It is easy to introduce STEM ideas to children of all ages! Using simple materials, these 6 activities are sure to help your students build problem solving, critical thinking, and fine motor skills. When introducing these activities, I often share the materials with my students and then give just a few directions to see what ideas they have! Be sure to download the Free STEM Printables so that your students can try to master some of the challenges on them!
The first activity is a simple STEM activity to start with and is great for little hands! We used one set of the Cobalt Blue Paper Cups and the printable challenge cards! Students stacked the paper cups in all sorts of configurations and tried to see who could build the tallest tower!
Next we used the Block Play Building Blocks Set to try to build a bridge! This idea can be used in conjunction with several fairy tales such as The Gingerbread Man and The Three Billy Goats Gruff to encourage students to build a bridge to help characters across. I challenged my students to build a bridge that had 15 blocks and this is an example of one of their bridges!
We also love to build towers! We like to use Bright Index Cards and the Melissa & Doug 200 Piece Wooden Building Blocks Set to help us build them. When we build with index cards, I divide the cards into two groups. One of the groups of cards I fold in half (shorter side to shorter side) and the other group, I leave as is. To build a tower, my students use two of the folded cards and place them together on their sides so that they form a square. They then place a flat index card on the base and add another square on top and then add another flat index card. They keep building until it either falls down or they can't reach to add anymore cards to the top!
We use the Melissa & Doug 200 Piece Wood Building Blocks Set to build towers using different shaped blocks. My students love creating intricate towers and are determined to be the one who builds the coolest, tallest tower each day. I love how they watch others build so that they can learn new ideas to incorporate into their own towers.
STEM ideas can also be incorporated into literacy! I have my students create letters in their names using Rainbow Craft Sticks. Be sure to print out the free printable that includes cards that will help your students create the letters in their names. Students can make one letter or spell out their entire name!
The last activity I have to share with you is one that can be done anytime of year, but I like to have my students try it near the end of the school year. We use Crayola Construction Paper, some Colorful Paper Straws, Colorful Masking Tape, and Clear Marbles to create and test our boats! I ask my students to create their own boat with the construction paper, paper straws (mast) and masking tape. We then float the boats in a tub of water and add the marbles one at a time to find out which boat will hold the most marbles before it just begins to sink. Students learn from their design and can take their boat back to add or change their design before trying to float it again.
