First Grade STEM Activities for Kids (173 results)

Build A Wall Marble Run

STEM Activity

148 reviews

In this activity, you will use recyclable materials to make your own wall marble run. A marble run is a fun toy and a great way to learn about physics concepts like kinetic and potential energy. Do you think your marble will make it to the end of the track? Read more

Junkbots: Robots from Recycled Materials

STEM Activity

309 reviews

Building "junkbots" is a fun activity where you can turn recycled materials—like plastic bottles and cardboard tubes—into robots! This is a great activity for a classroom or a group of friends, because you can race your robots against each other and even make them sumo wrestle. You do not need any previous experience with robotics to build junkbots. A Science Buddies kit is available with all the electronic parts you need, including motors, batteries, and clear instructions for how… Read more

Oobleck: A Recipe for a Mesmerizing Mixture

STEM Activity

175 reviews

Have you ever wondered what whipped cream, jelly, and milk have in common? Aside from all being tasty, they are also all made up of tiny particles that are dispersed, or distributed, in water. This type of mixture is called a heterogeneous mixture. Some of these have very interesting physical properties, such as acting like a solid and a liquid at the same time! In this activity, you will get to create Oobleck, a mixture that is made using cornstarch and water, and then explore these… Read more

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

230 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

Build a Cooler

STEM Activity

142 reviews

How does a cooler keep things cold? Which material makes the best insulation? Try this project to find out how long you can keep an ice cube from melting once it's out of the freezer! Read more

Build a River Model!

STEM Activity

121 reviews

Earth is a very watery place! More than 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. This is due to the many water bodies that can be found everywhere on our planet. What types of water bodies do you know? They are all very distinct from one another in their appearance, size, shape, and movement. In this activity, you will explore the distinct characteristics of a river by creating a river model inside a pan with sand, pebbles, and real water! After that, you can continue to model other… Read more

Fruits Gone Bad? Discover Enzymatic Browning

STEM Activity

57 reviews

Have you ever wondered why apple slices turn brown once you cut them or why a yellow banana gets dark spots over time? Both of these phenomena have the same cause: enzymatic browning triggered by an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (PPO). In this activity you will find out how this enzyme works by turning a banana from yellow to brown in just a matter of seconds. Then you will explore how you can keep your apple slices looking fresh! Read more

Making Homemade Bath Bombs

STEM Activity

98 reviews

Have you ever had a refreshing bath using a bath bomb? It can be quite the relaxing experience, especially if your bath bomb has a nice fragrance or includes some bath salts. Have you ever wondered what causes a bath bomb to become so fizzy when it touches the water in the bathtub? It is due to a chemical reaction taking place between different ingredients within the bath bomb. In this activity, you will get to make your own homemade bath bombs and explore how changing the amounts of the… Read more

Dissect a Flower

STEM Activity

97 reviews

Springtime is when nature comes back to life. Trees are growing their leaves again and flowers are sprouting, displaying their beautiful colors and spreading their delightful smell. But have you ever looked at a flower in more detail? What parts do flowers consist of? Are all flowers alike? In this activity, you will find out by dissecting, or taking apart, a flower piece by piece. How many plant parts do you think you can identify? Read more

Model the Rock Cycle with Crayons

STEM Activity

152 reviews

Use crayons to model the rock cycle in this fun activity! You will make colorful sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous "rocks" from crayon shavings. Read more

Stacking Liquids

STEM Activity

65 reviews

Did you know that not only can solid objects sink or float, but liquids can, too? It is actually possible to stack different liquids on top of each other in layers. The key is that all the different layers must have different densities. You can stack them by either picking several liquids with a range of densities, or by varying the density of one liquid by adding chemicals like sugar or salt to it. If you choose colored liquids, or add food coloring to each layer, you can even create a whole… Read more

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