn’t have a backup plan ready. Originally, I planned on parking it on the couch with a movie and trying to bribe him with some popcorn to follow suit. Instead, when I opened the pantry I saw a half eaten bag of mini marshmallows and knew exactly what what we were going to do instead!

I set out a bowl of marshmallows and some toothpicks and decided to see what Brixton would come up with. He wasn’t really sure what to do with them at first and spent a few minutes contemplating eating all the marshmallows. So I started with a simple square! Showing him how he could use the marshmallows to connect the toothpicks to each other was really all it took!

After that we started to build UP and made a cube. After that, he really got the idea of what all he could make. He was ready to do it on his own and informed me that my assistance was no longer needed (and I took my “not needed” opportunity to go unload/reload the dishwasher, because #momlife 😅)

I didn’t take too many pictures of him working because he was really engrossed and I didn’t want to interrupt, but he was having a blast and really enjoying trying to figure out how to make each new part.

I love to set this out for Brixton when he’s starting to get rowdy towards the end of brothers’ naps. It’s just simple enough I can toss it out in less than 2 minutes, but keeps him busy and working and lets us all get an extra 15-20 minutes of quiet time 🙌

Have you tried STEM building before? If you do, we’d love to see! Tag us on Instagram @thebplusmama and give us a follow to see what we’re up to on a day-to-day basis!