As a teacher myself, I know you may have heard a thousand questions from your students, like Why is the sky blue? How does a car function? What is a cloud?
You may have found yourself wishing you knew more about the science of clouds 💭, bridge engineering, or botany in order to better explain things to young learners who have such a broad curiosity about the universe.
A solid foundation in science 👨🔬, gadgets, engineering, as well as math from a young age is essential because they constitute the foundation for many modern vocations.
Stem activities for kids
These basic STEM exercises are suitable for students in elementary through middle school and can be used in the classroom, at home 🏠, in homeschool groups, or during screen-free time ⏱️. Additionally, it is ideal for scouting troops, library groups, and summer programs.
I highly encourage you to get in on the fun if you can, but you can refrain from providing the answers when things don’t go as expected!
Build a Catapult
It’s your time to attack the castle with a DIY catapult that is just entertaining and explores numerous STEM topics.
Your kids will love these activities. There are various well-liked variations of the DIY catapult, with rubber bands and craft sticks being the ideal materials to use.
Build a Balloon Rocket
Oh, the joy you can have by using a balloon 🎈, a plastic straw, some twine, and Sir Isaac Newton.
You can learn more about Newton’s Third Law of Motion by building a balloon rocket 🚀. While you play, hold races, do experiments, and learn about physics.
Build Structures
I can say that you need nothing but a box of toothpicks and a bag of mini marshmallows, gumdrops, or styrofoam 🥜 peanuts.
You can make it a challenge to construct a specific kind of bridge, a well-known structure, or simply a vague invention. Alternatively, set the students the task of building a tower that is 12″ tall (or any other length).
Egg Drop Challenge
Believe me, this kind of STEM exercise is going to be an enjoyable experience if you can handle giving your children a carton of uncooked eggs. Ask each child to create a device that will prevent a raw egg 🥚 from cracking if it is dropped.
Search your 🏡 home for potential solutions. Encourage your children to use free resources and avoid purchasing anything.
Participate in the St. Jude EPIC Challenge
I am very sure 👍 that your students will have the opportunity to make a genuine difference for other children who are presently fighting cancer through St. Jude’s EPIC Challenge. Experimenting, modeling, Inventing, and creating are referred to as EPIC.
Players come up with creative solutions to assist St. Jude children, carrying ideas through to creation.
Add STEM bins to your classroom.
You can use STEM activities in a wide range of creative ways with these amazing containers, Include them in literacy centers, establish a maker space, and provide engaging enrichment activities for early finishers.
Engineer a drinking straw roller coaster.
As a parent, you should always encourage your kid’s engineering ability, and this is one of the activities that I always recommend young parents to motivate their child.
All you need are basic supplies like drinking straws, tape, and scissors ✂️.
Experiment with Coffee-Filter Chromatography
I recommend you to use this method. Pigments will be separated in a lab to determine how many colors are required to make a marker.
Draw a large circle 🔵 with a magic pencil around the coffee filter’s center, just where the rough part meets its middle. To shape an espresso filter into a cone, fold it in half twice. Set the filter cone’s tip into some water in a small glass.
Pro Tips
Avoid getting water on the marker ring. Keep an eye on how the colors rise up the paper. Discuss molecules and the applications of chromatography in the laboratory.
How To Make Slime
My children love ❤️ this kind of activity, and to do this, you only need water, glue, and borax. Add food coloring as well for imaginative and entertaining designs.
You can get borax at any grocery if you don’t already have any. It is a typical cleaning substance.
Magic Milk Experiment
Believe me, this scientific experiment can be completed in under 20 minutes. And you likely already possess all of the necessary tools.
Milk should be poured into a little basin. Keep in mind that just 2% or whole milk will do. The milk will then have a few droplets of food coloring added.
We can observe the outcome of adding dish detergent to the milk thanks to the food coloring.
Homemade Ice Cream In A Bag
Let me tell you, this is a very easy activity. All you need is some Salt, ice, plus either milk or whipping cream (for truly delicious ice cream) for this exercise.
Add your favorite toppings and flavors after that! It’s an excellent chance to show students how different materials have various melting and freezing points. What happens to the ice when salt is added to it?
Create a new plant or animal.
Your kids will really like this craft, letting their imagination run wild as they create a new kind of animal or plant.
However, they will need to have the ability to clarify the underlying biology, making this a thorough project that you can adapt to any class.
Understand the impact of non-renewable resources.
I am very sure as a teacher, you always guide your students about the renewable and non-renewable resources around us.
You kids 😒 will see how rapidly the resources are spent as they compete. It’s a terrific way to connect with talks about energy conservation.
Devise an amazing marble maze.
This marble maze activity has always been my students’ favorite STEM activity. For their craft, you can give them things like straws as well as paper 🍽 plates.
Alternately, let children use their creativity to make marble mazes out of whatever materials they can imagine.
Fly clothespin airplanes
I believe you can find out from your learners what they envision the future of aviation to look like.
Then, challenge them to construct a unique type of airplane using clothespins and craft sticks. If it can truly fly, bonus points!
Build a solar oven.
I always love doing this activity with my students, and you can also do it with your students.
Create a solar-powered oven with your students to cook meals while learning about the significance of solar energy 🔋.
Enjoy your yummy goodies while talking about how to use solar energy and why it’s vital to use alternative forms of electricity.
Build a snack machine.
While having fun, you can ask your children to build a snack machine; you can include everything they’ve learned about basic devices in one project.
They must devise and build a device that transports snacks 🍟 from one place to another using only basic materials.
See the effects of an oil spill.
When you ask your children to build a snack machine, you can include everything they’ve learned about basic devices in one project.
They must devise and build a device that transports snacks from one place to another using only basic materials.
Craft a cell phone stand.
I suggest that you permit your science students to use their cell phones in class; they will be overjoyed!
Encourage them to construct a cell phone stand using their engineering knowledge and a limited number of materials.
Engineer a craft stick bridge.
My kids love to have a walk around the bridge 🌉 and often become curious about it, so here’s an example of a traditional STEM activity that will truly push your students to apply their talents.
Pro Tips
Find out which bridge design can support the most weight by constructing one using popsicle sticks and pushpins.
Build a better umbrella.
I recommend you encourage your kids to utilize various household items to create the finest umbrellas 🌂 they can.
Encourage your students to use the scientific method when they plan, create blueprints, and evaluate their inventions.
Go green with recycled paper.
Nowadays, as a teacher, I talk a lot regarding sustainability and recycling and show them how it’s done!
You can also utilize screens and picture frames to recycle outdated workbooks and other documents. Next, have the youngsters come up with ideas for using recycled paper.
Create a taxonomy system.
Encourage your students to take on Linnaeus’ role by developing their own taxonomy using a variety of dry beans.
To enable students to see the variations in each group’s system, this is an enjoyable scientific project to complete in groups.
Find the best soap bubble solution.
I found a simple way to teach kids the science behind soap bubbles, an activity inspired by my friend who did this with her daughter.
Making a homemade soap 🧼 bubble solution is simple and only requires a few materials. This enjoyable outdoor science exercise allows youngsters to conduct experiments to determine the ideal component ratio for producing the longest-lasting bubbles.
Help monarch butterflies
You may have observed that the population of monarch butterflies is in danger. By creating a personal butterfly 🦋 garden, keeping track of the monarch population, and other actions, you can contribute to the effort to rescue these lovely insects.
Test your local water quality.
Whenever I have some free time, I do this activity with my kids. Try testing your water after you’ve “cleaned it up” to discover how clean it actually is! Next, go outside to try several types of water 💧.
Your kids will be enthralled to learn what is in the water in the streams, lakes, and puddles in their neighborhood. Water testing kits for students are easily accessible online.
Start a school robotics team.
I think this is one of the most beneficial STEM-related endeavors you can incorporate into your lesson plans is coding.
Create a robotics 🤖 club at the school to encourage students to use their newly acquired abilities!
Electric Play-Doh Lightning Bug
This is one of the best activities that I always love to tell young teachers as well as parents like you. You just need to follow a few steps.
- Cut two heart-shaped wings from cardstock and an oval foundation for the bug.
- Create the head and the two distinct, oblong sides from Play-Doh, then arrange them on the paper’s foundation.
- Examine the LED’s leads. The positive lead is the longer one, and the negative lead is the shorter one.
- The battery 🔋 pack should now include the batteries. The black wire should go into one side that has the positive LED lead, and the red wire should go into the other.
- Watch the beetle glow as you switch on the battery pack!
Lemon Volcano – Acid and base reaction
As a teacher, I recommend this activity to you. You can prepare the volcano’s base by poking a hole within a few sizable lemons and filling it with food dye.
One of the most visually stunning STEM activities that will astound kids is constructing a volcano that will erupt when baking soda is added.
Marble Run – Gravity
Your kids may discover the consequences of gravity as well as kinetic energy ✨️ by gluing cardboard tubes to a wall and creating a marble race 🏁 track.
To discover why the ball stops to alter direction, marbles can be manipulated to fall via a variety of twists and curves.
Candy Gears – Transfer of energy and work
I think parents can use large plastic jar lids as placeholders by poking skewers through them. To manufacture improvised equipment, they can attach candies to the tips of the skewers.
Parents can use energy transfer to crank one candy gear while rotating another. It’s one of the easiest STEM lessons for teaching engineering to children.
Paper roller coaster – Momentum
I suggest you encourage your kids to use their imagination to design and calculate a slope, a loop, as well as a soft-landing system for their carton roller coaster 🎢 as part of this DIY arts and crafts STEM project.
Kids can learn about motion and acceleration with this simple experiment by dropping marbles from the top.
The Magical Wind car
You know that bottle caps can be used as wheels, skewers can be used as wheel balancers, and a piece of cardboard sheet can be used as the car’s base.
The magical car 🚗 can be built by assembling a sail in the middle from a skewer and a thin piece of 📃 paper. You only need a wind gust to set this mechanism free to operate.
The Tea Bag Rocket – Hot air rising
I think this straightforward experiment can be used to show your kids how hot air particles may ascend swiftly while seemingly defying gravity.
To the delight of witnesses, a tea bag can be lit on fire after being emptied, and it will quickly fly into the air.
Flipping Arrows
Have you heard about this Flipping Arrow 🏹 activity? This is one of the best activities that I always recommend. On a piece of paper, you can draw two arrows going in the same direction.
Water in a glass bottle can act as the refraction medium. The paper can be moved behind the glass to reveal a piece where an arrow begins to point in a different direction.
Changing colors – Capillary action in plants
Your kids can discover how tiny vessels in vegetables transmit nutrients into leaves by using a few celery stems, a pair of glasses of water, and various food colorings.
Inserting celery stems into the colored liquid and letting them sit for a few hours will cause them to change color miraculously.
Seeds growing into plants – Germination
My son enjoyed learning about plants. 🪴 Germination and showing off the results of germination to your kid 🧒 can be done by taking a few sprout beans and inserting them one at a time in cotton balls.
These cotton balls can be added to the mud, and if you water 💧 them frequently, they will sprout through the fibers at various stages.
Paper Circuit – Resistance and electric flow
Whenever I get some free time, I do this activity with my kids while having some fun. For this STEM project, all you need is a carbon pencil, an AA battery, and some LED bulbs.
Alligator clips can be attached to the battery, and a straight line can be drawn from one side of a piece of paper to the other. By dragging the LED, you can adjust how bright or dim it is by using the line as a resistor.
Atmosphere in a Bag – Condensation
My son loves to know everything about the Atmosphere. If your kid shows interest in learning more about the atmosphere, you can take a zip-lock bag 🎒 with a tight seal that can be filled with water and left out in the sun.
To demonstrate the effects of condensation, the water should evaporate and form water droplets that adhere to the inner surface of the bag. When brought indoors, they ought to revert to becoming water.
Conclusion
Now that I give you all easy and affordable STEM activities for kids, you are prepared to assist your children in discovering the fascinating pillars of science, technology, engineering, and math.
As you might expect, there are a ton of STEM activities available 👍 online for people of all ages. You might be curious about where to look for more kid-friendly activities and ideas. Understanding young children’s development is a key component of that.
When you have a better 😌 understanding of how young kids learn, you might be motivated to design a few of your own activities. Apart from all of these things, if you have anything to suggest, please feel free to do it in the comment section.
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)