At Bella Vista Elementary, students’ hearts and engineering skills may have grown three sizes.

Before winter break, Bella Vista’s Kindness Week took a festive turn as the multipurpose room transformed into a Whoville-inspired world of STEM challenges, provoking creativity, problem-solving and good old-fashioned cheer. From balloon experiments to towering cup creations, students rotated through hands-on stations, mixing STEM with holiday fun.

PTA President Juli Jackson said the idea was to provide meaningful learning with seasonal excitement.

“We wanted activities that focused on STEM, but were still festive,” she said.

Students at the National Blue Ribbon School engineered Rudolph using balloons, used Grinch-green ping pong balls, launched balloon rockets powered by baking soda reactions and tested their abilities in cup stacking Christmas tree shapes. Many students liked building “Whoville” towers and kindergartners and first graders shook up things by making maracas, adding a musical flare to the week’s fun.

Third-grader Quinn Lewis said the tower stacking was best.

“It’s fun to do it and then we see it crash when we’re done,” she said. “I like working together, it’s fun.”

Her classmate, Arman Ali explored at all the stations.

“There are lots of possibilities of things to do here,” he said. “I like building with multiple cubes and the cups are fun; I’d like to do those with my siblings.”

Together, the students collaborated, tested ideas and tried again, thinking critically about their designs and solving problems that occurred.

Teacher Amy Simpson watched their first-hand learning unfold.

“It’s fun watching them problem-solve and figure out things,” she said. “I also appreciate seeing the positive things they did to show kindness. It’s super important for kids this age to install values and practice those in this environment where adults can support them.”

Students wrote their good deeds on paper hearts, which then were mounted on a wall, showing in a display how they were filling the Grinch’s heart with kindness.

Quinn embraced the week’s kindness beyond the classroom.

“I’ve given people high-fives, I’ve held doors open, I picked up someone’s jacket that fell and I drew a picture of flowers for my mom,” she said. “Even small things make a difference.”

Arman wrote letters to the school custodian as well as to an uncle who moved.

“I wrote kind things and then, I’ve complimented people and helped friends and my mom with cleaning and cooking,” he said. “It’s good to be kind.”

Maybe through their actions, the students showed the Grinch their school community can be a little brighter and more connected when celebrating kindness and STEM together, Jackson said.

“I love seeing their creativity, their thought-process, their reactions and their ability to tie things together,” she said. “Plus, they’re learning, making memories and having fun.”