Physics STEM Activities for Kids (123 results)

A Really Long Straw

STEM Activity

17 reviews

Have you ever used a crazy straw? Some spiral their way up. Others have fancy colors or decorations. Some are thin and others are wide. But just about all of them leave you sipping your drink from about the same distance. Why? Wouldn't it be fun to poke your head out of an upstairs window and secretly take a sip from a drink way below? Would it even be possible? With this activity, you'll see if you can set your own record for the longest working straw! 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

Build a Disk Siren

STEM Activity

16 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

Featured

Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

214 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 an Ion Wind Rotor

STEM Activity

3 reviews

Can you use electrically charged "wind" to make something move? Find out in this fun project as you build your own ion wind rotor. Read more

Candy Waterfalls: Can Candy Flow Like Water?

STEM Activity

86 reviews

Have you ever poured sand out of a bucket, or poured cereal out of a box, and noticed it is a lot like pouring water? It is because sand and cereal are granular materials. This means they are made up of solid particles, but they can actually flow like liquids! Candies, like Skittles®, M&M's®, Nerds® candies and many others, are also granular materials. In this science activity, you will investigate how the size and shape of granular materials affect how they flow. And what… Read more

Create a Sea Breeze

STEM Activity

18 reviews

A hot summer day is the perfect time to go to the beach and cool down in the brisk ocean water. But it's not only the water that has a cooling effect at the beach. Have you ever noticed that there always seems to be a cool breeze blowing from the ocean to the shore? Where does the wind come from? In this activity, you will build a model of the ocean and the beach to find out—so next time you go to the beach, you will know why the sea breeze is blowing! Read more

Crime Scene Science: Solving Mysteries by Investigating Blood Stains

STEM Activity

3 reviews

Do you enjoy watching mysteries or crime investigation shows? Every criminal leaves behind evidence at the crime scene. The trick to catching the criminal is collecting all of the evidence and making sense of it. This is what a forensic expert does. In this bloody, Halloween-themed science activity you’ll be correlating the size of blood stains to the distance they fell, but don’t get too grossed out; you’ll be doing it with fake blood. If you like figuring out mysteries, this… Read more

Curl Metals With Heat!

STEM Activity

18 reviews

Do you like gift wrapping? If you do, you have probably curled a ribbon with scissors before. Have you ever wondered why the ribbon curls when you run a scissor blade down one side of it? The answer is that when you apply pressure on the ribbon with the blade, the outer layer of the ribbon stretches and expands. This makes the outside layer of the ribbon longer than the inside layer that is pressed against the blade. As a result, the ribbon starts to curl to make up for the different lengths of… Read more

Dancing Water Droplets

STEM Activity

1 review

Do you like watching raindrops on your window as they move and run down the glass? It is fascinating to observe how some of them just sit there by themselves, whereas others combine to build a larger drop. Have you ever wondered what makes them move and behave in different ways? Controlling and influencing wetting, the spreading of liquids on surfaces, is actually important for many industries. For some purposes, you want a surface to repel a liquid; just think of your water-repellent jacket as… Read more

Ears: Do design, size and shape matter?

STEM Activity

16 reviews

Have you ever been puzzled by a faint noise nearby, trying to discover what it is? Maybe you turned your head or cupped your hand behind your ear, hoping to hear the sound better. What if we could make this cup huge? After all, some animals with exceptional hearing have big ears, like a serval (a type of wildcat), which can hear a mouse wiggling its way underground. Birds are even believed to use their entire head as an outer ear. In this activity, you will design and test your newest hearing… Read more

Explore Our Science Videos

Sound-Following Arduino Robot | Science Project

Arduino Solar Tracker | Science Project

How to Measure Light with Google's Science Journal App