Simple STEM Stories will help you merge literacy and STEM with fun and engaging, hands-on STEM challenges based on a children's book.
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!
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
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 […]
If you're on the lookout for a STEM project for elementary grades, you're going to love this one! Click through to get all the details and start today.
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!
Discover some fascinating, no prep, STEM activities and challenges you can do with your students using paper! Engineering, math and science.
STEM is a great way to get students engaged in learning. This Toothpick STEM challenge is perfect for teaching 2D and 3D shapes!
STEM teaching integrates the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics with a unique learning approach, presenting hands on and
Jelly Bean Toothpick Building is an easy STEM Activity for elementary to middle schoolers. A fun STEM challenge to encourage learning through exploration.
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.
Learn how to integrate the Blow Cup Challenge in the classroom with this engaging STEM project and lesson plan that incorporates math and science standards.
Explore the science of sound with these fun music STEM activities for kids. Discover 12+ musical STEAM projects for all ages, from preschool to middle school.
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!
Use these fun and easy kindergarten STEM ideas in your classroom to spark creativity and curiosity in your students this year.
Lemon juice secret writing! Make DIY invisible ink and sen secret messages. Plus learn the science behind how these messages are made!
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
Teamwork in STEM- Article featuring three STEM Challenges, posters, team-building activities, job badges, helpful tips, and more! 6 Ways to Focus on Teamwork
Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).
10 genius Science and STEM Activities that use craft sticks to inspire learning in elementary with budget friendly Popsicle Sticks.
Graphing comes to life with fun paper airplane math activity! Create, fly, collect data, & use technology for serious learning.
Ready to bring STEM to your classroom, but not sure where to start? This post outlines 10 MUST HAVE STEM materials for your classroom.
Students choose different ways to create the longest paper chain out of one sheet of construction paper in this easy to prep and complete STEM Challenge.
"It was like herding cats!" That was my answer to my husband the other day when he asked how my day had gone. Seriously, the days I have first and second graders are just hard - fun, but exhausting. That is until I found the SECRET to STEM and the littles! Are you ready for
Circuit Flowers explore circuit science in an easy way for elementary to teens. Learn art, chromatography, diffusion, engineering and more.
Hands-on STEM fun with paper plate roller coasters! Elementary students will love designing paper plate STEM roller coaster to learn about energy physics.
Pack your bags and get ready to go on an incredible journey with your students! One of my favorite things about STEM education is that it is a multidisciplinary approach to project-based learning. Our STEM Explorers lessons truly embody that spirit by connecting engineering design challenges to
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
Homeschooling mom and engineer with a passion for STEM education.
Moon STEM activities, books, videos and more are in store in this post! Whether you remember the Apollo 11 mission or have only seen past pictures, the feat remains awe-inspiring. This can be especially true for kids who desire to dream big. Join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo
Fun science experiments that teach engineering concepts in simple ways. Find ways to make the seemlyng complicated simple.
A list of easy to implement STEM activities for the classroom. Effortlessly teach collaboration and communication with these amazing STEM lessons.
Tessellations are a fun, hands-on way to explore STEAM, whether you are in art class, math class, or in a STEM or STEAM classroom. Certain basic shapes can be easily tessellated:
If you need STEM projects ideas, this is THE place to go! This is a collection of over 200 STEM projects and activities that kids love!
Do you remember how to make a paper cup phone? Does yarn work for cup phones? Teach your child how to make a string phone with cups and test how far it works.
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
Help Save Fred is a great stem activity! This save Fred the worm is super fun stem activity will help your students strengthen team building skills and...
Last year, I started a new Space Club program at four middle schools. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched the web for ideas and curriculum to implement. I soon became excited to find great resources like NASA and TeachEngineering , but I was
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.
12 fun technology STEM activities for kids! Creative ideas and projects for hands-on learning. #stem #stemeducation #teched #elementary
Digestion experiment for kids! An easy science experiment from at-home materials about how the stomach breaks down food. Anatomy science for kids.
