STEM box subscriptions can get expensive, so here are some inexpensive ways to put your own box together. These boxes are a great way to foster some practical learning as my child gained an appreciation for some foreign foods, authentic crafts and the activities from our chosen countries to study.
In my STEM boxes I always like to put in some snacks from the country we learning about, 3 activities, some things to collect and some information about the country. I also make sure I have some interesting YouTube videos that goes with each box. Here are examples of two different World Travel boxes I have put together.
Box 1: South Africa.
1. Snacks
I will normally go to my local World Market or any international food store to find snacks. Luckily here in California we have a lot of international food markets. Sometimes I cant get the exact snacks from a specific country so I just try to get as close as possible to the real thing.
2. Crafts
I use Pinterest for a lot of my inspiration and ideas for crafts. I try to make sure I pick crafts I know that we will get done and wont take too long to do. I also make sure to keep it as cheap as possible , so I buy things that I can use in more than just one box.
We made a rope basket out of white rope I found at Walmart, hot glue and acrylic paint.
We made an Africa key chain out of felt, beads and a key loop.
Lastly, I printed out an interesting image to be traced onto a 8 x 10 canvas and then painted.
Key Chain:
Image for Baskets and how to video:
3. Thing to collect
We do things like money and stamps. I found a bag of world - wide stamps with 300 stamps in it at Hobby Lobby. The bag has a lot of multiple stamps in it so one bag should be enough if you have two kids. To find foreign currency I ask people I know who have has traveled to that country if they have any change from their trip. Alternatively I find an image on Google and print it out.
4. Coloring in activities
I always try to find at least 2 coloring in sheets about the country. I make sure that 1 of those sheets is the country's flag.
Name coloring page:
Flag coloring page:
5. Facts about that country
I make sure to also add some interesting fact sheets about the country.
National Anthem:
About South Africa:
6. Things that are the same in each box
In each box I will put a boarding pass and a passport with travel stamps.
I Google the travel stamps, then print them out on sticker paper.
Printable boarding pass:
Passport:
Box two: Namibia.
1. Snacks
I sourced some Jelly Tots, Smarties and Guava juice.
2. Crafts
I found this wooden car you had to build at Walmart, it reminded me of a Sand Jeep or Dune Buggy because of all the sand dunes there. I will be honest we had to look up a YouTube video to help us put that car together. I found a crystal growing kit at the Dollar store. I picked out some yarn that reminded me of Namibia, the nice sand color and we learned how to crochet a scarf.
3. Coloring in activities
How to draw a Giraffe:
Flag:
Here are my two fun travel boxes that didn't break the bank and we had a lot of fun doing all the different activities. We even learnt some new skills whilst learning some interesting facts about our chosen countries.
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