Discover some fascinating, no prep, STEM activities and challenges you can do with your students using paper! Engineering, math and science.
Bucket Towers is an original STEM Challenge for upper elementary classes and it is a student favorite. You will love the easy prep! This is hard to believe, but some of our best STEM Challenges have been created accidentally. The STEM Bucket Tower challenge is one of those! Building boats was another total spur-of-the-moment challenge.
Are you looking for something that will have ALL of your elementary students engaged from young kids to older? Do you hate planning out stem projects that use hard-to-find equipment and are exhausting to prepare? Have you tried easy STEM activities yet in your classroom? Easy stem challenges are a great way to have students […]
Explore a collection of over 45 hands-on STEM challenge ideas that kids are sure to love at home or in a classroom. What will you build?
Every once in a while, I create a product for my classroom or my TPT store that I get just giddily excited about. Products that are unique and that I know kids and teachers will both love. I felt this way when I released my escape rooms for early childhood, and I'm feeling it again with my latest project: STEM Safari! I've been working on it for weeks, and I am thrilled that it is finally live! STEM Safari is an organized approach to implementing STEM in your classroom, and so much fun! Each STEM session, a student picks a challenge card to complete. There are 5 different types of cards: 1. Elephant Engineering (engineering challenges) 2. Cheetah Challenge (challenges with specific parameters in place) 3. Rhino Riddles ("How can you...?" challenges) 4. Warthog Wonderings (reflection questions and challenges) 5. Buffalo Building (free choice building). I wanted to prevent students from always picking the same type of card, such as the free choice building, which is, of course, valuable, but doesn't do as well with developing problem-solving skills. To do this, and to encourage my students to try new things, they each have an Animal Checklist. Every time they complete a specific type of challenge, they check it off. When they have completed all 5 of the different challenge types, they color in one country in their STEM Safari Africa map. Then they "journey" to a new country and start again with a new animal checklist! This way, the fun just keeps going, but they have a way to track how many challenges they have completed. There is also a STEM Safari Journal included, which helps build their reflection skills. Any of the Warthog Wondering cards that say "write about it" can be completed in their STEM Safari Journals. There are also a few "design" challenges in the Elephant Engineering cards that can be completed in their journals. As they continue their STEM Safari journey, the reflections they have completed in the journal will help them polish their problem-solving and engineering skills. I love doing STEM projects with my students! It is amazing to see what they can accomplish with a few basic supplies and some open-ended directives. However, storing all of these supplies can be a challenge. Included in the STEM Safari kit are tons of supply labels with photographs, to help keep everything neat. Here's a close-up example of a supply label. I even included some editable labels so that you can customize them for any supplies you have on hand! I really hope that your students enjoy STEM Safari as much as mine do! Click here to purchase in my shop, or here to purchase in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. There's just something about open-ended, hands-on learning that gets kiddos excited. I would love to hear how you use STEM in your classroom; drop me a comment below! Happy teaching!
If this is your first foray into STEM you are in for a treat. These challenges are easy to set up, great fun, and oh-so-loved! These are sure-fire winners- not to be missed! The Truth! These 5 challenges are: all just loads of fun have easy materials and easy prep great for lots of age
Are you looking for something that will have ALL of your elementary students engaged from young kids to older? Do you hate planning out stem projects that use hard-to-find equipment and are exhausting to prepare? Have you tried easy STEM activities yet in your classroom? Easy stem challenges are a great way to have students […]
Free STEM challenges with a zoo theme. Fun for preschool or elementary aged kids.
STEM Activities For Elementary School - stem challenges to do at home or in class rooms! Get ideas to inspire your kids creativity!
Hands-on STEM fun with paper plate roller coasters! Elementary students will love designing paper plate STEM roller coaster to learn about energy physics.
Ferris Wheel STEM Challenge activity for upper elementary and middle school students. Teams create a dimensional turning 2-sided-wheel that must be held aloft.
STEM Design Student Notebook and Activities! Check out the PREVIEW and Grab it now! Would you like to teach your students about the Design Process? Would you like your students to keep all of their design process STEM experiments in one notebook? This product can help! In this product you will find: (all in color and black and white versions) Class Posters Design Process Cards to practice order Cut & Glue Design Process worksheet Student Notebook Cover Draw yourself as a scientist (boost confidence and engagement) Practicing Design Process order (practice and reference) STEM Design Challenge Pages to help your little scientists and engineers work through their STEM challenges! (Print this each time your do a challenge to add to the growing notebook!) Grab this FREE STEM Activity to use for your first STEM Challenge! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/STEM-Shorts-STEM-Challenges-for-the-Elementary-Classroom-5225707 I truly hope this product helps with adding STEM into your classroom activities! Happy STEMing, Elizabeth
Every once in a while, I create a product for my classroom or my TPT store that I get just giddily excited about. Products that are unique and that I know kids and teachers will both love. I felt this way when I released my escape rooms for early childhood, and I'm feeling it again with my latest project: STEM Safari! I've been working on it for weeks, and I am thrilled that it is finally live! STEM Safari is an organized approach to implementing STEM in your classroom, and so much fun! Each STEM session, a student picks a challenge card to complete. There are 5 different types of cards: 1. Elephant Engineering (engineering challenges) 2. Cheetah Challenge (challenges with specific parameters in place) 3. Rhino Riddles ("How can you...?" challenges) 4. Warthog Wonderings (reflection questions and challenges) 5. Buffalo Building (free choice building). I wanted to prevent students from always picking the same type of card, such as the free choice building, which is, of course, valuable, but doesn't do as well with developing problem-solving skills. To do this, and to encourage my students to try new things, they each have an Animal Checklist. Every time they complete a specific type of challenge, they check it off. When they have completed all 5 of the different challenge types, they color in one country in their STEM Safari Africa map. Then they "journey" to a new country and start again with a new animal checklist! This way, the fun just keeps going, but they have a way to track how many challenges they have completed. There is also a STEM Safari Journal included, which helps build their reflection skills. Any of the Warthog Wondering cards that say "write about it" can be completed in their STEM Safari Journals. There are also a few "design" challenges in the Elephant Engineering cards that can be completed in their journals. As they continue their STEM Safari journey, the reflections they have completed in the journal will help them polish their problem-solving and engineering skills. I love doing STEM projects with my students! It is amazing to see what they can accomplish with a few basic supplies and some open-ended directives. However, storing all of these supplies can be a challenge. Included in the STEM Safari kit are tons of supply labels with photographs, to help keep everything neat. Here's a close-up example of a supply label. I even included some editable labels so that you can customize them for any supplies you have on hand! I really hope that your students enjoy STEM Safari as much as mine do! Click here to purchase in my shop, or here to purchase in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. There's just something about open-ended, hands-on learning that gets kiddos excited. I would love to hear how you use STEM in your classroom; drop me a comment below! Happy teaching!
Join us as we give you all the details about our popular Space Lander STEM Challenge and link up with some other great STEM educators sharing the BEST STEM CHALLENGE EVER! Teachers love the Space Lander STEM challenge because the students are completely engaged. Students not only learn, but deeply
FREE CRAYON BOX SIMPLE STEM CHALLENGE Challenge your students to design their own crayon box! This matches perfectly with The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow. This hands-on activity is a great way to include STEM into your classroom. In this activity students will incorporate creativity, problem solving, designing. This freebie includes task cards, a design ... Read more
A round up of boating & pirates resources to transform your classroom & keep students engaged and learning. Includes STEM, reading, task cards, & escape rooms.
STEM activities are fun and engaging, but this type of learning is even better when it’s connected to a great children’s book. We’ve shared books that are aligned to social emotional learning and books with themes for every month of the year. This post will share 10 great read alouds for any element
What can you create for this Build a Boat STEM Challenge? All you can use is tape and popsicle sticks to make it float and hold a weight.
STEM Engineering Challenges and Ideas for the Elementary and Middle School Classroom | Check Out Photos and Ideas to grow your classroom with STEM
Simple STEM Stories will help you merge literacy and STEM with fun and engaging, hands-on STEM challenges based on a children's book.
Bucket Towers is an original STEM Challenge for upper elementary classes and it is a student favorite. You will love the easy prep! This is hard to believe, but some of our best STEM Challenges have been created accidentally. The STEM Bucket Tower challenge is one of those! Building boats was another total spur-of-the-moment challenge.
The biggest barrier to teaching coding is the misconception that it is another skill that needs to be taught. In reality, coding is simply a tool that can be leveraged to teach standards in a more powerful, creative, and connected way!
Ready to build your STEM library with the best picture books? Start Here! Check out my Top 10 all time favorite read alouds for elementary STEM
These Thanksgiving themed STEM and STEAM activities are perfect to engage your elementary engineers in November! Three STEM challenges and one Bonus Brainbuilder are provided and can be completed as stations or in isolation. Includes the following LOW PREP STEM Challenges: Mayflower Ship Dinner Table Turkey Hideout Bonus Brainbuilder: Mini Magnetic Parade Includes the following components for EACH CHALLENGE: Detailed Lesson Plan with Standards, Supply Checklists, and Suggested Read Alouds Digital Google Slides Notebook for Paperless Recording Key Visual Vocabulary Chart Photos of Possible Products Digital Anchor Chart Student Instructions QR Code Research Videos and Website Differentiated Student Recording Sheets (K-1st and 2nd-5th) Reflection Discussion Chart Grading Rubric Supply Request Letter for Parents
If you're looking for LEGO challenges for kids, this post has tons of creative ideas you can enjoy at home and in the classroom!
Here are some of my favorites STEM books for kids that you can add to your collection today! Before starting a STEM or building challenge, I always read a book with my class. I love connecting literacy, sitting together on the carpet, and engaging my students in discussions. There are so many amazing books that ... Read more
STEM Challenges You Must try NOW! Students use the Design Process to design 10 different structures. Included are 10 Challenges you must try- tips & Ideas!
STEM challenges are the best way to begin building classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year. They are also a great way to introduce problem-solving skills and get students thinking creatively and outside the box. The best part is students LOVE them, and they don't eve
Here are five things every teacher should do for a successful back to school year. In this post, I'll share the top five necessities.
Blog post about fun, low-prep STEM playdough activities with a fun freebie!
Ignite Curiosity with STEM Bin Activities! Transform your classroom into a hub of creativity and innovation with our STEM Bins! Designed for young minds, these bins are packed with hands-on activities that challenge students to think critically, solve problems, and explore the wonders of STEM. Each anctivity has engaging tasks and guided game cards that inspire teamwork, spark imagination, and develop critical thinking skills. Perfect for enhancing your STEM curriculum, our STEM Bins are ideal for centers, small group work, morning tasks, or early finishers. Watch your students dive into discovery and build a love for learning with every experiment and challenge. Unlock their potential today!
The best kind of kindergarten STEM challenge is one that has children working together to find a solution to a fun, engaging problem using simple supplies that don't take lots of prep time. Enter The Floor is Lava STEM activity for kindergarteners. It's so simple, you can do it with preschoolers too! Don't forget to
Here is an amazing list of clever, unique and simple set up STEM challenges and lesson plans from other teachers.
Simple STEM Stories will help you merge literacy and STEM with fun and engaging, hands-on STEM challenges based on a children's book.
Need a great STEM Challenge? Without a doubt, this little challenge is one of the best ever! It's super simple and amazingly complex. It's the Index Card Tower!
STEM challenges are the best way to begin building classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year. They are also a great way to introduce problem-solving skills and get students thinking creatively and outside the box. The best part is students LOVE them, and they don't eve
STEM teaching integrates the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics with a unique learning approach, presenting hands on and
The end of the school year is such a special time as testing winds down, and you finish teaching those last few standards. You may even find you have little pockets of time throughout your days when you and your students can work to strengthen that special classroom community bond that's been building throughout the year. One of my favorite ways to savor that last few weeks with my family-away-from-home before they head off for summer break is through design challenges and game play.
5 Simple STEM activities with paper plates. Frugal, easy, fun, and best of all highly engaging on STEM Activities for Kids.
