If you're interested in STEAM activities for kids but you have a high school student, these STEM games for high school students might be just what you're looking for.
STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math”. In education, STEM is a subject that includes mostly project-based learning where students work together to solve a pr…
Fine motor activities are the perfect way to engage your students with interactive and educational activities. As a teacher we are always looking for fun and hands on ways to enhance your kindergarten students' fine motor skills and it's a bonus when you can also incorporate math. Spring Fine Motor Activities Pattern Block Mats Spring Pattern Blocks are an excellent tool for developing fine motor skills and teaching math concepts such as shapes, symmetry, and fractions. In this activity, children can use pattern blocks to create pictures and included are different ability levels. Students can build the pictures, identify the shapes and count how many of each shape is used in the picture. A great way to incorporate math and fine motor activities. Also included are small easy to store task cards that work well for morning work or early finishers. And also a design your own version, which can challenge your students and beneficial to your visual spacial leaners. I love these more opened ended tasks which are so great for differentiation. Students are able to come up with so many different ways to make the same picture. Snap Cube Activities Spring Snap Cube Activities are another hands on and engaging resource for teaching math concepts and developing fine motor skills in your classroom. In this activity, children can create different pictures using snap cubes, sort by color and count how many of each color. This does require counting up to 20 and is a great way to reinforce that kindergarten standard. You will also fine simple to build mats that are to scale for students and a great fine motor activity and does not involve counting. As well as small task cards and can really challenge students and are great to help develop visual spacial awareness. These are small and easy to store and a great activity to keep for morning bins or early finishers. Geoboard Activities Spring Geoboards are also a great tool for developing fine motor skills and teaching math concepts such as symmetry, shapes, and patterns. In this activity, children can use geoboards to create different spring shapes like butterflies, flowers, and and birdhouses. As an extension activity, students to practice identifying shapes they may see in a picture and record on the mats. Each picture includes both and simple and more difficult version with 10 different pictures included. The small geoboard task cards are included as a freebie at the end of this blog post. Spring Building Brick Activities Spring Building Bricks are another fun and engaging fine motor activities to use in your classroom. Your students will love using Legos or other building bricks to create spring themed pictures such as rainbows, ladybugs, butterflies and bird houses. Included are 10 different spring themed pictures with both small easy to store task cards as well as large to scale cards where students can simply build on the mat You can all of these activities in Spring Fine Motor Bundle which includes a variety of templates for Snap Cubes, Pattern Blocks, Building Bricks, Geoboard Boards, and Pom Poms at a 40% discount. Each set contains 10 different spring themed picture for your students to create. You can fine the Free Spring Geoboard Task Cards here
Hi friends! I’m here today to share about a quick, easy, and FUN experiment that I recently did with my first graders. This experiment incorporated all of the elements of STEM (Science, Techn…
Make an easy model spine for kids! Use at home items to create a model of the spine and learn how the spine works. Easy science for kids!
Hello Friends, Well, we are now in the 4th quarter. As always, it hardly seems possible that we are in the home stretch! The fun thing about the 4th quarter is how independent and competent my students have become. They know our classroom routines/schedules and are pretty capable of accomplishing most everything that I ask them to do. That makes for a smooth running day which of course, causes a spike in learning - woo hoo! I thought that I would share four STEM activities that we did this past week. I took a class this past summer on the Next Generation Science Standards. An area that fascinated me was the turn that teaching is taking from teacher directed to student generated learning. I have always been a hands-on teacher, but I often would give my students the whole picture before giving them the opportunity to try it out. In my class, I was told that students should be given the opportunity to explore FIRST; then the discussion of what they experienced is turned into the lesson. It is a learning tweak that has challenged me as a teacher. I have had to let go and allow my students to find a path to the outcome without much direction from me. It's been fun watching them start with a hypothesis, test it out, and eventually come to a conclusion. Each of these activities took about 10 minutes. I set a timer and my kiddos rotated through each one. ACTIVITY 1: Your teddy bear is stuck at the bottom of a well. You have a rope. How can you get your animal out of the well? As you can see from the photo above, Teddy was in a bucket in the "well". The chair was the well. My students were told that they could not climb into the well to get Teddy. They had to get both Teddy and the bucket out of the well at the same time. It was interesting to watch them try to figure out what to do. Finally, they realized that if they looped the rope over the handle, they could PULL Teddy AND the bucket out of the well. After rescuing Teddy, they asked if they could put other animal friends in the well. Of course! This allowed them to understand that you need more strength to pull something that is heavy compared to something that is light. ACTIVITY 2: How does a parachute work? Follow the steps to make a parachute. Tie your parachute to a small toy. Have a race between a toy NOT tied to a parachute and a toy that IS tied to a parachute. Which toy hits the floor first? If you were on the top of the mountain and needed to get down, would you jump or use a parachute? Why? This activity was hard for my kinders; mainly because it involved tying knots! If you have a parent volunteer, I would suggest stationing them at this activity to help with the tying. I also suggest that you use lightweight paper and as well as a lightweight toy. We used regular copy paper and it was really too heavy. We also tied a clothespin to the bottom of the yarn which seemed too heavy. We did this activity as a follow-up to our gravity explorations. Their task was to understand how a parachute creates AIR RESISTANCE that slows down the effect of gravity. The fun part in this activity was that that they were able to stand up on a "mountain" (ladder) and drop their parachute! ACTIVITY 3: Set up the empty bottles. Try to knock the bottles down without using your hands. How can you knock the most bottles down at the same time? This was a simple activity to explore PUSH. The hardest part of the activity was collecting the empty bottles! We used empty water bottles. My husband suggested that I weight them somehow with rice or sand. BUT, I did not and the kids still had a good time and learned something about push and strength. ACTIVITY 4: How can you get the pom-pom from one end to the other without using your hands? I wanted my kids to experiment with wind power and to come to the conclusion that wind is a force that PUSHES. I applied blue tape on two sides of a table. I laid out various sizes of pom-poms in which to experiment. They used their wind power to PUSH the pom-poms from one side of the table to another. The next day, we discussed our conclusions. They then did a recording sheet showing their results. If you would like the recording sheets and the station signs, click HERE. This is a Google doc. If your school blocks sites that are outside the network, you will be unable to access this download at school. You will have to download it at home. Until next time, my friends! Blessings,
Build a Heart Model - STEM activity about heart rates and how blood flows through the body. Engineer a functioning model of a beating heart.
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
Create engaging and highly educational STEM lesson plans with these 5 simple steps that can turn any topic into a STEM activity.
As it would turn out, making giant paper cup pyramids is difficult for preschoolers, but what a great STEM activity to supplement our Around the World theme!
Have you tried the egg drop project yet? This was our 4th year in a row taking part this super fun STEM activity for kids! Check out how to do it with your children or students, and be sure to print out our two free printable recording sheets. Follow our STEM and STEAM Activities for …
Why do we have two eyes? This hands-on science lesson about the human body helps children understand that we need two eyes to have proper depth perception.
Make a homemade spectroscope with a few simple materials and explore the spectrum of different light sources. You’ll see all kinds of rainbows! This science activity for kids makes a great addition to a unit on light or weather and is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day too! Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board! Light …
The following is a guest post from Erik Murray , a 6th grade STEM Teacher. You can watch his Video Session on this topic in The Elementary STEM Teachers Club Membership . So, it happened; you survived one of the strangest school years on record. You became a Zooming, Flipgriding, Googl
These monster measurement cards help kids learn to measure using non-standard units such as cubes. They're a fun addition to Pre-K, Preschool and
This mammal sort is a great way to tell the difference between mammals and non-mammals! These cute cards are a great addition to an animal sciences unit!
A few weeks ago our little daredevil had her first x-ray due to a little jumping on the bed incident. Yup 1 little monkey jumping on the bed, she fell off and bumped her head… broke her clavicle. Well ever since, she has been fascinated with the bones inside her body so there couldn’t be […]
This week for Freebie Friday we are sharing free printables related to Legos! Or you can click here to find freebies related to other topics. We may also have
Explore how your lungs work with this STEAM-approved DIY!
Make an easy heart pump model with your kids! Household items quickly put together a working model of how hearts pump blood. STEM fun!
Coding with Kindergarteners. Three ways to code with our youngest learners.
Right now I’m in the process of creating a series of STEM projects for students who are studying Ancient Civilizations.. Next stop, Ancient Egypt! I had been really looking forward to designing projects for this unit! I had so many different ideas for Egypt STEM challenges, it was hard to narrow it down to just two
How the stomach breaks down food: a hands-on demonstration to understand the two ways in which the stomach breaks down food during digestion.
These 5 senses STEM activities are a great way to engage your homeschooler in a hands-on learning experience. Perfect for your homeschool five senses lesson.
Make an easy model spine for kids! Use at home items to create a model of the spine and learn how the spine works. Easy science for kids!
Like most preschool fascinations, I’m not entirely sure how it began. It might have been the Star Gazing Discovery Bottles I made last month, or the fact that they are in bed before they actually appear in the sky every night. Whatever the cause – studying stars has become the…
Newton's Laws and easy in the same sentence? Maybe not, but trust me I have some resources that will do just that! But first, how do you display your classroom agenda? I have an easel right outside my door that lists what each grade level is doing and recently it said. "It's Newton Week!" The
20 Reflective Questions To Help Students Respond To Common Core Texts
In October 2016, Microsoft released the long-awaited Minecraft: Education Edition, making it easier for teachers to bring Minecraft into the classroom. However, you don’t need a computer or even Minecraft software to make Minecraft an integral part of your classroom. […]
9 simple heart themed science experiments for kids of all ages. All can be done in your kitchen. Kids learn about heart, gain research skills, and have fun.
Free PDF agaograph art activities for all ages. These free freeprintable agamograph templates are in themes such as spring, summer, and more.
12 fun technology STEM activities for kids! Creative ideas and projects for hands-on learning. #stem #stemeducation #teched #elementary
Fostering Growth Mindset in the Classroom with "The Magical Yet" One of the most valuable lessons we can impart to our students is the concept of a growth mindset. This powerful idea emphasizes the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, perseverance, and
Asking questions is a regular part of reading instruction, but asking the right types of questions can be harder than it seems. Questions should be designed to promote higher level thinking, encourage students discussion, build better understanding of a concept, and challenge students' thinking. Asking questions like this is hard to do without preparation and planning. Below, find links to ... Read More
What kid doesn't love parachutes? My boys have gotten so many of those parachuting army men as party favors, I've lost count. And forget trying to untangle the strings. (Ain't nobody got time for that!) The weather may not have been on our side, but with so many rainy days this summer, eventually you just throw caution to the wind and do outdoor activities anyway. And so it was the day we made DIY parachutes. Making these was simple. We had all the supplies we needed around the house. What You Need Disposable plastic (or paper) cup Plastic garbage sack String (we used some tightly twisted yarn) Paper punch Scissors Tape Measure or yardstick How to Make It First we punched holes in the top of the plastic cups, just under the rim. You'll need to punch four holes equal distance apart (approximately). Next we cut one plastic kitchen garbage sack into a 14-inch square. Since we made two parachutes, we measured and cut the bag with it flattened (i.e. two plies) so we had two squares with only a few cuts. Now we cut four 14-inch lengths of string for each parachute. Our oldest son gathered a corner of the plastic square and tied one length of string to it, leaving only a small tail. He repeated this with the other four corners. Then we tied each string to a different hole on the cup. (TIP: Try to keep the tails all the same length so you don't get a lopsided parachute.) Now all that was left to do was to go to a high place and drop those puppies. My sons perched on the landing of our deck and later our yard's play set. They LOVED watching them gracefully float to the ground. My oldest son tucked the parachute in the cup and dropped it to see what would happen. It sank to the ground with lightning speed. That's gravity for ya! How Does a Parachute Work The cup glides slowly down thanks to something known as air resistance (or drag). When air gets under it, the plastic parachute fans out for maximum coverage; this air resistance slows the fall of the object tremendously. This great activity came from Patricia A. Staino's wonderful book Magic Moments: Super Science with Your Kids. Check it out!
The Mesoamerica STEM Activity is a fun and interactive way to teach students about medieval times and ancient civilizations!
Human Body STEM Activities help children understand how their body functions and help to develop an appreciation for their health and well-being.
This hands-on activity helps children understand how the temperature receptors in their skin work.
Plan Out and Create an Invention Printable STEM Work-page Let your kids use thier engineering and critical thinking skills to plan out a new invention with this planning page! Questions to ask: …
Understanding the difference between inference and prediction is one of classic challenges in literacy instruction.
Do your students know their shapes? Can they identify and name each shape? If not, download these FREE Geometry Posters! These free posters include 2-D and 3-D Shapes of squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, trapezoids, cones, cubes, half-circles, quarter circles, triangular prisms, rectangular prisms, and cylinders. Hang these posters on your math wall to remind students about the shapes. It's important for students to recognize and name each shape in these posters. Click the pictures above to download all posters. Are you looking for centers for geometry? This pack is loaded with over 80 pages of Geometry Centers and Activities for K-1 Classrooms. It includes 12 shapes. It includes the shapes of: squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, trapezoids, cones, cubes, half-circles, quarter circles, triangular prisms, rectangular prisms, and cylinders. This pack includes games, centers, and worksheets to help build your geometry unit. Here are some of the math centers and activities that this pack includes: Click here to snag this unit at a discounted price: Discounted Price: Here are some resources that might help your teach geometry: Geometric Solids 3-D Shapes Geometry Workbook Geometry Template Magna Tiles Geometry Match Geoboards Geometry Stickers Thanks for stopping by today! See you soon, Click here for more math activities:
This simple, hands-on science STEM activity demonstrates how the eardrums inside our ears help us hear sounds. Have fun getting creative with science!
