Are you looking for easy STEM activities to keep your child entertained and off the screens? These ideas are not only easy but fun, and a great way to spark some creativity!
Intro image
What is STEM?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. While those subjects might sound intimidating, STEM activities for kids are really just fun, hands-on ways to encourage curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving through play.
Whether your child is building a marshmallow tower, making a homemade lava lamp, or testing which items sink or float, they're learning how to ask questions, make predictions, and discover how the world works. Best of all, they probably won't even realize they're learning because they'll be too busy having fun!
These simple activities are a great way to break up the usual routine of screentime and everyday toys while giving kids something exciting to create, test, and explore. You never know, one fun afternoon experiment could spark a lifelong love of science, engineering or technology. Even if it doesn't, your child will still be building confidence, critical thinking skills, and wonderful memories right alongside you.
Basic STEM Supply Kit
You may have many of these items around your house, but these supplies can make STEM activities even more fun:
Easy Science Experiments for Kids
1. Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano
This classic experiment never gets old. Kids love watching the fizzy eruption while learning about chemical reactions. And you're kidding yourself if you think you won't enjoy this just as much as the kids!
This is a messy experiment so cover the surface you'll be doing this on or do it outside. Fill a small cup or bottle about halfway with baking soda and add some food coloring drops if you want to make colorful "lava." Slowly pour in vinegar and watch the bubbly chemical reaction erupt like a volcano.
2. Walking Water Experiment
Watch colored water travel between cups using paper towels. It's a fascinating way to introduce absorption and capillary action.
Fill two cups halfway with water and add different food coloring to each, leaving an empty cup between them. Fold paper towels into strips, place one end in each water-filled cup and the other ends in the empty cup, then watch as the colored water "walks" into the center cup over the next several hours.
3. Sink or Float Challenge
Gather random household items and have the kids predict whether each one will sink or float before testing their guesses.
4. Rainbow Milk Experiment
Pour enough whole milk into a shallow dish to cover the bottom, then add several drops of food coloring. Dip a cotton swab in dish soap and gently touch the center of the milk to watch the colors swirl as the soap reacts with the milk's fat.
The swirling colors create a pretty cool lesson about surface tension.
5. Grow Beans in a Clear Cup
Kids can observe roots and sprouts develop day by day with this activity. Keeping the cup near a sunny window makes this an easy long-term project. I loved this kind of thing as a kid!
6. Ice Melting Race
Place ice cubes on different materials and predict which will melt faster. This activity introduces heat transfer in a hands-on way.
7. Static Electricity Balloon Experiment
Kids love this one! Rub a balloon on hair and see what it can pick up around the house. Kids are often amazed by the invisible force at work.
8. Homemade Lava Lamp
Fill a clear bottle about three quarters full with vegetable oil, then add water until it's nearly full. Add a few drops of food coloring and break an effervescent tablet into pieces, dropping them in one at a time to create colorful bubbles that rise and fall like a lava lamp. Let kids try different color combinations for extra fun.
Building and Engineering Activities for Kids
9. Popsicle Stick Bridge
Challenge kids to build a bridge strong enough to hold small objects. They can compare designs and discover which structures are strongest.
10. Marshmallow and Toothpick Tower
Give kids a pile of marshmallows and toothpicks and see how tall they can build. Encourage them to improve their design after each attempt.
11. Paper Airplane Contest
Test different airplane designs and measure how far they fly. Older kids can record results and compare performance.
12. Cardboard Marble Run
Turn empty paper towel tubes and cardboard into a homemade marble track. Rearranging the pieces helps kids experiment with gravity and speed.
13. Balloon-Powered Car
Turn a small cardboard box, empty tissue box, or even a piece of sturdy cardboard into a simple car by attaching bottle cap wheels with skewers or straws as axles. Tape an inflated balloon to a straw on top of the car and release the air to see how far it travels. Kids can experiment with different car designs to discover what helps it move faster and farther.
Don't worry if your car doesn't travel far the first time. Encourage kids to adjust the wheel placement, balloon size, or weight of the car and test again.
14. Aluminum Foil Boat Challenge
Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil and challenge kids to shape it into a boat that can float while holding as many pennies as possible. They'll quickly learn that wide, shallow boats often hold more weight than narrow ones, making this a fun introduction to buoyancy and engineering design.
15. Egg Drop Challenge
Challenge kids to use household materials like paper, cotton balls, straws, tape, or cardboard to build a container that will protect a raw egg. Once it's complete, carefully drop it from a safe height and see if the egg survives without cracking. Kids enjoy brainstorming creative solutions and testing their ideas.
16. Paper Helicopter Drop
Try making simple paper helicopters using printer paper, scissors, and paper clips. Drop them from a chair or staircase and compare different designs to see which spins the longest or falls the slowest. Kids learn about air resistance and flight while having fun testing their creations.
Math Activities That Feel Like Play
17. LEGO Pattern Building
Build and extend color patterns using LEGOs. Younger children can start simple while older kids can create more complex sequences.
18. Measuring Cup Water Station
Practice measuring and comparing volumes while pouring water between containers. This activity feels like play but reinforces important math skills.
19. Coin Sorting Challenge
Sort coins by size, value, or type. Older kids can add up totals and practice basic money math.
20. Shape Hunt Around the House
Search for circles, rectangles, triangles, and other shapes in everyday objects. It's a great way to connect math to the real world.
21. Graph Your Favorite Snacks
Survey family members and friends and create a simple graph of the results. Kids get an early introduction to data collection and analysis.
Screen-Free Coding Activities for Kids
22. Human Coding Game
This activity is basically Simon Says with a coding twist. Give children commands like "take three steps forward" or "turn left and hop twice," and remind them that they must follow the instructions exactly. If they make a mistake, call out "Bug Found!" and have them go back to the last correct step before trying again, just like programmers debugging computer code.
23. Obstacle Course Algorithms
Create an obstacle course and challenge kids to write step-by-step instructions for completing it. Then have a parent go through it and see if the directions were accurate! They quickly discover why clear instructions matter.
24. Binary Name Bracelet
Use two bead colors to represent 1s and 0s, then use a simple binary alphabet chart to spell names or words in code. Kids love creating secret message bracelets while learning one of the basic ways computers store information. You can print a free binary code chart online.
Brace yourself to hear all the boop-boop-beeps during this one.
25. Secret Code Treasure Hunt
Create clues using symbols, patterns, or simple ciphers that represent letters on a chart. Kids practice problem-solving while feeling like real detectives while they try to figure out the words in the clues!
Our Favorite STEM Supplies for Kids
If your kid loved these activities, there are lots of ways to foster their interest in STEM topics- the ideas are endless. Here are some fun things to introduce that also make amazing gifts for birthdays and holidays!
- Magnetic tiles
- Kids microscope (this is so fun to use outside!)
- STEM challenge cards
- Snap circuits
- Magnet movers kit
- Science kit (my kids ask to do these activities on a regular basis!)