Goldfish crackers STEAM Activity Snacks

CBias Goldfish Disclosure 2

There are a few things we like to do at the Left Brain Craft Brain house…  One is STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) activities.  Another thing is to play with our food, despite what my mom taught me when I was little.  So this week, we combined the two into some Goldfish cracker STEAM Activity Snacks.  And it was fun, educational & delicious!!  #GoldfishMix #CollectiveBias

Kids can play & learn with their food with these fun Goldfish crackers STEAM snack activities.  Great for young engineers, mathematicians & artists. #GoldfishMix @Walmart #ad

Goldfish Cracker Pulley Engineering Snack

First on the list was some cracker engineering.  A three-wheel recycled cardboard pulley system to be exact.  The Babe had fun experimenting with how the different wheel configurations changed how easily the cup full of Goldfish crackers moved.  Playing with this (and making the crackers spill up over the top!) was about as deliciously fun to her as the crackers.

Supplies Needed

  • Goldfish crackers
  • 6 paper towel rolls or wrapping paper roll cut into pieces
  • 3 straws
  • 3 empty ribbon spools
  • baker’s twine
  • small plastic cup or container
  • masking tape
  • scissors
  • pen or screwdriver to poke holes in cup

Goldfish cracker pulley supplies Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. Make the pulley basket:  Take the plastic cup and poke two holes in it, directly across from each other.  Feed twine through each hole and tie, giving the cup a short handle.  Then tie a 1 1/2 yard piece of twine to the center of the cup handle.

Goldfish Crackers Pulley Basket Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. Construct the pulley supports:
    1. Cut paper rolls to desired lengths.  I used 4 at paper towel roll length and 2 at a shorter length.
    2. Poke a hole into one end of a paper roll, approximately 1″ from edge.  Poke another hole, also 1″ from edge, directly opposite the circle from the first hole.  Make holes large enough for a straw to fit easily through.  Repeat with the remaining five rolls.
    3. Take two matching height rolls.  Feed a straw (the pulley shaft) through both holes in a roll, then the hole in a ribbon spool and then through the second roll.  Repeat with the other two sets of rolls.
    4. Tape the bottoms of the paper towel rolls to a stable table with masking tape.  The rolls should be just narrower than a straw’s length apart.  Then tape the next two pulleys.

Goldfish Cracker Pulley Supports Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. Feed and play with the pulleys:  Pull twine over the first ribbon spool, under the second ribbon spool and over the third ribbon spool.  Fill the basket with Goldfish crackers and lift away!  My daughter’s favorite part was making the basket go up and over the first pulley, making a shower of Goldfish crackers :)

Cracker Engineering Pulley Left Brain Craft Brain

Goldfish crackers Pulley from Above Left Brain Craft Brain

Goldfish Cracker Math Game Snack

Next up is a little snack math…  The goal of this activity is to practice a few basic math skills while having some tasty fun.  Kids will count, color sort and practice their dice skills.

Game rules:  The first person to collect 20 Goldfish crackers and have at least one cracker in each color wins. Players gain Goldfish by rolling the die and picking a pom pom from a bag.  Players then grab as many crackers as the die says in the same color of the pom pom they chose.

Supplies Needed:

  • A bowl of Goldfish crackers Colors
  • one die
  • pom poms in yellow, orange, red & green
  • opaque bag large enough to fit the pom poms
  • paper & pen

Goldfish Cracker Math Game Left Brain Craft Brain

Draw the game scorecard by dividing a sheet of paper into 3 columns and 5 rows.  Label the rows with the four colors of Goldfish crackers (red, yellow, orange & green).  I drew a colored cracker on each of the rows, but my daughter preferred to use a real cracker to label them.  Then label the columns with the player’s names.

Counting Goldfish Crackers Left Brain Craft Brain

Want the kids to have a smaller snack?  Have them play to 10, not 20.  Are they really hungry?  They could play to 55, which is one serving of Goldfish crackers.

Goldfish Cracker Mosaic Art Snack

Another way my daughter enjoyed of the Goldfish Cracker STEAM Snack was to do a bit of art.  Specifically some mosaic making with fruit and vegetables.

Supplies Needed:

Goldfish Cracker Mosaic Snack Left Brain Craft Brain

  • Goldfish crackers
  • Other snack food like fruit, cheese, vegetables, etc.
  • Paint palettes (clean!)
  • Tray or plate

Set out their supplies and let them have it!  When we did this art snack, The Babe was pretty hungry.  So the ratio of creative mosaic making to eating was actually quite low.  But she loved it nonetheless, especially having lunch served on an artist palette.

Goldfish Cracker Mosaic Eating Left Brain Craft Brain

Snack Wins

Food can be a challenge for both kiddos and parents.  I’ve got a picky preschooler on my hands, but a few of those colorful Goldfish crackers always brings a smile to her face.  They make a great snack, a great way to play & a great way to learn.  Plus I love that they contain natural ingredients like paprika and watermelon to give them their fun colors instead of those numbered colors that we try to avoid.  Luckily for me, Walmart has them on rollback right now for $5.98.  Because that pulley holds A LOT of Goldfish crackers.  Check them out on Facebook or Twitter to find new recipes and fun things to do with Goldfish crackers.

Walmart Goldfish Aisle Left Brain Craft Brain

For more fun ways to play and learn with your food, check out:

Scissor Skills Lunch

scissor skills lunch

Why Do Apples Turn Brown?

Why Do Apples Turn Brown Experiments in Keeping Apples Looking Fresh Left Brain Craft Brain FB

20 thoughts on “Goldfish crackers STEAM Activity Snacks”

  1. This looks like SO MUCH FUN Anne! We are definitely going to make one of these tomorrow. Onetime loves anything to do with pulleys/gears etc. and is going to flip out for this! We may just have to get some crackers too LOL!

  2. Pingback: Rube Goldberg Machines for Kids + YouTube Video! - One Time ThroughOne Time Through

  3. Pingback: 14 Fun Engineering Activities for Kids - Fun-A-Day!

  4. Pingback: Top 10 Summer Engineering Projects for Kids - Lemon Lime Adventures

  5. Pingback: Week 7: Tools & Technology | lesson slinger

  6. Pingback: Play With Your Food In the Name of Science! – wordsprouts

  7. Pingback: STEM Challenge - Build a Snack Mix Machine - Left Brain Craft Brain

  8. Pingback: Strawberries Blog

  9. Pingback: Strawberries Blog

  10. Pingback: Science Projects with Cardboard Tubes - Buggy and Buddy

  11. Pingback: 50+ Awesome Engineering Projects for Kids - Left Brain Craft Brain

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top