Building a snowflake model using STEM principles is a great winter activity. Here’s how you can do it:

Materials needed: - Craft sticks or popsicle sticks - Glue - Scissors - White paper or cardstock - Markers or colored pencils - Optional: glitter, sequins, or other decorative materials

Instructions: 1. Start by cutting the craft sticks into smaller pieces of varying lengths. These will be the “branches” of your snowflake.

1. Arrange the craft stick pieces into a snowflake shape on a flat surface. You can use a real snowflake as a reference or get creative and design your own unique snowflake shape.

2. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, use glue to secure the craft stick pieces together. Allow the glue to dry completely.

3. While the glue is drying, cut out a snowflake template from the white paper or cardstock. You can find snowflake templates online or create your own by folding a piece of paper and cutting out shapes.

4. Place the snowflake template on top of the craft stick snowflake and trace the shape onto the sticks.

5. Carefully remove the template and use scissors to cut along the traced lines on the craft sticks. Be sure to cut through all the layers of sticks.

6. Once you’ve cut out the snowflake shape, you can decorate it using markers, colored pencils, or any other art supplies you have. You can also add glitter, sequins, or other decorative materials to make it sparkle like a real snowflake.

7. Allow the decorations to dry, and your snowflake model is ready to display or hang up as a winter decoration.

This activity incorporates STEM principles by encouraging creativity, problem-solving (arranging the craft sticks into a snowflake shape), and engineering (cutting and assembling the craft sticks). It also allows for artistic expression and experimentation with different materials and decorations.