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Have you ever wished you could capture the wind inside a tower and study its magic? Engineers do something very similar! They use special tools called wind tunnels to learn how air moves around airplanes, rockets, race cars, and even buildings. In this enchanting STEM activity, you'll build your own wind tunnel and discover how invisible forces can make objects float, spin, soar, and dance through the air! This post contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, The Princess Program STEM may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These funds help support our mission of inspiring future innovators through hands-on STEM experiences. Thank you for supporting our nonprofit!
Step 1: Measure Your Plastic Sheet To create your wind (tunnel) tower, you'll first need to determine how long your plastic sheet should be. The length of the sheet should match the circumference of your embroidery hoops, so it goes all the way around the hoops. The formula for circumference is: Circumference = π × Diameter, where π (called pi) is equal to approximately 3.14. For our example:
Use a permanent marker to draw a straight line and carefully cut along that line. The height of your plastic sheet will become the height of your wind tunnel. Step 2: Create Your Wind Tunnel Tower Roll the plastic sheet into a cylinder shape. Place one embroidery hoop at the top of the cylinder. Place the second embroidery hoop at the middle of the cylinder. Place the third embroidery hoop at the bottom of the cylinder. Each hoop should hold the plastic between its inner and outer rings. These hoops act like the structure of a castle tower, helping your wind tunnel keep its shape! Step 3: Tighten the Hoops Twist the screws on all three embroidery hoops until they are secure. Check that the plastic is stretched evenly and that the tower stands nicely without collapsing inward. Your magical wind tower is really beginning to take shape! Step 4: Add the Tower's Feet Clip the 4 large clothespins evenly around the bottom embroidery hoop. These clothespins act like sturdy table legs, creating a gap between the fan and the bottom of the wind tunnel. This opening will allow you to place test objects into the airflow when you finish building your tower! Step 5: Prepare the Wind Source Place your floor fan on a stable surface (preferably the ground). Tilt the fan so it blows straight upward, and then lock it into position. Optional Safety Step If you have curious little engineers who may want to touch the fan, you can cover the fan with tulle or mesh fabric before attaching the wind tunnel. This extra layer helps create a safer testing environment while still allowing plenty of airflow. Whether you choose to cover your fan with mesh or not, adult supervision is strongly recommended when playing with the wind tower! Step 6: Connect the Wind Tunnel Place your wind tunnel on top of the fan. If the clothespin feet fit into the openings of your fan's protective cover (if you use the supplies linked above they will!), gently press one side of the clothespin into an opening on the fan. You may need to adjust the clothespin spacing a little bit so they line up better with the fan's holes. If your fan has a different design, you can balance the tower on top of the fan and use twine or pipe cleaners to tie the clothes pins securely to the fan. Make sure everything feels stable before turning on the fan. And now you're ready to experiment and play!For Extra Science: Before You Begin, Make a Hypothesis
Every great scientist and engineer begins with a question! A hypothesis is an educated prediction about what you think will happen and why. Try asking:
Step 7: Let the Magic Begin! Turn on the fan. Carefully place lightweight objects into the opening between the clothespin feet at the bottom of the tower. Watch closely! You can even draw pictures of what is happening, just like scientists observe and collect data when they conduct experiments. You may see objects:
Every object will tell a different story about how air moves and how gravity (the force that pulls us down towards the early) works. Try with different materials, different fan speeds, different weights and shapes, and most importantly have fun!! Related Science Vocabulary Aerodynamics: Aerodynamics is the study of how air moves around objects. Lift: Lift is the force that can push an object upward and help it stay in the air. Gravity: Gravity pulls objects back toward Earth. Scientific Method: The scientific method is how scientists think. It starts with setting a hypothesis, includes designing an experiment, observing and collecting data, and then analyzing the data to see if your hypothesis was right or wrong! Variables: A variable is something that can change during an experiment. By changing only one variable at a time (like the size of a pom pom or the wind speed of the fan), scientists can better understand what caused a result. Reflection Questions for STEM Princesses
Remember: there are no failed experiments—only discoveries! Notes for Parents and Educators This activity encourages curiosity, creativity, observation, and critical thinking.
If you give this activity a try at home, tag us on social media @theprincessprogramstem so we can see the magic you create!! ✨
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✨👑 Transforming Your Future This Engineers Week! 🚀🏰⚡🔐🧪 Engineers Week is all about shining a light on how engineers make the world safer, stronger, and more innovative — and inspiring the next generation to see themselves in these powerful careers. This week, we introduced our community to five incredible engineering paths: Aerospace (sending rockets and satellites into space 🌎🚀), Civil (building strong castles, bridges, and roads 🏰), Cybersecurity (protecting the kingdom’s digital gates 🔐), Electrical (powering and lighting up our world ⚡), and Chemical (creating life-changing solutions through science 🧪). Through real-life role models, hands-on activities, and our princess-inspired coloring pages, we showed our STEM Princesses that engineering is creative, impactful, and for them. Scroll down to see highlights from our E-Week features! Because an engineer is a princess who can build her own castle — and design her own happily ever after. 👑✨ Aerospace EngineeringOur founder, Dr. Kelsey Kirrene, works as a payload systems engineer in the space industry! So what does that mean? It means she helps build and take care of the very important “stuff” that rides on rockets and satellites. Think of it like this: when a rocket blasts off, it’s like a super fast flying school bus going to space… and the payload is the precious cargo inside! Aerospace and systems engineers help make sure it’s safe, works properly, and can do its job once it gets to space. They might even help make sure it follows the right directions to get to the right spot in space! Fun Fact: When Kelsey was little, she wanted to be the first ballerina on Mars! In our coloring page, we imagine the Aerospace Engineer as a Flying Carpet Designer — because designing something that soars through the sky (or space!) is basically real-life magic powered by science. Civil EngineeringMeet the Civil Engineer: the real-life Castle Builder! A civil engineer is someone who designs and builds the big things we use every day — like roads, bridges, schools… and yes, even castles! She’s the princess who makes sure your castle doesn’t wobble, your bridge doesn’t wiggle, and your tower stands tall and strong. She figures out what materials to use, how to make the ground steady, and how to build things that keep people safe. Our Build a Castle activity is the perfect hands-on way for your little engineer to test, design, and imagine like a true castle builder, and it pairs beautifully with our STEM fairy tale, Princess Elsie Builds a Castle & Discovers the Magic of Engineering. Ready to build your own happily ever after? Grab the book here: https://amzn.to/3WJI0O1 (affiliate link) and try building your very own castle! Cyber EngineeringMeet the Cybersecurity Engineer: our Castle Defender! Every castle needs strong walls… but it also needs someone protecting the secret doors, treasure rooms, and magical scrolls inside. That’s where a Cybersecurity Engineer comes in! She’s the princess who makes sure no sneaky dragons or tricky trolls can break into the castle’s computers. She builds invisible shields that keep important information safe. Our Cyber Queen (and amazing webmaster!), Andrea Lawrence, doesn’t just find problems. She designs powerful systems that make security automatic, like building magic rules into the castle so the doors lock themselves and guards ALWAYS show up right on time. In the real world, she focuses on secure DevOps and application security automation, which means she helps build safety directly into the tools engineers - and you! - use every day. Grab our Cybersecurity Engineer coloring page, the Castle Defender, and remind your little one that protecting the kingdom is engineering, too. Because an engineer is a princess who can build her own castle, and she can defend it too. Electrical EngineeringMeet the Electrical Engineer: our Lighting Wizard Princess! Every castle needs light to sparkle, glow, and shine. That’s where an Electrical Engineer comes in! She’s the princess who helps the lights turn on, makes the music play, and gives power to all the magical gadgets in the kingdom. When something needs energy to work, she knows exactly how to make it happen! Electrical engineers design the systems that safely move electricity from one place to another — from tiny circuits inside toys to giant power grids that light up whole cities. Our Lighting Wizard Princess coloring page celebrates this bright career, and pairs perfectly with our hands-on magic wand activities! Try the “easy” Static Electricity Magic Wand — where little engineers explore the tiny sparks you can’t see but can definitely feel. Or level up with our “harder” LED Magic Wand — where they build a real glowing wand and learn how circuits make light shine! Chemical EngineeringMeet the Chemical Engineer — our Potion Master Princess!
Every castle needs someone who understands mixtures, magic formulas, and how to turn one thing into something even better. That’s where a Chemical Engineer comes in! She’s the princess who mixes safe potions that help people feel better, creates sparkly new materials, and figures out how ingredients work together! We’re proud to feature our real life ChemE Queen and board member, Rebecca Hawkins! She has a degree in chemical engineer and works as an independent engineering consultant who focuses on life sciences. She’s known as the “pink Swiss Army knife” of engineering, because no matter the challenge, she’s a master problem solver. Chemical engineers don’t just mix things. They design processes that help create medicines, clean water, safe materials, and life-changing innovations. They ask: How can we make this better? Safer? More helpful for people? Our Chemical Engineering Princess coloring page features a Princess Potion Master and celebrates the magic of chemistry, showcasing that for every little girl curiosity is her superpower. Welcome, STEM Princesses! Let's dive into the magical world of chemistry to create our very own Love Potion No. 1! Don’t worry — this isn’t just any fairytale potion; it’s a scientific experiment in disguise! Using sparkly science, and enchanting ingredients, we’ll explore how different substances mix, just like real chemists do in their laboratories. Along the way, we’ll learn about density and polarity all while crafting a sparkly potion fit for a princess! So grab your tiaras and your safety glasses — it’s time to discover the magic of STEM!  Supplies
Instructions
Questions to ask:
STEM Vocabulary: 💖 Density – How heavy or light something is compared to its size. In our potion, liquids with different densities will layer instead of mixing—just like oil floating on water! 💖 Polarity – A property that determines what liquids mix and what stay separate. Water is polar (it likes to stick to itself), while oil is non-polar (it doesn’t mix with water). That’s why oil and water don’t blend in our potion! 💖 Solubility – How well something dissolves in a liquid. Some ingredients (like sugar or food coloring) dissolve in water, while others (like glitter or oil) do not. 💖 Viscosity – How thick or thin a liquid is. Honey and syrup have high viscosity (they flow slowly), while water and juice have low viscosity (they flow quickly). If you'd like some extra special potion activities, check out the full enchanted potions lab below! Note: Always supervise your child when playing with their love potion. Please read all warnings on ingredients to ensure you know when to contact your doctor if ingested. Supplies:
Activity:
World Space Week is a special time when people all over the world celebrate everything about space! It happens every year from October 4th to October 10th. During this week, we learn about stars, planets, astronauts, and rockets. People also talk about all the amazing things humans have done in space, like landing on the moon or sending robots to explore Mars. Celebrate with fun activities to help your kids understand space and how scientists explore it. We have 2 special coloring pages and 2 easy activities you can do at home:
World Space Week is celebrated at this time because of two important events in space history:
Shop for Space ToysCheck out a few space themed toys and craft kits you can also try with your little STEM Princess! These are all Amazon Affiliate Links and a portion of the sales for any purchases may be used to advance The Princess Program STEM mission.
Happy World Space Week!!  Supplies (affiliate links):
1) Cut a small piece or a loop from the recycled plastic bag. 2) Rub the piece of plastic bag on the piece of wool or fur for 30 seconds. 3) Run the plastic rod on the wool or fur for 30 seconds. 4) Hold the small plastic loop above the plastic rod and see what happens! Note: Plastic bags could pose a suffocation hazard to young children, so please ensure they are supervised at all times while playing with their magic wand. Note: All crafts and activities are to be done with adult supervision, and the use of any developed products should be supervised as well. Some parts may not be suitable for young children, so please follow the manufacturer's guidelines for all supplies used.
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TPPS STEM SuppliesThis blog features affiliate links to purchase STEM activity supplies via Amazon. The proceeds from your purchases help fund STEM activity development and Princess Program activities in underserved communities! Archives
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