Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activities

If you’re like me, then you hate to waste a second of precious instructional minutes. On the other hand, you also loathe feeling like the “mean” teacher when all the other classes are having Valentine’s Day parties.  The perfect solution to your problem is here! Valentine’s Day STEM Challenges are activities which push your students to think critically, problem-solve, and collaborate while reinforcing math and science standards. This is brain-busting work disguised as fun!  Your kids will love them, and you will too: win-win!

Watch the Overview

There are five (or eight – depending on how you look at it) Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge events which are sure to keep your students engaged and feeling the love this holiday!

Each challenge has its own detailed blog post including a regular & pandemic makeover video walk-through linked below:

Materials for all challenges were procured at the Dollar Tree except a large box of craft sticks (Michael’s) and candy (Target).

I recommend one challenge per day or week leading up to Valentine’s Day, or even all challenges in one day-long 5-event pentathlon!  STEM challenges are always most beneficial when done in multiple iterations, however they can be treated as one-off activities as well.

---

A brief description of each challenge is available below, and more information is also available by clicking on each challenge title.

---

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activity 1: Cupid’s Quiver

• 

• 

• 

Basic Premise: In groups, students will first design and then build a bow and arrow set for Cupid’s Valentine’s Day target practice.(Designing the quiver is optional.) If you find bow & arrow too difficult, an alternative option isto modify the challenge to make throwing darts instead. Students will aim for high scores as they take three shots each at a Valentine’s themed target.Then, take the the sum or average of students’ personal and/or team results to determine the final scores. See blog post with video walk-throughs

---

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activity 2: “Heavy” Hearts

• 

• 

Basic Premise: Individually or in partners/small groups, students will design the “heaviest” heart possible. Using a criteria/constraints list, students create small hearts of various colors and sizes. Point values will then be assigned to each color group based on its size. Then, students arrange various configurations of their smaller hearts inside a large, outer heart in order to create the “heaviest” possible heart. “Heaviest” is in quotation marks because we are not measuring weight; rather, we are assigning point values to inner hearts. This challenge can be run simply by focusing on shape creation & manipulation, measurement, addition, and symmetry. Alternatively, you can add complexity by focusing on length/width ratios, multiplying and dividing decimals, percent contribution, etc. See blog post with video walk-throughs

---

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activity 3: Candy Container

• 

• 

• 

Basic Premise: Working against a criteria/constraints list individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build the smallest container possible to house a candy assortment. Or you can choose to do the “Confection Container” alternative where students design and then build the smallest container possible to house one or more cupcakes (keeping frosting on the cupcakes, not the box!) See blog post with video walk-throughs

---

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activity 4: Cards in the Clouds

• 

• 

• 

Basic Premise: In partners/groups, students will first design and then build the tallest “tower of love” possible using Valentine’s Day cards they were probably just going to throw away anyway! (Note: for older students or those who don’t exchange cards, use index cards or alternative love-notes handout from product.) See blog post with video walk-throughs

---

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge Activity 5: Flower Frenzy

• 

• 

Basic Premise: Individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build a uniquely talented bouquet of flowers! Furthermore, this STEM challenge includes four challenge prompts that can be taken separately or simultaneously in groups:

• Floating Flowers
• Fluff & Flatten
  Flowers
• Functional Flowers
• Firmly Fixed Flowers

See blog post with video walk-throughs

---

Gotta Have It?

Sample Handouts