Fidget Spinners & STEM
Each of my kids must have 4 or 5 fidget spinners.
I don't understand the obsession, but they love them.
Our Cub pack decided to make fidget spinners and use them to learn a bit about STEM. We kept it simple and fun. We brought up topics, such as: friction and ball-bearings, momentum and the moment of inertia, laws of motion, and gyroscopic procession.
There are plenty of DIY sites to make fidget spinners with different components. We made a simple spinner that lacks a ball-bearing, but has a central stem that the parts spin on, and most of the items were found around the house.
Materials
printable (from TeepeeGirl.com)
scissors
cardstock paper
cereal box cardboard
markers or pencils
glue gun
glue-dots
3 pennies or thin metal washers
2 x jump ring (optional & available at Dollar Stores)
Q-tips
hole punch
pencil
Photo instructions available at TeepeeGirl.com
Print DIY Fidget Spinner {Colouring Edition} on cardstock
colour
cut out all parts
punch holes in center marks of all 3 pieces (I used a leather punch for the appropriate size)
glue top and bottom pieces to the middle cereal box
glue (or Glue-Dot) a penny or washer to each of the marked circle areas
glue circle cut-out penny covers on
cut the end off of a Q-tip
run through the center hole
one jump ring over the cut end of the Q-tip
place Glue-Dot at end of the Q-tip
attach circle cut-out on end of Q-tip
place a dot of hot glue on top for a holder & let dry (place in cup to balance as suggested on the site)
flip over and repeat steps 10-13, cutting off the excess Q-tip stick
Helpful Links & Sites
If you are not a science buff, here is a good site and youth-led videos to help understand and explain some of the basic physics of these spinners. We had a discussion and the kids enjoyed watching the videos!
Thoughts
These fidget spinners were a great success, and the kids learnt some science while we were at it.
We have a small Cub pack, and had 3 glue-guns going. However, the more the better! Kids were lined up waiting for glue. I am hoping to do this with our Brownie unit, and we have 20 girls. So, we will likely divide them into some watching the videos and having a discussion and others making the fidget spinners. Maybe invite a few parents to assembly-line glue-gun!
On a final note, the first time I made one, I did not use glue-dots. They can be made without them, but the hot glue gets a little messy when trying to glue the Q-tip; use the glue-dots!