Physics STEM Activities for Kids (123 results)

Crashing Sounds

STEM Activity

3 reviews

Have you ever thought about the sheer number of words that exist in the English language to describe sounds? A noise can be a thud, a clang, a bang, a pop, a crash, a splash, a clatter, a buzz, a tinkle, and many more! You can probably think of an example for each of these—but if you heard the sound, could you say what produced it? 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

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

222 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

Curl Metals With Heat!

STEM Activity

19 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

Energetic Two-Ball Bounces

STEM Activity

8 reviews

How many ball sports can you name? How many of those have several balls at once in the game? Almost none, right? Games that do use several balls at a time most likely use balls of the same mass, volume, and material. Would having two balls of a different mass make a game very difficult? In this activity, you will explore what might happen if you were to add a tennis ball to a basketball game, or a tiny ping pong ball to a tennis game, or any other combination. Ready to be surprised? Try it out! Read more

Explore the Wet Sand Effect

STEM Activity

8 reviews

Summer is the perfect time to take a stroll at the beach and walk barefoot along the shoreline. While doing that, have you ever looked at your footprints in the wet sand? If so, you might have noticed that with every step it looks like the sand around your feet dries out. Why is that? These dry footprints are caused by the pressure of your feet. You will find out exactly how this happens by doing this beachy activity! Read more

Falling Buttered Toast

STEM Activity

3 reviews

As I was buttering toast on a beautiful Sunday morning, one piece slid off the table and tumbled down. It smacked buttered-side down on the carpet. “Bad luck” flashed through my head—but was it a matter of chance, or was the toast doomed to reach the ground buttered-side down? Time for science to tell us! Take a slice, try it out and learn about the science behind a falling slice of toast! Read more

Find Out Why the Ocean is in Motion!

STEM Activity

1 review

You probably know that water never stays still. But did you know that there is something called the global “ocean conveyor belt” that moves massive amounts of water from one ocean to another? These water currents are essential for mixing and transporting nutrients and oxygen, and play a critical role in our climate. This is because they move warm and cold water over very long distances, which affects the temperature of the landmasses that border the ocean. The Gulf Stream, for… Read more

Give It a Lift with a Lever

STEM Activity

8 reviews

Have you ever wondered how ancient people could lift very heavy objects, such as large stones, to build pyramids? A lever is a simple machine that can help people do just this. It can also help make other kinds of physical work easier by giving the user a mechanical advantage. Common examples of levers you might see around you are seesaws, scissors, wheelbarrows and even the your own jaw. Although all of these levers have the same functional parts, they vary in where the different components… Read more

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