You will need:

• Marshmallows, medium sized
• Toothpicks

Challenge #1: Make 2D Shapes with Marshmallows and Toothpicks

2D shapes are a great place to start. For the first challenge make some of these shapes:

• triangle
• square
• pentagon

Connect the marshmallows with toothpicks to make each shape.

You can make this activity easier for younger children to complete independently, by giving your child the right number of marshmallows and toothpicks for each shape. So for a triangle you would leave them with 3 toothpicks and 3 marshmallows and ask them to connect all 3.

At the end you can help them count the sides of the finished shape. Reinforce that a triangle has 3 sides and 3 points.

Extend the Challenge

You could move onto more 2D shapes such as a hexagon, an octagon and more.

Challenge #2: Build a Cube

After your child has made a 2D square, you could ask them to add onto it to make a cube.

First they need to add four toothpicks to each corner, sticking up vertically. Then they need to carefully build another square shape to go on top.

Extend the Challenge

Make a cuboid.

You could make a 2D rectangle by making 2 sides of the square longer. You can do this by adding on anther toothpick and marshmallow to the 2 longer sides. Then build this up in the same way to make a cuboid.

Challenge #3: Build a Pyramid

You can use 2D square bases to build up different 3D structures.

This time your child could try to make a square based pyramid by adding on 3 toothpicks pointing upwards and one more marshmallow at the top.

Challenge #4: Build a Triangular Prism

For this 3D shape you can start with your 2D triangle shape.

Build it up from all 3 points to make a triangular prism.

Challenge #5: Build a Triangular Based Pyramid

Another way to make a 3D shapes starting with your 2D triangle as a base, is to turn it into a pyramid.

Again add some toothpicks and one marshmallow at the top to make your own triangular based pyramid structure.

Challenge #6: Build a Snowflake

Your child could start making more complex shapes, like this 2D snowflake shape with spokes.

Challenge #7: Build Up A Hexagonal Prism

Use your snowflake base to build up a hexagonal prism.

You can use the same method to build up octagons or pentagons into 3D shapes too.

Challenge #8: Join 3D Shapes Together

For each 3D shape that your child makes, they could add to their structure by repeating the pattern and adding more of the same shapes to the sides (or the top).

How high or how long can you extend yours to?