Learning doesn’t need to stop in the summertime. Your kids will love doing a few of these hands-on STEM activities for elementary kids.
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Summer is a great time for kids to branch out and learn about something new that interests them. Your child can explore a topic they love without worrying about grades and homework. It might even become a new favorite hobby.
STEM learning incorporates science, technology, engineering, and math into valuable real-world applications through hands-on activities. Often STEM activities cross disciplines and combine 2 or more topics together.
Not only do these activities focus on a specific subject, but they also teach critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication. For kids of all ages, this can be a fun way to test an idea and, even if it fails, learn and try again.
We’ve collected kids’ activities for each of the 4 subjects below. For help explaining subjects and concepts, check out some of the educational YouTube channels we enjoy.
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Science activities
- Visit In the Kitchen With Matt and make rock candy to learn about crystallization.
- Build a volcano using baking soda and vinegar, via Happy Brown House.
- Learn what happens when you mirowave a bar of soap at Kids Activities Blog.
- Stir up some oobleck to learn about non-newtonian fluids at My Frugal Adventures.
- Create a tornado in a bottle from KC Edventures.
- Tips From a Typical Mom shares how to make some homemade ice cream without a machine.
- Turn an egg into rubber without the shell with instructions from STEM Education Guide.
- Test which items will sink or float with your toddler, via the Stay at Home Educator.
- Create a rain cloud in a jar, via The Best Ideas for Kids, to learn about weather.
- Visit Raising Lifelong Learners to find out how to clean up some old pennies.
- Learn about static electricity by doing a butterfly experiment at I Heart Crafty Things.
Technology activities
- Use a lemon to turn on a lightbulb with an experiment from Tiaras and Tantrums.
- Build a mini solar-powered house with instructions from Left Brain Craft Brain.
- Search for a geocaching treasure using a GPS.
- Create your own stop-motion video using an app and these ideas from STEAMsational.
- Introduce coding with Research Parent and build a LEGO maze.
- Send your kids on a photo scavenger hunt to practice using a camera. Doodlecraft has a list.
- Make a simple wind anemometer from There’s Just One Mommy to measure wind speed.
Engineering activities
- Build a marshmallow launcher like It’s Always Autumn and have a mini battle.
- Design a maze for hexbugs using straws, via Buggy and Buddy.
- Living Life and Learning has an easy way to build a simple hovercraft.
- Challenge your kids to build pool noodle structures like Little Bins for Little Hands.
- Do the egg drop challenge at My Baba.
- Build a bridge out of straws with a tutorial from The STEM Laboratory.
- Do an earthquake experiment by building towers like The Chaos and The Clutter.
- Visit Makes and Takes to learn how to create an optical illusion with a paper spinner.
Math activities
- Draw a sidewalk chalk number line and use it to practice math facts like No Time for Flashcards.
- Fun-a-Day has a cute ice cream math activity that’s perfect for preschoolers.
- Use resist art the way Happy Toddler Playtime has to practice simple math.
- Creekside Learning uses a hula hoop to make a clock outside.
- Play ‘get off my boat’ from the Kidergarten Smorgasbord, but take it outside and draw with chalk.
- Planning Playtime shares a fun way to use pool noodles to do math.
- Play some sidewalk chalk math games at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.
- Here on Backyard Summer Camp we have 5 easy math games you can play with cards and dice.
- Challenge your kids to dice wars and play a fun game from The Many Little Joys.
Many of these STEM activities use simple household items, so they’re easy to do anytime. Save these ideas for a summer boredom buster or plan a week of backyard summer camp with a STEM theme.
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