howtosmile blog


Picnic Math and Science

Summer means picnics! In the park, at the beach, even inside on a rainy day, pack math and science fun in your picnic basket with Howtosmile.org activities. Combine STEM explorations about whatever you like best—food, kites, sand, animals and lots more—to turn a picnic anywhere into a whole new summer learning adventure.

FREE, New Monster Heart Medic Game

Monster Medic LogoHow do you diagnose and help a three-eyed monster with a heart problem? That's the challenge and fun in the new, free Monster Heart Medic iPhone/iPad app, now available in the App Store. This educational adventure game uses animated monster stories, interactive simulators, arcade games, virtual diagnostic tests and more to explore the cardiovascular system and how it's affected by healthy living.

Earth Day/Climate Week

Earth Day, April 22, is part of this year's international Climate Education Week. At Howtosmile.org, you can find thousands of STEM activities, for all ages, related to the environment, climate and the natural world.

2015 Homeschool.com Top Website

Homeschool.com has named Howtosmile.org a Top Educational Website for the third year in a row. Many Howtosmile.org activities, for all ages, require only supplies that most people already have at home. In springtime, lots of homes have plentiful supplies of eggs. Here are some egg-citing hands-on explorations. DO try this at home!

Planning a World Oceans Day Event

earth day poster
Want to celebrate our planet's ocean? On or around World Oceans Day, June 8th, share what you know and why you care about the ocean by holding a special sea event. Ask your friends, family, students and colleagues to help you plan an ocean festival, beach party, sand sculpture contest, sea-themed parade, cooking event with sustainable seafood, photo exhibit or other fun and creative public event. 

Ocean Cleanup 2015

beach cleanup
If you do one thing for the environment in 2015, it could be to help clean up and prevent plastic trash from polluting our oceans. More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic may be floating—and sinking deeper—in the world's oceans, according to scientists. This marine debris includes toys, toothbrushes, bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets and other items that break down into smaller pieces and are carried around the globe by ocean currents and waves.

Indiana Jones—Fiction Into Fact

Indy Poster
The adventures of Indiana Jones(TM) are film legend—and they're science too. In the National Geographic exhibition Indiana Jones(TM) and the Adventure of Archaeology, the world's most famous, fictional archaeologist inspires a new generation to dig deeper into the science and history of field archaeology. As they enter Indy's world, visitors discover how archeological objects advance scientific and historical knowledge.

FREE New Human Body App

DIY Human Body icon
What keeps the blood in your body moving in one direction? How do your lungs pull air in and push air out? Why does your nose make sticky snot while your intestines make smelly gas? Discover how your body really works with the new, free DIY Human Body app. The app uses everyday items to let you explore your body's complex machinery in 13 fun, hands-on STEM activities.