Looking for easy stem activities for elementary and middle school kids? Check out these stem projects and stem subscription boxes for kids.
As a parent, you want the best for your kids, and that includes teaching them the skills they will need to survive in the world!
What is Stem?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It also includes teaching skills and subjects in a way that resembles real life. Part of the STEM learning approach, is that kids learn science better when they are actively involved. Learning like this can be done in a school setting but also can be done at home.
Here’s your guide to the best easy stem activities that can be done at home.
Easy Stem Activities – Complete Science Experiments
Looking for a few simple STEM activities. Check out this list.
Science is all around us; in the food we eat, the plants we see, and the physical world we live in. Here are a few great science experiments you can do at home.
Work on Observations with fruits and veggies.
What happens as a fruit or vegetable starts to decay? What does it look like, smell like? Answering questions about real-world items puts science into a perspective they can understand. These are great stem activities for preschoolers and elementary students
Make Volcanoes
This is one of the most fun for kids. They can create a realistic volcano and watch it erupt. This teaches them chemical reactions as well as gives a real-world example of how volcanoes erupt as the pressure builds up.
Here are directions for a simple volcano for preschoolers.
Here are directions for a more in-depth volcano experiment for elementary and middle school children.
Make your own rock candy
That’s right, there is science behind candy. And, if you thought candy was all hardened sugar, you were right. All you need is water, sugar, a pan, a stove, and a glass jar. My daughter did this with her brownie troop and loved it. This is an easy stem project.
Here are easy directions to make your own rock candy
Rainbow in a Jar Science Experiment
Grab some items you already have at home. and make a rainbow in a jar perfect for March. By making this rainbow in a jar, the kids are exploring density by layering sugar water to make a rainbow. Learn how to make a rainbow in a jar here.
Make a compass
It’s a simple experiment which uses every day objects, but is great for engaging your child’s curiosity and sense of fun. Learn how here.
Make Your Own Easy Lava Lamp
One of our favorite activities is a lava lamp. Learn how to make your own Lava Lamp here
Looking for more STEM project ideas? These books are great resources.
Build Excitement for Engineering!
Make engineering for kids fun and inspiring. From toothpick towers and marble runs to egg drops and water rockets, Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids is filled with exciting projects that will challenge and delight kids ages 5-10.
Kids learn how and why things work as they explore amazing projects all by themselves. These engineering for kids activities also help them discover important STEAM connections, showing how engineering relies on science, technology, art, and math.
Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids features:
- MORE THAN 50 PROJECTS―Learn about different kinds of engineering for kids by constructing shoebox foosball, rubber band race cars and more.
- EASY-TO-FIND MATERIALS―Create a makerspace―a place to freely start and explore projects―with items readily found around the house.
- STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS―Engineering for kids is easy with detailed steps that make it simple for kids to take the lead on activities and build on their own.
Unlock the world of engineering for kids with Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids.
Super fun experiments for kids to get super excited about science
Getting kids excited about science can be difficult. Science Experiments for Kids provides young scientists ages 5-10 with hands-on experiments that teach them how to apply the scientific method. From the home laboratory of former chemistry teacher and blogger behind the Science Kiddo, Crystal Chatterton combines fun experiments with the hows and whys behind them in Science Experiments for Kids.
Science Experiments for Kids contains:
- 100 + STEAM Experiments providing interactive science experiments for kids in science, technology, engineering, art, and math
- Easy-to-Follow Instructions making science experiments for kids simple and fun to do
- Colorful Photos illustrating science experiments for kids, common household materials used, plus the final results
From figuring out how quicksand works to turning a lemon into a battery, Science Experiments for Kids teaches young scientists how cool it is to be curious.
Utilize Your Technology – Best STEM apps
In this day of digital natives, kids love technology. Though you may not want your kids looking at a screen all day, technology is a key component of the STEM learning, and there are many apps that incorporate science, technology, math, and engineering without your children knowing they are learning. Here are some of the best STEM apps.
SkEye Astronomy: A great app to see what’s in the sky. If you are interested in viewing the heavens above with your telescope, try the SkEye : Astronomy app. SkEye is an advanced sky mapping application that doubles as a PUSHTO guide for telescopes. It works by using your phone’s sensors as a guide for telescopes. All you need to do is briefly strap the phone onto the telescope’s optical tubes; from there, you can navigate the night-sky with your telescope.
Toca Lab: Chemistry has never been so fun with Toca Lab. Explore the colorful and electrifying world of science and meet all 118 of the elements from the periodic table. Discover elements by experimenting with the lab tools!
Crazy Gears – Are you ready to watch your child kick their learning into high-gear? Crazy Gears is a new-aged digital puzzle game, designed with a real mechanical engine and with children’s critical thinking skills in mind! Hours of fun guaranteed for everyone who is up for the challenge, yes, even you Mom & Dad!
Hopscotch – Coding For Kids – Learn to code and make your own games with Hopscotch. Easy-to-use visual tool makes programming fun and social.
Get a STEM Subscription Box or Individual STEM Activity Boxes
Subscription boxes are very popular these days, and why wouldn’t they be? Everyone loves getting something with their name on it in the mail (except when its a bill). Now, you can bring the fun of science, technology, math, and engineering right to your doorstep on a monthly basis. Here are some of the best STEM subscription boxes that include fun stem activities and stem projects for kids.
Green Kids Crafts
With a new theme every month, you get 4-8 science, technology art and math kits per month for kids ages 2-10. Looking for educational toys, science kits, STEM subscription, monthly subscriptions for kids, monthly crafts for kids, a monthly science box, monthly craft box or kids craft subscription? Green Kid Crafts, maker of award-winning science and arts and craft subscription boxes, has you covered!
You can now take 50% off the first month of a Junior Discovery Box Subscription (ages 2-4) or a Discovery Box Subscription (ages 5-10+). Green Kid Crafts’ award-winning Discovery Boxes pack a lot of fun and learning into convenient packages. Each monthly box contains up to 8 STEAM Science and Art Kits including a free 12-page kids magazine and bonus extension activities. Sibling and literary add-on options are available, too. Offer expires midnight October 31, 2018. Use code STEAM50
Learn more about Green Kids Crafts Here
Genius Box provides a creative hands-on approach to learning science, math, technology, and engineering. Genius Box provides a creative, hands- on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and math concepts that engages curious kids in the world around them. Genius Box is recommended for kids ages 8-12.
Click here to learn more about Genius Box
For ages 9-16, the Tinker crate gives your child the tools to create and explore engineering in a whole new way. Get 30% off Your First Month’s Order with code SHARE30.
Each month you get:
- Materials to create a creative, innovative STEM project
- Detailed step-by-step instruction
- Tinker Zine,
- Additional science experiments and activities
- Online tutorials with tips and tricks
Learn More about Tinker Crate Here
Don’t want a full subscription but a few activity boxes? They offer that as well too
Here is an example of an activity box
Get ready to blast off into the air with your very own bottle rocket. Assemble your launcher, rocket, funnel, and launch mixture to experience some extremely fizzy fun.
Includes a step-by-step video tutorial link, illustrated blueprint instructions, all the materials, and a special-edition Tinker Zine magazine for more project fun!
Check out all the activity boxes here.
With Groovy Lab in a Box STEM box for kids, you will receive boxes full of everything you need to learn about and do hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiments for ages 8+.
Don’t want a full subscription? You can buy individual boxes. These are perfect for when the kids are not at school and you’re doing virtual learning. They have lots of different types of boxes. Here is one example
Engineering Design Challenge – A Lesson in Wind Energy You are a groovy mechanical engineer who is inspired by the story of a boy from Malawi, who, at fourteen years old, battled through extreme poverty to build a series of windmills from scratch that could generate electricity for his village – a luxury enjoyed by only 2 percent in Malawi. Using only the materials in your Groovy Lab in a Box, can you design and build a windmill which can fetch a pail of grooviness for those in need?
During your ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS, you will design and build several different types of groovy windmills. Explore and investigate forces and motion, potential and kinetic energy associated with windmills, various parts of a windmill, how different blade designs affect performance, how energy is transferred from wind into usable mechanical energy and much, much more.
Check out all the singles boxes here.
What other ways have you found to incorporate STEM learning in your home? Share your STEM projects in the comments below!
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