STEM Activities for Kids (482 results)

Absorb the Shock!

STEM Activity

6 reviews

Have you ever ridden in a car over a pothole or a speed bump? You might feel the bumps and get tossed up and down in your seat a little bit, but not nearly as much as you would if the car did not have a suspension. Try this engineering project to learn how a suspension helps give you a smoother ride! Read more

Automatic Drone Balancing

STEM Activity

10 reviews

How do drones automatically balance themselves when you let go of the controls? Find out in this project as you build and program an experimental setup to make a drone automatically control its tilt angle about a single axis. See this page for a complete list of our mini drone projects. You may wish to do the projects in order. Read more

Balancing Act

STEM Activity

18 reviews

What makes an object balanced? Look around you—most of the objects in the room are probably balanced and not on the verge of tipping over. If someone hands you an object and asks you to put it down, you probably know, without thinking about it too much, how to place it so it won't fall over. But what's the science behind how an object balances? Why do certain objects only balance on some sides and not others? Try this project to find out! Read more

Featured

Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

215 reviews

Did you know that the seaweed you've seen in the ocean or even eaten as a snack is inspiring innovators to imagine new materials? Large brown algae, like kelp, contains polymers—long chains of molecules—that are more environmentally friendly than the ones in most plastics. These natural polymers (alginates) could eventually be used to create sustainable everyday objects. Try your hand at using a bit of chemistry to turn biodegradable polymers from algae into your own custom… Read more

Balancing Challenges

STEM Activity

9 reviews

Did you ever come across a challenge that looked almost too straightforward to try, but turned out to be shockingly tricky, if not impossible? This activity challenges you in a fun way. Something as simple as picking up a piece of candy can be way harder than it looks. Find out why some movements are harder than you’d expect, then trick your friends into trying them. Astonish them with your stunning knowledge of the laws of physics; and most of all, have fun! Read more

Balloon Powered Sound! Build Your Own Balloon Amplifier

STEM Activity

5 reviews

Have you ever watched an old movie, or a cartoon, where a character holds a cone to their ear in order to hear what people are saying? Believe it or not, those cones (known as ear trumpets) were the very first hearing aids and were very popular for a time. Even Ludwig Van Beethoven used one! They helped people hear by acting as a sound amplifier, collecting sound waves and focusing their energy into the ear. In today’s activity you are going to make a different type of sound amplifier… Read more

Battling Stains with Bleach

STEM Activity

5 reviews

Have you ever wondered why your dirty clothes come out of the washing machine white and clean? What makes all the stains disappear? The answer to that question is bleach - an ingredient that is present in most laundry detergents. Bleach is responsible for the whitening effect that occurs during washing and removes most of the stains. But how does it work? In this science activity you will find out by making food color disappear with the power of bleach! Read more

Best Wand for Big Bubbles

STEM Activity

5 reviews

Have you ever tried to blow a bubble, and no matter how hard you try, the bubble just will not form? Why does this happen? Why do bubbles form at all, and why is it harder to blow bubbles sometimes? In this activity, we will explore the limits of how big our bubbles can get! Read more

Bird-Spotting Science: Predicting a Bird's Lifestyle Based on its Feet

STEM Activity

6 reviews

Have you ever wondered how animals can survive in all sorts of extreme environments, from a polar bear that’s out and about when it’s -40°F and a desert iguana finding food as the temperature rises to 110°F, to a deep sea anglerfish living thousands of feet down in the sea? How do they do it? The answer is adaptations! Their bodies have special features that allow them to live in those environments. In this activity, you’ll investigate what the… Read more

Build a Bathtub Toy Raft Powered by Surface Tension

STEM Activity

11 reviews

Have you ever wondered why a water strider can walk on water? Or how detergent can clean your dishes? If you look around you carefully, you can find dozens of similarly interesting phenomena that are all linked to the surface tension of water. In this science activity, you will make a little toy raft that is actually powered by surface tension, and use your vessel to investigate how surface tension works! Read more

Build a Disk Siren

STEM Activity

17 reviews

If you live in an urban area, you probably hear them almost every day: sirens. Police cars, ambulances, fire trucks—they all can come blaring. Their wailing sounds are piercingly loud to help alert others to clear the road in front of them. But have you ever thought about how this loud noise is generated? Make your own disk siren in this activity and find out for yourself. Read more

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