Luckily, there are many resources available for educators wanting to incorporate more STEM activities into their classroom, or for those looking for some new ideas that will get kids excited about learning.

Contrary to popular belief, STEM activities don’t need to be overly complicated or expensive. Plenty of engaging STEM activities can be done with easy-to-obtain inexpensive items. For exploring building concepts, items as simple as jelly beans and toothpicks can be used, for example. Legos and Playdough lend themselves to many activities, and worksheets and journals can easily be made as well. For those who don’t have the time or want a wide variety of ideas, several online resources exist, including The Stem Laboratory, a site dedicated to STEM activities with free and affordable resources targeted to students in kindergarten through second grade.

Just by reading some of the STEM activity titles, you can get a sense of how engaging and entertaining they will be for students, and how much they will enjoy the activities while they’re learning real world concepts and cooperating with each other to accomplish the project. Titles of projects include: The Disappearing Egg Shell, Walking Water, Tornado in a Jar, Magic Balloons, Disappearing Skittles, Rainbow Milk, Volcano in a Jar, Sink or Float, Peppermint Fireworks, Lava in a Cup and so many more.

The really valuable part about STEM activities is that they harness a child’s curiosity, illustrate a real world problem and teach additional skills at the same time. Soft skills taught by STEM activities include creativity, teamwork, critical thinking, attention to detail,  and collaboration, while enhancing their inquiry skills. Students also practice problem solving, following directions and presentation skills when sharing their findings. 

When STEM activities are done in small groups, it’s also a chance for students to enjoy a sense of community and belonging as they work together to solve problems and report the results. It can be an opportunity to mix up the class dynamics and help with social and emotional learning as students will excel in different aspects related to the activity.

STEM activities also may inspire students to explore career fields they might not have considered otherwise. That could include becoming an environmental scientist, biochemist, psychologist, anthropologist, archeologist or medical scientist. Technology jobs include computer programmers, web developers, software systems developers, etc. Different engineering disciplines include mechanical, electrical, chemical, civil, aerospace and environmental. And in mathematics, accounting and economics are just a couple.

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STEM challenges come in many forms. For some schools, the challenge is a lack of budget to provide the curriculum that’s needed to teach STEM concepts. In other cases, teachers may not be trained or have the resources needed to create engaging STEM content. 

Whatever the case, there are ways to address it with free or affordable resources that have also been designed and tested by educators.

The challenge is not to get children interested in STEM activities – the challenge is to get the projects and activities in front of them. By their very nature, STEM projects are very engaging for children, who have a natural curiosity about the world around them, which is one of the reasons STEM curriculum is so important.

By combining two of the primary components of STEM like science and math, STEM projects can help introduce concepts to students in ways that help them understand and remember them. Even as adults, we might not remember what is told to us, but if we do it ourselves and use multiple senses, then the lessons are stronger, more memorable, and likely more entertaining – all components of successful teaching.

When we talk about needing to overcome the challenges associated with teaching STEM skills, we’re not just talking about learning math, science, technology and engineering in a new way. We’re also talking about practicing creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and honing inquiry skills. 

In addition, students get to practice problem-based learning as well since curriculum focuses on student engagement and participation with teacher facilitation.

Another feature of STEM curriculum that meets the challenge of teaching the whole student is the personalization of learning and the individual support of students through advising, flexibility in teaching and career preparation.

Working in small groups, good STEM projects also engender a sense of community and belonging as they work together to solve problems and report the results. That helps with social and emotional learning, which can be a challenge for many students.

These are skills that are applicable to future educational endeavors and careers in just about every field, which is increasingly containing tech components as computers become more and more commonplace in every industry.

Good ideas for STEM projects can be found in multiple locations for those not familiar with them, including The Stem Laboratory, a website chock full of ideas and downloadable resources.

If you have the time, just scrolling through this website and others can get your mind started on possible STEM activities, or you can download a few to see all the components that make for a complete activity including reporting worksheets. 

Some educators believe that one challenge to teaching STEM concepts is the cost of supplies, but activities can be done with easily obtainable supplies like toothpicks, jelly beans, etc.  

Students at a young age are particularly curious, and although it may feel challenging, you are providing them the best possible learning experience when STEM concepts are introduced in the early years and they can learn about the world around them, while mastering all the soft skills that STEM projects bring with them.

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Some examples of good STEM projects can be found at The Stem Laboratory – an online resource for teachers looking for proven, affordable STEM projects.

For example, you can order a kit with 30 different science projects for just $9.99. They all include easy-to-follow instructions using common household supplies. And these good STEM activities also include a no-prep science journal so kids can keep track of their results.

Here are just a few of the good STEM projects you’ll receive – activities that kids will love while they learn. Projects like The Disappearing Egg Shell, Walking Water, Tornado in a Jar, Disappearing Skittles, Dancing Raisins, Lava in a Cup and so much more.

As you can see, they even sound fun and engaging! And because they are teacher-tested and approved, they are guaranteed to blend seamlessly into your curriculum and have the kids wanting more. They won’t even know they’re learning.

It’s especially crucial tht STEM projects be introduced early in a kid’s education as their curiosity about the world around them peaks with constant “Why” questions. But that enthusiasm can fade without ongoing nourishment. And with so many STEM careers making up a huge part of the economy, the ability to innovate, be technologically fluent, and understand how and why things work is incredibly important. 

It can be hard to create STEM projects on your own, or make sure that the ones you’ve been using are still relevant in today’s world. Ordering and using STEM resources like this is a great way to keep your kids and yourself entertained and engaged in learning.

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Middle school students can be tough. Kids may be starting to get a little more cynical about school and it can be harder to keep them engaged and enthusiastic. That’s where great STEM projects come into play. 

What student wouldn’t be interested in making a Tornado in a Jar or Disappearing Skittles? You’re already wondering about them just by hearing the title, so imagine how entertaining it would be to facilitate these activities in a classroom.

Other compelling middle school STEM projects include Candy Chromatography and making Water Walk. In fact, there are hundreds of possible projects and activities available through The STEM Laboratory, with easy-to-understand instructions and easy-to-source materials.

The activities and projects available through The STEM Laboratory can be adjusted for older students, and can work differently for those kids at different levels of learning.

Scientific journals can be used to record results and students can develop hypotheses and draw conclusions. 

STEM activities incorporate real world disciplines like architecture, construction, biology, math, chemistry, physics, technology, economics, geography and more. STEM activities seek to take the application off the page and into 3D with hands-on learning that introduces students to concepts and helps them understand the world around us. Students start to see the things around them in new and different ways.

For middle schoolers, it brings skills and lessons beyond simply the concepts being illustrated. It teaches students to be flexible, detect patterns, find connections, and evaluate information. What are some other benefits?

Many STEM careers need creativity as well as analytical skills we tend to associate with STEM subjects. In fact, many STEM jobs will include coming up with solutions to problems, and problem solving is often being creative and thinking about things in new ways. 

At the same time, STEM subjects require research, attention to detail and a critical approach. This is useful in any profession or subject. STEM is not just a way to explain teaching Math and Science, it’s preparing students for future success with hard and soft skills.

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Rather than searching out “award-winning” STEM activities, find those that offer the reward of children responding to them, and learning the concepts they were designed to demonstrate.

Here’s what makes STEM activities “award-winning” in terms of rewards:

Does it foster curiosity?

Does it demonstrate a real world situation/problem?

Is it appropriate for the ability of those participating?

Is it engaging and interesting?

Does it have teachable concepts that pertain to a bigger picture?

Are there opportunities to expand it with record keeping or other related activities?

Does it foster teamwork?

Activities that foster these concepts help solidify ideas for children and because the great ones are interactive and address all these criteria, they provide tangible benefits and results.

One way to ensure you’re getting “award-winning” STEM activities for children is to source them from reputable websites like The Stem Laboratory. Here you’ll find activities that meet all the criteria listed above, and the added bonus of knowing they’ve been road tested and continually enhanced based on real classroom experiences.

Developed for pre-K, kindergarten and first grade children, thousands of teachers are finding it much easier to incorporate STEM activities into their curriculum, as it can be intimidating knowing where to start. Teachers that use these STEM activities for their children are having reactions like Dawn, a 1st grade teacher. “I hadn’t been trained in STEM and didn’t really understand how it would work in my classroom. This was perfect for lower elementary students and VERY engaging. The trainings were thorough yet to the point. My first two centers are already made and ready to use!”

Activities are designed to be easy to implement and use common items like toothpicks, modeling clay (or marshmallows, jellybeans, etc.) Besides downloadable activities, there are also options for training that come with professional development credits. 

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STEM activities can take many forms, but let’s start by clarifying what STEM represents. It’s not just science projects – STEM is more than an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. It’s understanding how the world around us works. It helps develop critical thinking – something that is necessary to prepare students for the 21st century workforce and to be able to contribute to solving complex problems of today and the future.

A STEM activity helps foster the skills of creativity, inquiry, observation and problem solving. It also helps teach the difference between fact and opinion.

STEM educators create activities that work with problems, challenges and solutions that are based in the real world. This is crucial at a time when children’s minds are developing and they are intuitively exploring their world. 

As an example, one of the STEM activities available through The Stem Laboratory is the very popular center called Toothpick STEM Structures. 

This simple activity helps with the following:

Develop abstract thinking, design and build skills

2d and 3d shape recognition

Shape knowledge

Scientific recording of data

Creativity

Teamwork

All that’s needed is a box of toothpicks and a container of playdough. You can also use jelly beans, marshmallows or gumdrops depending on the situation and preference for different materials, or to simply change it up if you’re repeating it with a twist.

After they build the requested shapes (or create some of their own) they can take their learning one step further and record the number of vertices and edges.

You can tie it into the real world by having photos of real life structures that they are “replicating” as far as the basic shape – a great first step for future engineers and architects! 

The post What is a STEM Activity for Children? appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

Snag your set below and then hop over to join The Plato Pack so you can get your hands on THOUSANDS of other time saving centers and teaching tools you’re going to love.

Getting Ready

When it comes to prep work, it doesn’t get much easier than this!

First, print off the game board you want each of your math groups to play. The set includes three different versions so you can easily practice subitizing (instantly recognizing) the numbers 1 to 6, adding to 12 OR doubling a number.

OPTIONAL: If you’d like to give your sheets a fun pop, print them on colored paper. You can even theme it up by choosing a shade to go with the time of year like orange in the fall or pink for Valentine’s Day.

Then grab your basket of dice and either markers (if you’re going to have students mark their answers on the paper) or cover up manipulatives like mini erasers or counting chips.

Playing the No Prep Dice Games

When it’s go-time, students will roll their dice and mark the matching number on their mat before rolling again.

If you’d like to make the game more interactive, partner students up and have them take turns rolling and covering.

Once all of the spots are covered it’s time to clear the board and start again!

Grab Your Dice Games

Your students will LOVE these games as much as you’ll love skipping all of that prep work. Click the blue download button below to snag your set and then hop over to join The Plato Pack so you can get your hands on THOUSANDS of other time saving centers and teaching tools.

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These fun printables are great way to build number recognition and counting skills with preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Getting Ready

These fall ten frames were a cinch to prep. I simply printed, grabbed crayons and that was it!

You will want to decide if you are using the sheets for morning work, small groups or math centers (or any other use that is helpful) so that you know how many copies you will need.

If I use them in math bins, I always run off extra since someone inevitably takes the last one, and I don’t want to be without supplies in the middle of math centers.

Fall Ten Frame Printables

The first printable was great to use in a math bin because it got my kids working on number recognition.  It had them really focusing on one-to-one correspondence as they read the number then counted and drew “leaves” in the ten frames with their crayons.

It is challenging for many students to count and draw at the same time – so it was a great stretch exercise for them.

Plus, some of my kids enjoyed being creative with their leaves and how they designed them (blue, purple – they had fun with it!)

The second printable I found worked really well for morning work as students arrived because it gave them a quick review of counting skills and number writing.

Students quickly counted up the leaves in the ten frames or subitized them (recognized the total without counting one by one). Then, they wrote the total on the leaf.

We work hard on developing our number sense skills like number recognition, counting, subitizing, and one-to-one correspondence, and these fun printables gave us some extra practice in a quick, easy-prep way!

Grab Your Download

Ready to build number sense with ten frames with your kids too? Grab your copy of these fun activity sheets by clicking the button below and then hop over to snag out Number Formation Pack!

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This autumn-themed counting center does just that as kids practice number recognition and ten frames with playful crows!

Getting Ready

Prepping this game was fairly quick and simple, which is helpful when I’m getting math centers or small groups ready for the week.

And, as a bonus, half of the supplies are reusable so after prepping this year, I will only need to re-copy the recording sheets to play again next fall.

I first printed out the crow number cards, laminated them and cut them apart on the solid black lines.

Then, I printed off enough recording sheets for my students who would be playing the game with me in a small group, plus a few extras in case we ran out.

I placed those items, along with some crayons, into a tub and we were ready to play!

Crow Counting Fall Math Center

With most math centers in my room, I like to introduce them with small groups before putting them out for kids to play independently, and that is what we did with this game as well.

We took turns picking up a crow card (and aren’t these such friendly-looking crows?) and reading the number.

Then, using a crayon, we counted one at a time while filling in a ten frame with dots until we reached that number.

This was great practice for not only our oral counting, but our one-to-one correspondence as well, as sometimes kids have a hard time making just one mark for each number.

If you want to add in an extra challenge, you could have kids write the numeral next to the crow as well to work on number formation.

We kept picking up crows, reading the number and filling in ten frames until all of our 10 frames from 1-10 were filled up. Such an easy and fun fall math center!

Grab Your Download

Ready to work on ten frames and counting with your kids as well? Grab your copy of this autumn-themed counting game by clicking the button below and then snag our Number Formation Pack!

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They’re even great for a back to school activity!

Getting Ready

These printable ten frame activities couldn’t be simpler to prepare. I printed them out and grabbed some crayons I had on hand. That’s it! I was ready for some serious ten frame fun!

Apple Ten Frames

I used the first printable in a math bin during math workshop because I knew it would take a little longer for kids to complete than the second activity.

My kindergarteners love anything that lets them color and use crayons, so they were very happy to fill in “apples” on each ten frame. They simply read the number and then used their crayons to color the ten frame to match.

We used green, red, and yellow crayons to make it even more “apple-like.”

For the second printable, I used it as a morning work activity for my students so that they could have a quick review of counting and number writing.

We work hard on number recognition, especially in the fall as school starts, so counting the apples and writing the numbers was a great opportunity for us to practice number identification, counting, one-to-one correspondence and number writing, too!

Grab Your Download

Ready to print the activity sheets for your own kids?! Grab your free copy of the apple ten frame printables by clicking the blue download button below and then hop over and snag our best -selling Number Formation Pack too!

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