Explore Together (indoors): The Huff and Puff Test

© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.

STEM Key Concepts: How you design and build a structure helps determine how strong it will be; Different materials are useful for making different kinds of structures and different parts of structures

ELA Focus Skills: Comparing and Contrasting, Listening and Speaking, Predicting, Vocabulary

Ask children to recall the story of the three little pigs. Have the book on hand if children have trouble remembering the events in the story. Have children tell you what materials the three pigs used to build their houses. Say, Each house was stronger than the one before it. Why do you think the wolf was not able to blow down the brick house?

Tell children that they will build houses using different materials and then try to blow them over. Brainstorm with children which materials they think will be strongest. Have them explain why they chose that material. Then brainstorm with children some ways they might use the materials to build their houses.

Ask questions such as,

• How do you think you can use the blocks to build a wall?
• How do you think you can use the tape and the straws to build a roof?

Let children work in groups of three and have each child choose one of the three materials to work with. Be available to guide children when needed, for example, you may need to help children tape a line of straws together to form walls.

Allow children to explore building with the materials. Then tell children they will work with two partners. Circulate as children construct the houses. Talk about what they are doing. Ask questions, such as,

• How did you make the wall?
• What do you think will happen if you put the sticks closer together?
• What do you think you can do to make it stand up?
• Can you use another material to make it stronger?

As partners complete their houses, help children test them.

• Place houses side-by-side, an inch or so from the edge of a table.
• Have children stand two feet in front of the table and blow on the straw house as hard as possible. If it does not blow over, let the child move closer, a step at a time, until it does. Record how many times it takes them to blow over each house.
• Repeat with the stick house.
• Repeat with the brick/cube house. When a child can’t blow it over, bring the blow dryer and aim it at the house.

Encourage them to further document their exploration by taking photos or videos.

Reflect and Share

Invite children to talk about the activity. Share the photos you took and have materials available so children can demonstrate as they speak. Prompt discussion by asking questions such as,

• Why do you think it took <two> times to blow over the stick house and <eight> times to blow over the brick house?
• What did you notice about how Mary built her straw house that was different from how Annalice built hers? Which one was stronger?
• What happened to the brick house when you blew on it? What happened when we blew it with the hair dryer?
• Why do you think the brick house stood the longest?

Invite children to draw their three houses, before and after the huff-and-puff test. Or take a picture of the houses before children try to blow them over.

Educator Tip: You may need to give examples of how to build houses out of each material.

• For the straw house: If possible, use stalks of straw, otherwise use drinking straws. Place strips of masking tape sticky side up on a table. Lay straws in a line on the tape to form a “wall.” Tape four “walls” at angles to form a “house.” Lay a line of straws across the top for a roof if you wish, using scissors to cut straws, if necessary.
• For the stick house: Use the same procedure as for the straw house, but let the roof overhang since wood is harder to cut.
• For the brick house: Stack and connect the blocks.