7 Exciting & Creative STEM Projects

By -
Do your kids love STEM activities and projects? Do you?!! If so, you will love this collection of seven exciting and creative STEM activities! They each include a purpose--either a challenge to complete or a project to design--that has a final project they can share with others! Plus, they all have an element or art, so if you're looking for STEAM activities, this is also the perfect list! 



What kind of projects are these? these are projects that integrate several STEM subjects (most of them integrate all four): science, technology, engineering, and math. These particular projects also all have an art or design aspect, which I love because it gives your kids a chance to be creative and solve a problem. And the best part is that these problems have such a massive number of solutions that there really is no "wrong" way to do them, which gives your children an incredible amount of freedom as they work on them!

These are in random order, so feel free to read the whole list, or just skim the titles!

#1 - This Coloring Machine at Crystal & Co is the same as a project we do about once a year...but we call it the Draw Bot because it is a little robot that your kids can design and build that actually does something without being programmed: it draws! Someday I'll write up our instructions, but in the meantime Crystal did a great job describing how it works and what you need!

#2 - The Cardboard Tube Rocket Launcher at Teach Beside Me is fantastic because it "shoots" pompoms all over the place...and my kids are obsessed with launchers that shoot things, lol! Also, Karyn, the author at Teach Beside Me, is one of the speakers at our Homeschool STEM Conference-Online!!

#3 - States of Matter & Art at Preschool Powol Packets was one of our STEM Summer Camp days a couple years ago! Make sure you have lots of room for this one and cover your work area (and all the area around your work area) with newspaper!



#4 - Explore Light at Preschool Powol Packets was another STEM Summer Camp day, and this particular post includes three different STEM projects you can do with light, shadows, and pigments! Sidenote: flashlights are one of the most amazing inventions...kids love them!


#5 - Tubular Glitter Bracelets at Babble Dabble Do would make a fantastic group project or quiet afternoon activity on a rainy day when you just want to stay at home and make something brilliant! Also, Ana, the author at Babble Dabble Do is speaking at the  Homeschool STEM Conference-Online too!

#6 - The Teddy Bear Bridge Challenge at Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten is perfectly brilliant for young children! It challenges them, but it is 100% do-able, and she encourages you not to let the kids experiment and find their own answers! Love!! She also has a little printable that encourages your kids to think about what they've done and practice communicating it by writing and drawing their project!

#7 - My favorite part of  Building Stick Rafts at Kids Craft Room is that you can do it outside so easily! Take those creative juices, and enjoy them outside!


If you've been around here much you know that I always have a hard time limiting myself to seven or ten of anything, so I'm including one more project:


Bonus: Cardboard Tube Tower from Little Bins for Little Hands! You can paint the tubes before or after you build, and then use the tower as a castle for your favorite characters! Sometimes my kids even let their plastic insects move into things like this!

If you love STEM projects and STEAM activities, you will definitely want to check out this year's Homeschool STEM Conference-Online! It has all the convenience of the internet with all the benefits of a conference! Join us for brilliant speakers, amazing ideas, encouragement, freebies, giveaways, and so much more! But sign up soon...all the fun begins on Thursday!!
Happy Educating,
Carla


Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!



I may share at any of these parties!




Never miss another post again!  Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox!  Sign up here!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Science Experiment: Elephant Toothpaste

By -
Image
Update: "Elephant toothpaste" is a science experiment that I used to do with my high school students.  It is a strong multi-sensory demonstration that goes great with a lot of chemistry concepts. It is also very popular with preschoolers and homeschoolers!  The internet loves it too! It has now been read by more than 3.9 million people! This was the post that started the trend on science activity sites across the internet and "irl!"  Thank you for being here...I hope you enjoy it as well!  💕  This exciting science experiment works great in a discussion on reactions, as a demonstration, or as an actual experiment. We've also done seasonal twists with "elephant toothpaste" like making it in a pumpkin and using it for " reindeer toothpaste !" To use it as a science project, perform it once with your child, then ask your child what might happen if you changed the amounts or left out an ingredient.  Any time you experiment
Read more

Kind Words Sensory Lesson Friendship Activity

By -
Image
This sensory lesson includes a kindness activity for kids that is short and sweet,  and makes teaching kindness a beautiful thing! Learning to use kind words with our friends is one friendship lesson that I think we can never cover enough...kids always need reminding (sometimes adults do too)!  You will need these simple supplies for the kindness activity: cotton balls, course sandpaper, cup, Should I Share My Ice-Cream by Mo Willems Directly teaching good friendship skills, like using kind words, serves two purposes: 1- You can refer to the lesson when someone forgets or needs reminding, and 2- These skills are not intuitive for all preschoolers. This is a perfect age to bring empathy and kindness to their attention and help them cultivate these skills! You can use this lesson plan exactly as I did it with our kiddos, or adapt it to fit your group! 1- Read  Should I Share My Ice-Cream  by Mo Willems.   {Image below is an Amazon Affiliate Link:} D
Read more

Crazy Cool Giraffe Science Experiment

By -
Image
Do you know what color giraffe skin is? Today we're using a capillary action science experiment to make our own giraffe skins in this fun giraffe science experiment project! (Read on...I'll tell you the color in a moment! AND I have a few more fun giraffe facts at the end! Anyway, go on and make a guess before you see the answer!) Fun Spot  Giraffe  Fact:  There are four different giraffe species:  the Masai Giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe, the Somali Giraffe, and the Nigerian Giraffe.  Each has its own unique spot pattern.  Even more unique, every single individual giraffe has a different spot design.  Just like fingerprints on people and stripes on a zebra, spots on a giraffe are unique in every individual! Giraffe skin is mostly grey. (Were you right?) It's also really tough and thick.  The coat is a shade of tan with brown spots or patches.  Male giraffes actually get darker as they get older! To make our "giraffe skin" we're going to us
Read more