The Super Bowl is not just a game, it’s an event that brings people together. The Super Bowl is a great opportunity to incorporate some fun and educational activities into your elementary school classroom.
Whether you’re a football fan or not, these STEM activities are sure to score a touchdown with your students!
STEM Activity 1: Score a Field Goal
For this activity, your students have to design goalposts and a catapult to score goals with. Students can use different materials for their designs such as straws, craft sticks, cardboard, paper, plastic spoons and cups, tape, small balls or football objects. Let the students figure out which materials they want to use to build the most sturdy constructions.
Define the size of the goalposts and the distance the catapult (kicker) must be from the goalposts, so that the competition is fair.
The winner is the group whose kicker scores the most points out of 5 attempts.
Connect the activity to math, by discussing measurements, angles and percentages with accuracy.
Connect the activity to science and engineering, by discussing related forces, materials, weight and speed.
STEM Activity 2: Design a football helmet
Have your students design and create a safe football helmet to protect their egg player from a 1-foot drop.
Students can use materials such as cardboard, paper, craft sticks, rubber bands, cotton balls, pom poms, pipe cleaners and tape to create their design.
Define the size of the helmet or the number of materials each group can use to build a helmet for a fair competition.
The winning teams are the ones whose egg remains whole after a 1-foot drop.
Connect the activity to science and engineering, by discussing use of materials, brain safety and shock absorption.
STEM Activity 3: Predict the Super Bowl winner
Use math and statistics to have students make predictions about the outcome of the game.
Students can use probability to estimate the chances of their favorite team winning. They can use data such as past performance, statistics, or even weather conditions to make their predictions.
This activity teaches students about data analysis, probability, and critical thinking.
STEM Activity 4: Score a touchdown with KUBO
Here at KUBO, we are dedicated to creating special cross-curricular activities with the KUBO Robot. Incorporating technology, coding, math and arts, we designed an activity for the Super Bowl that will keep your students engaged for hours.
Students work in groups or pairs where one student programs the KUBO Robot to run through the football field and score a touchdown. The other student places their defenders strategically on the field to block KUBO from scoring a touchdown.
The activity comes in two levels for beginners and advanced coding learners.
As an extra activity, the students can design a team logo, either of their favorite team or they can come up with a logo of their own imaginary team.
This STEM activity teaches students about coding, strategic and critical thinking and sparks the kids creativity.
Find the map and description of the “Score a touchdown” activity here.
STEM Activity 5: Design a Super Bowl snack
Incorporate math concepts by having students design a healthy snack that can be served at a Super Bowl party. Have them measure ingredients, discuss preparation and cooking time, calculate servings and costs, and come up with a creative name for their snack.
If you have a KUBO Robot, we encourage you to try the cross-curricular activity “KUBO the Baker”, where students have to discuss ingredients, how to mix them and where to find everything they need in the kitchen. Let kids design their own kitchen map and program KUBO to bake a delicious snack.
Find “KUBO the Baker” and over 40 other cross-curriculum activities on our free Portal.
Why you should add STEM activities to your curriculum
Overall, incorporating STEM activities to your elementary school curriculum can be a fun and engaging way to teach kids important skills such as critical and computational thinking. Relating the activities to events, such as the Super Bowl, is a great way to connect the curriculum to something that the students are already excited about. With these activities, your students will be able to understand the science and math behind the game and have fun while learning.
