Bridge Building

Building with blocks and legos has always been very popular with my boys, so I took it a step further. Instead of building up, I wanted them to build across, which is how bridge building came about. Tinker toys would have a similar concept, but not as fun. Eating makes everything more fun.

I had the boys use toothpicks and 1 baggie of fruit snacks to put together a bridge. I showed them how to make it by putting together triangles. They just kept adding triangles. My 4-year old could have followed a pattern. If I do this again I will make one for him. My 2-year old lost interest after about 10 minutes and thought it was more fun to eat the fruit snacks like hors d'oeuvres using the toothpicks. This craft can go right into snack time, so make sure hands are washed and the table is clean.

I liked this activity because they were building, but they had to use some self control because if they ate all the fruit snacks the fun was over. My 2-year didn't gobble them up all at once because I told him he wasn't getting any more. After the bridge was made they started using their imagination to think of other 3D objects to build like robots. They also practiced their shapes. STEM: eat your heart out. (Science Technology Engineering Math)

Hint: marshmallows will work instead of fruit snacks.