Four Dollar Store Activities
Total cost = $24 for a group of 8
Pedicure sandals (2), dot stickers (2), chips (2), package of 8 pens (10), mini rubber hair bands (1), sunflower seeds (1), and tweezers (8).
1) Pedicure sandal
How to meet CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.3 Standard
Can children make a 3D shoe from 2D foam by flipping the back up over a pedicure sandal? It’s a technology that solves the need for a cheap temporary shoe.
Note: Add the technology and engineering of gripping dots mimicing shoe treads.
2) Tech stylus test
Grab a snack, save the bag. Pick out (2) shiny one-serving chips package (Doritos and Cheetos usually have the silver Mylar lining inside). It turns out that mylar carries, or conducts, electrical charge.
It also turns out that the human body conducts a small amount of electricity. Furthermore, touchscreens use this “human charge” to figure out where the screen was touched.
- Purchase shiny bags, 8-pack of grip pens, and mini hair rubber bands.
- Wash inside of bags and dry.
- Cut the bag sides apart and then halve the bag sides horizontally for 4 pieces per chip bag.
- Label the pens with tape to have children’s names.
- Have children put the pen tip in the middle of their bag piece and wrap the excess around the pen.
- Most will need help securing it with a rubber band.
- Try it out on a touch screen. Make adjustments. Click pen in and out, remove cushion, test high and low, touching rubber band or no.
3) Fatigue stress
- Buy a package of Fuzzy Sticks.
- Introduce double pinch hold and fold back and forth in center of stick.
- Continue until it breaks, then do halves of the halves to practice fractions.
More activities at Hingeneering Project
4) Bird beak mimic
Experience how tweezers mimic (copy) the function of the beak on a bird.
- Buy child’s forceps for class
- Buy Jumbo sunflower seeds from the chips section
- Scatter seeds and ask children to try squeezing the seeds to crack with their tool.
Note: Offer seeds to eat before beginning since they’ll be curious
