DeLappenings: Monday Science Fun Day—Crunch Labs Stomp Rocket!

Okay, peeps.

Let’s talk about our ongoing love of Crunch Labs. And how it took us a full year (plus a month or two) to finish the twelve engineering projects that were intended for Summer 2023, but…

We still did it!

Better late than never. ;)

It was a joy to add the final gear to our “diploma” (one gear for each engineering principle/project)—plus the fun Mark Rober signature of authenticity. Woohoo!

This activity continues to be well worth the time, money, and energy, in my humble opinion.

Not only is Mark Rober really fun (check in to him if you haven’t), it’s also amazing to watch my crazy kids digest these complex principles or relate them to something they’ve heard at school or in a video, thus proving that learning can be SNEAKY and FUN!

All three of them continue to express an interest in science, and continue to perform well in the subject, too. :)

Just last week, during parent/teacher conferences, it was put in writing that Chicklet “shows an extensive knowledge base in science.” Why, yes, yes, she does!

And tonight, Chica and I had a hysterically animated discussion while I was cooking dinner that revolved around the solar system unit that’s currently blowing her mind.

And Little Man…welp. More on him and his ongoing interests in a minute.

For now, here are a few pics of the Stomp Rocket we built and enjoyed this past Saturday. :)

Side not: learning at home is—how shall we put it?—a tad less structured. ;)

But with our jam-packed schedules, I’m constantly craving some quality time with these nutty kids o’ mine that doesn’t revolve around homework or extracurriculars or anything else that’s mandatory. And these projects are great, forced time together. :)

Ta-da! A well-functioning Stomp Rocket that we used to take aim on one another, tehe.

Okay, so.

Now that we’ve finished all twelve boxes from last year, we’ll start working our way through the current ones. We’ve got a few tucked away in the closet.

That said…Little Man is begging to take this whole shebang to the next level.

Mark Rober recently launched a more challenging version of these engineering boxes. One that’s designed for teenagers and adults (read: way more difficult) and involves building robots and diving into some coding and other things.

Little Man has been lobbying for a subscription to this ramped up version, and we’re willing to give it a try, but…

You have to pay up front for an entire (expensive!) year, versus the monthly subscription of our Crunch Labs boxes.

And, Little Man would definitely need some parental assistance, since he’s still too young for the target age range of these more involved projects.

But…who am I to stifle his interest and creativity???

The hubby and I extended Little Man a challenge: work through a couple of our backlogged Crunch Labs on his own, to show us he’s uber capable (he is), and then we’ll consider (key word, there) signing up for the complicated subscription as a Christmas present.

With that challenge extended (and his sisters’ permission to build a box or two without them), my boy wasted zero time.

He hauled a one of the unopened project boxes upstairs, built it over a happy hour spent alone, and then came downstairs to show it off and give a mini lecture to explain the engineering principle involved.

I die.