Teacher friends, Summer is finally here! Woohoo! Many of you are counting down the last few days of school. This time of year can be quite challenging while trying to keep students engaged and learning. This is the PERFECT time to keep students busy with STEM activities and summer resources! These summer challenges have science,

Looking for engaging activities to do this summer? Don't miss these four amazingly fun summer STEM activities for elementary!

15 summer STEM activities for a hands-on, less-screen, FUN summer!

Working against a criteria & constraints list, students will make a boat designed for capacity and/or speed (new twists included in the newly-updated version of this challenge)!I think of this as an "anytime" STEM challenge, but it's perfect for the end of the school year and summer.

Does your school system have summer school or summer camp? I hope so! Summer camp is the perfect setting for STEM activities- many of which can be completed outdoors. Kids love STEM and summertime is the perfect time to continue to work on those collaboration skills. I have some super engaging challenges to share with

15 summer STEM activities for a hands-on, less-screen, FUN summer!

Learn how to make a square bubble that mimics tensile structures. This bubble cube can also be made in other geometric shapes!

Week 1 of our Summer of STEM features science and engineering related to amusement parks, carnivals, and fairs.

Does your school system have summer school or summer camp? I hope so! Summer camp is the perfect setting for STEM activities- many of which can be completed outdoors. Kids love STEM and summertime is the perfect time to continue to work on those collaboration skills. I have some super engaging challenges to share with

Grab a box of toothpicks and a bag of gumdrops for some hands-on and festive gumdrop STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)!

Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).

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 bring STEM to your classroom, but not sure where to start? This post outlines 10 MUST HAVE STEM materials for your classroom.

The end of the school year signals the beginning of summer for many students. This is the perfect time of year to teach about the sun and have some “fun in the sun” performing learning activities outdoors! These hands-on activities are perfect for keeping young students engaged and learning those last few days/weeks of school. […]

Inspire the superhero in your child with these fun Superhero STEM Activities that combine their favorite characters with science, coding, math, and more!

This fun wind tunnel project is so easy! Inspired by inventor and scientist Mary Jackson, students can discover the power of a wind tunnel!

You and your kids will love putting together these simple helicopters and watching them fly! *Video below

Feed the shark is a free printable math game for toddlers and preschoolers. Learn to count and read numerals with this summer themed activity.

The egg drop challenge is a classic STEM activity that is a hit with kids of all ages. It can also be used as a Dr. Seuss activity with older students -- making a perfect Horton Hatches the Egg activity.

Use these fun spinning tops as a lesson in color with this color mixing STEM activity. It's so fascinating to watch the colors mix while they spin!

Turn backyard into science lab with cool science experiments. Hands-on learning ideas for summer outdoor STEM activities encouraging science curiosity.

Challenge your preschoolers to design, engineer and build with these fun STEM projects that are perfect for 3-6 year olds.

One of my boys' favorite things in the world is a STEM challenge. And guess what? They are becoming one of my favorite learning tools, too! Could it be? A simple learning setup that I LOVE that my boys LOVE just as much?! Adding STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities to your kindergarten—or

Are you looking for super fun measurement worksheets and activities for kindergarten?? You found them!! Your students will LOVE these hands-on learning activities and fun, extra practice worksheets that teach a variety of kindergarten measurement concepts.

This water whistle experiment is good to do if you have 5-10 minutes spare. EC and I had a go making between finishing homework and a music lesson.

Learn how to build a catapult cannon in this STEM activity, then play a game that explores physics and math. All inspired by Mr. Bean!

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.

Exploring sunography: Making sun prints with kids

Grab a set of marshmallow and toothpick geometry cards to print and build with your kids. It is such a fun way to learn geometric shapes!

I love integrating STEM challenges into science units! This pollinator STEM challenge is a great way to integrate STEM with ecosystems in second grade!

Today, my classes completed the Cup Challenge! We loved it! The point of this was for students to practice their new lab team roles and develop some teamwork guidelines. Each team gets 6 cups, string, and rubber bands. Using just string and rubber bands, students must make a pyramid with the cups. No touching the ... Read more

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!

These STEM activities for preschoolers are perfect for young learners. Preschool STEM activities help kids develop early math skills, as well as problem-solving & communication skills.

Genetics in the elementary classroom! Really! This is a brand new topic for me. It all started with a blog post by my friend Amber at SSSTeaching. Her post caught my eye and as I was looking over the colorful monsters her students created I started thinking about doing this with my students. Hmmmm, could I pull this off with third graders? Now why on earth would I choose that age? Well, keep reading and I will explain it!

STEM for First Grade! The post includes five ideas with books as the inspiration for STEM projects. Includes details and materials lists! #teachersareterrific #readingandstem

Each year, I teach a simple machines unit. Each year, I try to figure out ways to integrate STEM ideas into the mix. This year, I wanted to find ways to engage my learners right away. Sometimes the simplest thing to do is grab simple items to create the perfect STEM project! The best part...you just need 4 simple supplies or less for the each challenge. The first challenge is to create a way to get the cup of cubes to the top of the table. This is all I gave them: Toilet paper tubes, a cup of cubes, string, and tape. The best challenge The second challenge that we did was to make a way to move a cup of candy from one side of the room to another without using your hands to touch the cup. All I gave them for this challenge was spoons, rubber bands, and tubes. The best part about these two challenges is that each design was so uniquely different. Each team was able to work together to find a solution to each problem and after they completed the challenge they shared what they created! Now, this is the kicker...I was sick one of the days my classes did these challenges. Boy, did I realize that one of the integral components of setting up STEM challenges is to really SET...IT...UP. What they were able to accomplish when I was there, instead of the sub, was significant. It got me thinking... how can anyone make a STEM challenge the best EVER? What I learned about making this STEM challenge the best ever is that as the facilitator of a STEM challenge, you must get them engaged. You must set the stage with everything they will need to complete the challenge. Consider these components: 1. How will you give them supplies? I set out a table with the items they can use. Each team is numbered and I send a special number to get what is needed. 2. What are the constraints as well as expectations? The first challenge was about moving an object from the floor to the table. This could be done as a pulley system or in some cases groups made a lever. We were able to share and explain as we observed the final product. 3. How will you get them excited about the activity? This can be done with a picture book, a question, or even a problem that needs solving. In both challenges I posed a problem that needed solving. 4. How much time will you give for a challenge. Our first challenge was 10 minutes. The second challenge was a race! It is one thing to give your learners supplies and a challenge, it is another thing to remember to add the engineering process to each challenge you offer. We chose a simple machine challenge and it was perfect for learning several simple machines. They loved them so much that I have had to design a new challenge to show the other simple machines. Any STEM project can be your best STEM challenge ever! Setting it up for success is the key! I have included my Simple Machines Unit that I use to add even more STEM stations including our annual Cardboard Arcade! Find my Simple Machines Pack HERE! I challenge you to also make STEM challenges something your learners will say..."That was the best STEM challenge EVER!" More Amazing STEM Challenges Your Students Will LOVE Click on any of the images below to read about more STEM challenges from other STEM educators. Digital STEM Challenges Cargo Ship STEM Animal Adaptations STEM Roller Coaster STEM STEM Space Lander Paper Chain STEM Sammie STEAM Challenge Toothpick Tower STEM Simple Machines Challenges Graphics and Font Credits: KG Fonts and PhotoClipz

Looking for a fun Preschool Construction Theme for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On Construction Learning Activities for Preschool or Kindergarten.

By the time you kids grow to the age of 5 or 6 they will now start going to Kindergarten. My elder one is in that age range 5+ yrs and hence we have started learning science in a fun way with DIY experiments at home. You can find them here and we would want […]

If you’re looking for a plants activity so your students can apply learning in plant needs, parts/functions, adaptations, life cycles, cells, photosynthesis, and/or genetics & heredity, this STEM / STEAM challenge is a perfectly engaging way to get the job done joyfully!

Over 13 exciting octopus STEM activities that any octopus-loving kiddo will adore! Hands on, simple activities using household supplies.