“Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldon and Alex Scheffler is an action-packed book about a witch who travels on her broom, repeatedly losing accessories but picking up new friends along the way. At first glance, this book about magic may not appear to connect to STEM learning — but there’s actually an abundance of hands-on STEM explorations in these pages about wind, animal habitats, and camouflage! Read on for age-appropriate STEM ideas inspired by “Room on the Broom”.
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Wind Activities
🧹“But how the witch wailed and how the cat spat. When the wind blew so wildly, it blew off her hat…”
Wind plays a big role in this book as the witch travels on her broomstick. Invite your children to investigate the science behind wind!
🍃 Discuss which items fall off the witch’s broom and why. Can your children think of anything that would fall off if they flew through the sky, such as their hats or shoes? They could stand on a chair and drop those items from a height. How do they fall to the ground? Do they flutter or fall with a thud? Would this be different in the wind?
✏️ Support your children to design a broom.
- Encourage your children to discuss how exactly a broom might fly through the air. Should it be light or heavy?
- Make a materials list to build a broom.
- Invite the children to sketch and build their model brooms!
- Experiment with throwing the brooms to see which methods make them travel the furthest or fastest! Do lighter materials work better? Does a wider or a narrower broom fly further?
🛠️ Compare the witch’s first broom to the “truly magnificent” broom in the book. Which of these brooms would be easier to build? Which one would fly further, longer, or faster? How many people could fit on their broom? Which design would be most comfortable for the traveller? Do these brooms need an engine, steering wheel, or brakes?
Habitat Activities
🪄“Out of a pond leaped a dripping wet frog with a dripping wet wand…”
“Room on the Broom” also explores natural habitats, which you can investigate with your children.
🐻 Questions to prompt your children’s thinking:
- Where does the witch meet all her new animal friends?
- Why do these animals live in these places?
- Are the animals’ needs met by the magnificent broom in the end?
🐨 Encourage your children to examine the landscapes in each picture. Does it look like the story is set in Australia? How are the landscapes different to what they see in your local area? If a witch flew around your service or classroom, which animals would she encounter along the way?
Camouflage Activities
🐉“It had four frightful heads; it had wings like a bird…”
In the book, some animals are hidden, or camouflaged, from view. How can you explore this unique animal behaviour with your children?
🥸 Discuss the book’s depiction of animal behaviour:
- How do the animals scare away the dragon?
- What do animals do in real life to defend themselves against bigger animals?
🎵 Investigate sounds in the book. Invite your children to make the sounds they think the animals in the book would make. What do the animals’ voices sound like? You can even explore what noises the broom make as it takes off by listening to videos of planes or helicopters taking off.
🌦️Prompt your children to to consider the different weather the witch encounters and how these affect the story. How does the colour of the sky change throughout the book? What colours go with each type of weather? Compare this to the colour of the sky where you’re located. Does it change throughout the day?
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