Educators can significantly influence children’s lives by teaching them how to think outside the box. One way to do so is to discover exciting and innovative ways to introduce pool noodles in the classroom. Read on to find genius ways to use pool noodles in the classroom.
Why Use Pool Noodles?
If you’ve never used pool noodles in your classroom before, you might be asking why you should start now. The answer is that noodles are both incredibly affordable and highly versatile, and they’re safe to use for all ages. Your only limitation to finding a use for them is your imagination.
Create a Model of DNA
What better way to illustrate the complexities of our DNA than to make a model out of foam noodles that kids can examine? Cut several different colored noodles at appropriate lengths to imitate the DNA double helix and bases. For example, use one noodle color to represent adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T), and a fifth color to represent the strands.
Craft Card Holders for Small Hands
Younger children, such as first and second graders, may have hands that are too small to grip large cards or hold many simultaneously. There is an easy fix, and all you need to do is to cut into a noodle with a smooth (not serrated) knife or cutting instrument. Make rings approximately one inch wide, cut a slit in the top, and have kids easily place their cards into them.
Engineer a Marble Run
Developing students’ STEM skills is an essential teaching strategy that will help prepare them for college. You can have kids make their marble run and experiment with different designs using noodles, a knife, and painter’s tape. Cut the noodles in half and in various lengths. Tape each piece, then have the students attach each piece to the wall in whichever method they think will help the marble travel down the run the best.
Build an ABC Basket
All you have to do for this project is cut your pool noodle into pieces and use a permanent marker to create single letters in both capital and lowercase on each piece. Students can practice matching capital and lowercase letters by layering the capital letters onto the lowercase letter. Students can practice ABC order by stringing pool noodles on a rope in the correct sequence.
Giving kids pool noodles and letting their imaginations run wild is one of the most genius ways to use pool noodles in the classroom. Honor Trading company offers a wide range of pool noodles, perfect for school projects, such as our white pool noodles and specialty soft foam noodles. We can provide free standard shipping on all of our products, and we can ship the majority of our orders on the same day. Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products.