There are a lot of engineering activities for kids out there, but not all of them are easy. Today’s project is extremely simple, yet teaches some important information about engineering, construction, and critical thinking skills. If you have spaghetti in your house (or any dried, long noodle), then you already have everything you need to create the spaghetti engineering project!
How to Do the Spaghetti Engineering Project
Supplies
- Spaghetti
- Marshmallows, candy, or glue (optional)
Easiest supply list ever.
Originally, I had wanted Monkey to build a structure using spaghetti and marshmallows or some other sticky substance to create a structure. However, Monkey was bored of creating 3D designs, and we didn’t have any marshmallows, so we decided to test the strength of spaghetti instead.
Before we started the project, I asked Monkey if she thought spaghetti would be more difficult to break if you had a handful rather than just one piece. She said that she believed it would be more difficult to break. We decided to see how much spaghetti it would take before she could break it with her hands.
First, I had Monkey break one piece. Next, we tried about 10 pieces.
I had Monkey continue to try to break the spaghetti pieces adding between 10 and 25 each time. When she reached about 100 pieces, she could no longer break the spaghetti.
We discussed how many materials used in manufacturing are layered and work together with multiple parts to increase the strength of various items.
Monkey really enjoyed breaking the spaghetti pieces, but she did inform me that she did not want to clean up the little pieces that fell off the table when our project was over.
The possibilities of this project are nearly endless. It would work well in conjunction with the mechanical properties test we did earlier in the series.
Would you try this extremely easy spaghetti engineering project with your kids?
Need more fun engineering projects and other STEM activities for kids? Look no further than the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series!
And if you’re a homeschooling parent, check out the entire 31 days of homeschooling tips for moms series.