How to Save for STEM Education

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.

I’m guessing that if you follow Left Brain Craft Brain, you care about STEM education.  Our kids need science, technology, engineering and math to help round out their education and prepare them for our modern world.  But that’s easier said than done, right?  Budget issues, testing concerns, maybe even an intimidation factor all get in the way.  Left Brain Craft Brain tries to help parents and teachers make STEM education fun.  And General Mill helps break through budget concerns with their Box Tops 4 Education program.  I’m doing a little math today to show that collecting Box Tops is worth your kid’s while.

You + Box Tops = STEM Education

It’s time for a little bit of math…  Hopefully it meets Common Core standards…  For every box top a school turns in, your school earns $0.10.  A dime doesn’t seem like much, but here are some ways they can be used to drive STEM education in early elementary school.

One Box Top buys*:

• A pipette, baking soda and vinegar to study chemical reactions
• 2 LED’s and wire to study electricity (click here for electric cards to make)
• Seeds and soil to study biology
• A plastic baggie to study the water cycle (click here for the experiment)
• A set of dice to study math

Now imagine every student in a classroom of 20 kids turns in 10 Box Tops this year.  (That’s only two boxes of cereal and a box of granola bars with the Walmart exclusive 5 Box Top items!  Hope you love our silly pics as we toured Walmart looking for Box Tops :) )

200 Box Tops buys*:

• One set of Snap Circuits Jr.
• A set of spring scales (click here for a fun way to use them)
• A calculator for each student
• Wooden parts to make simple machines
• Heat sensitive, color changing slime supplies for the whole class (you know you want to try it! click here for the recipe)

Now imagine every student, teacher and administrator in the school turns in 10 Box Tops this year.  K-6 elementary school, two classes per grade, 20 students per class, administrators & staff = 300 people.  Just two boxes of cereal and a box of granola bars from each.

3000 Box Tops buys*:

• One computer
• A lab sized set of goggles, beakers, and equipment for experiments
• A school garden
• A guest speaker and visiting animals from the zoo
• A huge set of Magnatiles

A computer?  A garden?  Definitely not chump change.  These make real differences in our children’s STEM education.

Why Start Now?

You might know that I don’t have a kiddo in K-12 right now and are wondering why I’m starting to save Box Tops. Our local elementary school has a drop box and I know that every one that I turn in helps the school which helps it be a better school when my daughter finally gets to go to kindergarten.

A Fun Way to Earn Box Tops for Your School

Stay tuned for my next post that shows a really fun way to help your school earn box tops.  It’s a Box Top Balloon Car Derby and we bought our car parts today :)

Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Math Fun for Kids

Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that use can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Kids: 50+ Hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math Hands-On Projects for Kids ebook! It’s packed full of a year’s worth fun learning activities that will wow the boredom right out of your kids.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.