• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Menu
  • Science Experiments For Kids
  • Science Fair Projects
  • Science Facts
  • Science Questions
  • About
    • Emma Vanstone
    • About Science Sparks
Science Experiments for Kids
Menu
  • STEM Challenges
    • STEM Challenges
    • FREE STEM Challenge Templates
  • Early Years Science
    • Preschool Science
    • Sensory and Messy Play
    • Understanding of the World
    • Pirate Science Experiments
  • Primary Science
    • Baking Soda Experiments
    • Candy Experiments
    • Biology
    • Climate Change for Kids
    • Coding for Kids
    • Chemistry
    • Electricity for Kids
    • Magic Science Experiments
    • Harry Potter Experiments
    • Human Body Science
    • Air Pressure Experiments
    • Life Cycles
    • LEGO Science Experiments
    • Kitchen Science
    • Famous Scientists
    • Forces and Motion
    • Science Sparks Snippets
    • Key Stage 1 Science
      • Animals
      • Everyday Materials
      • Plants
      • Coding Activities
      • Humans and Health
      • Fine Motor skills
      • Science and Literacy
    • Key Stage 2 Science
      • Animals, Including Humans
      • Electricity
      • Light
      • Plants
      • Materials and their Properties
  • Holiday Science
    • Christmas Science
    • Halloween Science
    • Easter Science
  • Storybook Themed Science Experiments
  • Wonderful Women in STEM
  • FREE Science Resources
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • FREE Experiments
  • Science for Kids
    • Kitchen Science
    • Climate Change
    • Egg Experiments
    • Fairy Tale Science
    • Edible Science
    • Human Health
    • Chemistry
    • Inspirational Women
    • Forces and Motion
  • Science Fair Projects
  • STEM Challenges
  • Science Sparks Books
  • Contact Science Sparks
  • Science Resources for Home and School

×
Home » Science Experiments for Kids » Balancing Marshmallows STEM Challenge

Balancing Marshmallows STEM Challenge

Published: Dec 4, 2024 by Emma Vanstone · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered how balancing toys work? You can find out with this simple marshmallow balancing STEM challenge! It’s a great activity for learning about gravity and centre of mass.

You’ll need

A bottle with a lid

5 wooden skewers

4 Marshmallows

A Carrot

Instructions

Cut a small piece of carrot and place a piece of wooden skewer about 2 inches long into the bottom. Most of the skewer should be outside the acrrot.

Place the skewer on the top of the bottle, it will fall over.

Push the pointed end of two skewers into opposite sides of the carrot and push a marshmallow onto the end of both.

Place the carrot onto the bottle. It should now balance!

Add two more marshmallow skewers to the carrot and see if it still balances.

Experiment by moving the marshmallows up and down the skewers.

Why did this work?

At first, the carrot didn’t balance on the bottle because it was cut unevenly and had a thin skewer stuck in the bottom, making it wobbly. The carrot stays balanced when its centre of mass (the point where all the stuff in the carrot is evenly distributed) is directly above the skewer. Gravity pulls down, and if the centre of mass isn’t lined up over the skewer in the bottom it creates a turning force that tips the carrot over.

By adding more skewers with marshmallows around the sides of the carrot, we were able to change the centre of mass. Too far away from the bottle and that turning force caused by gravity keeps tipping it over, but by adjusting the skewers and marshmallows bit by bit, we brought the centre of mass back over the bottle and the skewer at the bottom, keeping the carrot balanced.

Spreading out the marshmallows lower and wider on the skewer made it more stable, like how a wide-bottomed mug is harder to tip over.

Extra Balance Toy Challenge

Experiment with different materials. We made a fun elf balancing toy with a cork as the elf body and play dough on the ends of the skewers.

Play dough is a great material to use in the ends as it’s easy to shape and add or remove bits.

Last Updated on December 5, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

More Science Experiments for Kids

  • Edible Butterfly Life cycle
    Edible Butterfly Life Cycle
  • Ace Your Exams: Fantastic GCSE Science Resources
  • Make your own drinks dispenser
    Air Pressure Demonstration – DIY Drinks Dispenser
  • 50 Summer Science Experiments - make a lolly stick chain reaction, a solar oven, bubble snake and lots more summer science experiments for kids #summerscience #scienceforkids #scienceexperimentsforsummer
    50 Easy Summer Science Experiments for Kids

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Imagine a world where science education is accessible to everyone and is all about hands-on, exciting discoveries. That’s the world I want to create.

More about me

Around the World in 50 Experiments

50 experiments about countries of the world

Footer

↑ back to top

Science Sparks - FREE science experiments for kids

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 Science Sparks - Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd