Children's Weekly Challenges

Week 6

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 6 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Create: Build a Nest. Go outside and collect materials that birds might use to build a nest such as twigs, feathers, leaves, dried grass, pine needles and evergreen branches. Weave your collected materials together to make a nest. Make sure there is space for a bird and her eggs to sit in your nest. Feel free to share your creations on our social media pages or email them to rebeccafeirer@lakemills.lib.wi.us.

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Craft

Craft: Popsicle Stick Bird Feeder. Supplies: -Jumbo Colored Craft Sticks -Wood Glue -Twine -Birdseed. Lay six jumbo craft sticks next to each other. This is going to be the bottom of your bird feeder. Glue two sticks across the six base sticks towards the ends of each side. This will hold your base together. Put a dot of glue in the four corners of the sticks you just glued on. Place sticks on top of these sticks the opposite direction. For the perch, add glue to the middle of one of the last sticks you glued on. Glue a stick in the opposite direction of this stick. Continue gluing sticks around the outside--two in one direction and then two on top in the other direction. (If you want a rainbow effect, change colors after every 4 craft sticks). After around 6 sets of 4 sticks glued, you are finished gluing. Let the glue dry for 24 hours to make sure it is set. Cut your twine into four pieces, each about 2 feet long. Tie each piece of twine to the corner of the craft stick feeder one level down. This will distribute the weight of the filled bird feeder from the top sticks. Tie all of the ends of the twine together. Create a simple loop by not pulling the ends through the knot fully. Fill your feeder with bird seed and hang it outside.

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STEAM

STEAM: Paper Helicopters. Supplies: -Paper -Paper clip -Scissors. Create a helicopter out of paper and see how well you can make it fly. Cut your paper into a 6 inch by 2 inch rectangle. At one end, cut about 3 inches up the middle of your paper (Image 1). Next, make two cuts on either side about 1/2 an inch higher than your cut (Image 2). Fold the uncut end inward (Image 3). Flatten and fold up a small piece of your paper. Then add a paper clip to hold things in place and add weight so that your helicopter stays upwards while flying (Image 4). Fold your cut end in opposite directions to create your helicopter blades (Image 5).Go up to a high place and drop your helicopter. Watch it spin as it falls. Alternatively, hold the paper clip end and throw your helicopter to watch it fly.

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Backyard Fun

Head to your backyard or a park. See how many nature items you can find on the BINGO card on the next page. Cross out an item when you find it. Get 5 in a row to win! Want a bigger challenge? See if you can find everything on the BINGO card! Challenge your siblings or friends to see who can get a BINGO first!

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Nature Hunt BINGO

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Week 5

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 5 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Think of two animals that you could combine to make one. Think about the unique characteristics that identify each of your animals, such as a squirrel's tail, a giraffe's neck, and a camel's hump. Make sure to include these characteristics in your drawing. When you have finished your drawing, name your new animal. Feel free to share your creations on our social media pages or email them to rebeccafeirer@lakemills.lib.wi.us.

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Craft

Craft: Squid Windsock: Supplies: -Cardstock -Scissors -Glue -Crepe Paper -Black Marker -String. Take your cardstock, line one end with glue and then roll it to make a tube. Use your scissors to round the top end of your tube into a curve. Place your tube onto another piece of cardstock. Draw a raindrop shape around your tube so that it starts around halfway up and extends a little above your tube. Cut out your shape and glue it as in the picture below. Cut out some strips of crepe paper and glue them around the inside of your tube so that they hang freely down. Cut out two white circles for the eyes and then use your black marker to draw on the pupils. Glue your eyes to your tube. Make a hole on either side of your squid’s body. Thread the string through the holes. Tie the two loose ends together inside your tube. Add a little glue at the bottom of each side of the raindrop shape. Fold the shape inwards so that it sticks to the tube giving it more of a curve and making it more secure.

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STEAM

STEAM: Ocean Currents. Supplies: -Cold water -Ice -Boiling water -Red and blue food coloring -Clear or white large baking dish. Make a simulation of ocean currents using hot and cold water.Fill the clear baking dish about 1/3 full with cold water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. You won’t want the blue to be too dark or you won’t be able to see the currents forming. Add 1-2 cups of ice to the cold water and stir. Let it set for a few minutes for some of the ice to melt. You want to make sure the water is very cold. Luke warm water will not work. Boil about 4 cups of water. Add red food coloring to the boiled water, make the red color pretty dark. Once both sets of water & dye are ready, gently pour some of the boiling water into a corner of the baking dish filled with cold water. Watch as currents form before your eyes!

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Backyard Fun

Turn your yard into an obstacle course. Use cones, sticks, a hula hoop, and other items from your garage or backyard to create fun obstacles. How fast can you go through your obstacle course? Time yourself, can you beat your previous time? Race against your siblings or friends to see who can complete the obstacle course the quickest.

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Week 4

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 4 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Imagine that your pet could talk. Write down what they would say to you. Would they be happy or upset? Would they ask you for something? Would they thank you for anything? If you could tell your pet anything, what would you say? If you don't have a pet, write about what an animal at the zoo might say to you if it could talk.

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Craft

Craft: Lightning Bug. Supplies: -Plastic egg -Pipe cleaners -Googly eyes -Battery powered tea light-Glue -Aluminum foil -Push pin -Black sharpie. Use your push pin to punch 6 holes in the plastic egg. Punch 3 holes on each side (one on the short half and 2 on the longer half of each side). These will be for the legs.On the short half of the egg, opposite the holes you just punched, use the push pin to punch two holes for the antennae.Cut a pipe cleaner into six 1 ½ inch pieces and stick them into the leg holes. Bend the pipe cleaners to look like legs.Cut another pipe cleaner into two 2 inch pieces and stick them into the antennae holes. Bend the pipe cleaners to look like antennae.Put the battery powered tea light inside the longer end of the egg, with the light facing towards the bug's backside. Close the egg.Glue the googly eyes on under the antennae and draw a smiley face with the black sharpie.Cut some wings out of aluminum foil and glue them to the back of the lightning bug.

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STEAM

STEAM: Zoo Challenge: Supplies: -Toilet paper rolls -Corks -Toothpicks -Marshmallows -Index Cards -Craft Sticks -Any other supplies you can find around the house to build with. -Toy animals (optional).Build different zoo structures with the materials provided.Pick a few of the following challenges to build: -Build a path of icebergs for the penguins. -Build a habitat for the lions. -Build a doorway tall enough for the giraffes. -Build a path for the zebras to be able to run. -Build a bridge for the people that the animals can walk under. -Build a place for the workers to go. Plan how you might build the challenges you picked. What materials might work the best? What materials will make the structures the sturdiest? If you want, you can make a drawing of how you will build the designs.Use the materials to build your challenge. Make sure your structure is sturdy. If it seems like it will fall over, find another material that may hold up better. Put your toy animals in or on your structures to see if they work.

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Backyard Fun

Find an open area, it could be your backyard, a park, or somewhere indoors where you have space to move. Using the cards linked below, practice some animal yoga poses. Can you make the sound of each animal as you do the yoga pose? What other yoga poses could you do to mimic an animal?

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Week 3

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 3 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Create: If I had an animal tail... Imagine that you had the tail of an animal! What animal tail would you choose? Think about the benefits and drawbacks of each tail before you pick one. Write about what it would feel like to have this tail. How would having an animal tail change your life? How would it help you? Would it get in the way? Why did you pick the tail you picked?

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Craft

Craft: Tin Foil Art Supplies -Cardboard (a cereal box works well) -Yarn -Tape -Scissors -Tin Foil -Colored Sharpie Markers (Use with parental supervision) Step 1 Cut the cardboard to the size you would like your art to be. Step 2 Cut off pieces of yarn and wrap them around the cardboard. Tie them in the back. To get the yarn to stay, rip or cut small slits in the side of the cardboard and tuck the yarn into the slits. You can also tape the yarn in the back. Step 3 Repeat step 2 angling your yarn in many different ways to create a unique design. Step 4 Cover the cardboard with tin foil. Press down on the foil to accentuate the yarn lines. If needed, cover the back with a piece of paper or more tin foil. Step 5 Use colorful sharpies to create different designs in each of the areas created by your yarn lines. Be creative! Miss Becca would love to see what you create! Share a picture on our social media or email it to rebeccafeirer@lakemills.lib.wi.us

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STEAM

STEAM: LEGO Brain Puzzle Supplies -Legos -Paper -Pen Challenge: Build a puzzle that makes a 10 x 10 square. The pieces can be any shape. See if others can solve your puzzle. Plan: Think about how you want to design your puzzle. Use a pencil and paper to draw out a 10 x 10 square and fill it with some possible designs. When planning your brain puzzle, keep in mind the limitations of the legos you have to use. Are there any other limitations you need to keep in mind? Build: When you have your design figured out, start building it with LEGOS. The puzzle pieces are made out of basic bricks, with a layer of flat bricks on top to attach them. You can make any shapes you like. Make sure your shapes fit in the 10 x 10 square. When your puzzle is completed. Mix up the pieces and see if a parent, sibling, or friend can solve your puzzle. It will help them if you draw a 10 x 10 square on paper for them so they know the shape they are trying to make with your pieces. Reflect How quickly did somebody solve your puzzle? What could you do to make it more difficult? Does your puzzle have more than one solution? Repeat Can you design a puzzle that is more difficult than your first one? Time the person who is solving your puzzle and see if they beat your new puzzle faster or slower. Are there different shapes you could build besides square puzzles? If you do a different shape, make sure you draw an outline so that the person solving it knows what shape they are trying to make. Source: https://frugalfun4boys.com/lego-brain-puzzles/

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Backyard Fun

Backyard Fun: Fill the Bucket Water Game Is the summer heat getting to you? Play this game to cool down! You might want to wear a swimming suit, you will get wet! Supplies: Buckets-2 per person Sponges-1 per person To Play: Place the two buckets across the yard from each other. Each player gets their sponge wet and then runs to the the other side and squeezes their sponge into the container. This continues until one person fills their container or you run out of water. The winning team is the team who has the most water in their container.

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Week 2

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 2 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Create: Design a Fantasy Animal: Animals have all sorts of cool adaptations: A giraffe's long neck, an elephant's trunk, a chameleon's camouflage. If you could create your own animal what would its powers be? Super speed? Strength? Fiery breath? Healing powers? Draw a picture of your fantasy animal and list what special traits it has. Feel free to share your creations on our social media pages or email them to rebeccafeirer@lakemills.lib.wi.us.

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Craft

Craft: Yarn Wrapped Fox: Supplies: Cardboard -Orange Yarn -White Yarn -Googly Eyes -Black Pom Pom -Orange and White Paper -Glue -Tape. Cut a triangle head from your cardboard box. Cut it any size you like!Tape one end of the orange yarn on to the back of the cardboard triangle.Wrap and wrap the yarn all around the cardboard triangle. When you have finished wrapping your yarn, tape the end onto the back of the cardboard. Optional: Repeat the process with white yarn to give the fox a white nose. Cut two triangle ears from your orange paper and two smaller white inner ear triangles. Tape or glue the ears onto the back of the foxes head.Glue on googly eyes and a pom pom nose. Optional: Add some pipe cleaner or paper whiskers.

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STEAM

STEAM: Which Paper Column can hold the most Weight?: Supplies: -3 pieces of copy paper -Books or another form of weight. Fold each piece of paper into a different shape (triangle, cylindar, square) and secure them with tape. Make a hypothesis. Which shape do you think will hold the most weight? Why? Slowly pile books on top of each shape. Count the number of books as you stack them and record how many books each shape could hold before it collapsed.

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Backyard Fun

Backyard Fun: Animal Walks. Head outside to your backyard, a park, or other open area. Make up your own walk that mimics an animal's movement. Challenge yourself to walk like an animal for a certain distance or race your friends.

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Week 1

Complete 2 of the following activities to achieve your Week 1 activity badge in Beanstack.

Create

Create: Nature Picture: Create a picture out of items you find in nature. You could use leaves, flowers, sticks, pine cones, grass, dirt, or any other objects you can find. Arrange the items to create an image. You can glue them to a piece of paper, or just arrange them on the ground. Feel free to share your creations on our social media pages or email them to rebeccafeirer@lakemills.lib.wi.us.

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Craft

Craft: Snail Magnets: Supplies: -Pipe Cleaners -Googly Eyes -Glue -Scissors -Magnets. Take your two pipe cleaners and twist them together at one end. This will be the shell of the snail. Continue twisting the pipe cleaners around each other until you reach the end. Take one end of your pipe cleaner and begin rolling it around into a spiral shape. Once you are nearing the end, leave the last 2-3 cm uncurled. ace your snail colored pipe cleaner centrally across the uncurled end and twist it on so that it is secure. Twist your snail colored pipe cleaner around the end of your shell one. As you near the top, fold it around a couple of extra times to make a thicker part for the head. Once you reach the end, twist the two ends of your pipe cleaner together to make sure its secure and then leave them pointing upwards for the antennae. Glue two googly eyes to the front and attach the magnet to the back.

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STEAM

STEAM: Marbles and Playdough. Supplies: -Marbles -Playdough -Cookie Sheet -Blocks or Books to prop up cookie sheet. Create a marble run out of playdough and a propped up cookie sheet. Prop up your cookie sheet with books or blocks, so one side is higher than the other. Roll your playdough into many different sized "snakes." Plan a rout that will create a path for your marble to roll down. When you are ready, build your marble run. Make sure there are no spots where your marble could get stuck on the way down. Did your marble run work like you thought it would? Is there anything you need to change to make your marble run work better? Is there anything you want to change for fun? Build another marble run, putting your playdough in different positions. Which one worked better, the first or second run? Can you build a third? Are there other materials you could put in your marble run? How can you attach these materials to the cookie sheet? Do these materials make your run faster or slower? Which version of your marble run worked the best?

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Backyard Fun

Backyard Fun: Bug Hunt. Grab a container (make sure you poke some holes in the top), go to your backyard or a park, and see how many different types of bugs you can collect. When you're done collecting, release the bugs back into the wild. Not a fan of touching bugs? See how many different bugs you can take pictures of.

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