Cereal Box Ramps: Hands on STEM Activity for Kids to Play and Learn

Grab a cereal box and get ready for a fun and easy hands on activity for kids as they explore engineering and physics with homemade ramps. This activity felt like a lot of play, but as my kids enjoyed the exploring the supplies they encountered engineering woes which led to greater discovery, experimentation, and creativity. This activity is part of the A-Z Guide to Understanding STEM & STEAM by Little Bins for Little Hands. Be sure to visit for more hands on activities.

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I love any project that uses recycled products like this activity because 1–I don’t have to go and buy anything new and 2–Finding new purpose for products is always fun and saves the environment. So grab your supplies and let’s get started!

Supplies:

Empty cereal box

Scissors (for adults)

Legos or blocks

Objects to go down the ramp

Tape

Directions:

To make the ramps look at the front of your cereal box. Locate the left side and right side of the box, usually where the nutrition facts care listed. These sides are going to be your ramps. Carefully cut the sides off the cereal box leaving part of the front and back of the box on the sides so objects have a railing to stay on the ramp.

Let children use Legos or blocks to build platforms to hold up the ramps.

Have children set up their ramps with their cereal box pieces. The kids were able to set their ramps up but once they placed something heavy on the ramp it just fell down so to keep their ramp up we used tape. If our platforms had not been as tall or our ramps would have been longer we may have not needed the tape.

Once the ramps are ready let kids put objects down their ramps. We started out using small plastic balls and of course the kids added their own touch to this activity and went and grabbed their favorite toys to try sliding them down (We wouldn’t want Lightening McQueen or Ana to miss out on all the fun). This is when they realized that the weight of the object and its ability to roll made a difference on their ability to make it down the ramps (If you are wondering, Lightening McQueen won the race).