Elise M. 

Girl Reporter

On Sunday, the 3rd of December, an event titled Frozen STEM was held in the Redlands Central office. The event was offered to the Brownie and Daisy age groups and offered several activities for the girls to do. These activities and crafts were all STEM-themed, spiking the interest of both creative and scientific types. The event the girls participated in were ones based on Frozen, which included decorating your own Christmas tree, creating your own snowman, and making homemade ice cream.

Over the past years, the Disney(TM) movie Frozen (TM) has steadily grown more a more popular after its success. Most children within the Girl Scouts Daisies and Brownies age range fell in love with the movie, participating in anything offering a similar feel. With that fact, there’s no doubt why so many children showed up. The girls all being around the same age quickly made friends with the other children sitting at their table. As the day wore on the girls participated in activities with each other, and even helped her fellow girl scouts throughout the day.

The first activity that the girls enjoyed was a bit simple, even though they were only decorating a Christmas tree cutouts, they did seem to enjoy doing it. As I walked around the girls kept insisting that I look upon their masterpieces. Some girls, like Alyssa, even stated that decorating their tree was their favorite part. After everyone was finished and happy with their final product we moved on to our next activity. The girls began to make homemade snow globe cards using what they knew in engineering. After the children finished with their cards we moved on to making something else.

Moving on the next activity the girls began to chatter as the Staff gave the girls what they needed. They received a cup, three-fourths of the way full with Elmer’s glue and a piece of blue paper. The staff walked around with a can of shaving cream and mixed it with the girl’s glue. This caused a chemical reaction, making a substance similar to puffy paint. The girls put it on their paper trying to replicate something similar to a snowman. After they had finished the shape the decorated them with scrap pieces of paper. Once all the kids completed this activity we started the last exercise.

The final activity was making ice cream, a favorite amongst most of the children. Making homemade ice cream seems simple enough, but when you’re working with children under the age of ten it gets difficult. To start off, the girls lined up at the beginning of the table and received a bag of ice along with a tablespoon of salt.  The staff then filled a much smaller bag with almond milk and two tablespoons of sugar. They placed the smaller bag within the bigger bag and made sure both were sealed tightly. The girls were then instructed to shake it until the milk and sugar turned into a sort of chunky block. This meant they had finally made their ice cream.

After a long day full of fun activities, it was finally time for the girls to go home. The collected their crafts and their parents signed them out.  They said their last goodbyes and left, all in all having a good time. The event was a successful one, with everyone who went having a good time. The way that STEM shows up in simple crafts is amazing. The crafts made STEM fun for the kids who will hopefully pursue a career in such.