The twenty-first century is witnessing profound changes that are paving a new path for the future. Numerous new developments in the education industry are changing the nature of education that learners are receiving or will receive in the future. With all of this, we can't help but observe how STEM education is sweeping the globe.
STEM education or STEM learning focuses on four key areas: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This is generally because governments and educators believe that it is essential to the modern world.
However, finding STEM projects for kids is not always easy. Fortunately for you, we’ve taken care of the guesswork and compiled a list of 5 simple STEM activities for kids you can employ as early as preschool.
1. Cloud in a Jar
Category: Science
Condensation, water cycles, and states of matter all get some attention with this delightful activity. A few simple household ingredients (water and hairspray) come together to demonstrate the formation of a cloud for kids.
This activity can be very simple for the littlest ones—or scaled up for older kids into an experiment with two different methods to create a cloud, along with a conversation about how water cycles work in the environment. For bonus points, take the kids out on a foggy or cloudy day and perform this activity to help them connect the dots.
2. Oil Spill
Category: Engineering/Science
Why not try an activity that will connect back to real issues? In this activity, you simply mix oil and water in a large container and add a few feathers to the mix. Then pass out materials like sponges, paper towels, or little spoons and instruct the children to try to remove the oil from the water and feathers.
Have the kids try to remove the oil without removing too much water. You can use this activity to show how oil spills can affect the environment, letting them observe how the oil affected the feathers and how difficult it was to remove it from the water. The basic elements of this activity (mixing oil and water) make it easy for the learning level to be scaled up or down depending on the child’s age—oil can obviously be messy, so use your discretion with younger learners.
3. Sticky Note Number Match
Category: Math
With a sheet of paper taped to the wall, some sticky notes, and a marker, you can set up this movement-oriented math activity to help kids understand the meaning of numeric values. Instead of memorizing lists of numbers, this “game” lets kids hunt for sticky note numbers and stick them on the wall over the grouping of dots (or stars or banana stickers, if you like) that match the number.
The setup for this activity could not be simpler, and anyone with tape and paper can make it happen! If your kids are still working on the concept—numbers 1-5 can be an easy place to start.
4. Coding a LEGO Maze
Category: Technology
In this activity, children can begin to learn the basics of coding. This activity from ResearchParent offers suggestions on how to scale the activity down for younger kids, as well as how to complicate it for elementary school and even middle school children.
With free printable materials like different mazes and instruction cards, your child puts themselves in the shoes of the “user” and lines up different codes (printed instructions) in order to “guide” their LEGO person through the maze. As kids perform this activity, they learn to estimate the perspective of something else and build a rudimentary understanding of command codes, sequence, and looping that can help them with coding basics later on.
5. Crystal Sun Catchers
Category: Science
Making crystals with salt is a popular kid’s science activity—for good reason! The ingredients are cheap, available at the grocery store—and the results are lots of “Ooooh’s” and “Ahh’s” from your kiddos.
This particular activity also involves making the crystals into a sun catcher! And for those of you who like to throw some art education into the mix, the post also includes hyperlinks to an art icon whose work was inspired by warping geometry, much like crystals.
As you can imagine, there are tons of STEM activities for all ages floating around out there. You might be wondering how to find more ideas that are age-appropriate for the kids in your life. A big part of that is understanding early childhood development yourself. When you know more about the way young children learn, you might have the inspiration to create a few activities of your own!
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