STEAM Saturday – Dancing Sprinkles! (9/23/2023)

Dancing Sprinkles

Dancing SprinklesDoes your little one love music? Today’s STEAM activity will allow them to experience music in a totally different way! Have them pick out their favorite tunes and get ready to learn about sound and vibrations as they make colorful sprinkles dance to the music!

First, let’s talk about what sound actually is… The dictionary defines sound as “vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person or animal’s ear.” Today, we’re going to try to play music through a speaker and generate sound waves (vibrations) which will move a surface and make our sprinkles dance!

Here’s what we’ll need for our sound wave sprinkle dance party:

  • Plastic Wrap
  • A Large Rubber Band
  • A Bowl
  • Sprinkles
  • A Phone or Small Speaker to Play Music Through

Dancing SprinklesThe first step is to cover your bowl with plastic wrap and pull it tight. Wrap your rubber band around the bottom of your bowl so that it holds the plastic wrap tightly in place. Next, put a handful of sprinkles on top of your plastic wrap. Now, place your speaker or phone next to your bowl, making sure it is touching the bowl. All that’s left to do is turn on the music and watch as the sound vibrations cause your sprinkles to dance!

When doing this experiment, you may have to adjust the location and volume of your phone or speaker so that it generates the right level of vibration to make your sprinkles move on the plastic wrap. You can also try placing your speaker inside the bowl before adding your plastic wrap, but we suggest doing this after you have determined the best volume for your music so that you don’t have to remove and replace the plastic to adjust the volume.

Check out the full activity and more of the science behind it from Little Bins for Little Hands HERE.

As always, get as creative as you want, and above all, have lots of fun learning together!

We’ll see you right back here next Saturday for another STEAM Saturday activity!  Scroll through the rest of our website to learn how Critchlow Adkins is Building Brighter Futures for the children and families we serve!

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