Sixth Grade STEM Activities for Kids (209 results)

Make Tie-Dye T-shirts with Permanent Markers

STEM Activity

24 reviews

Have you ever made a tie-dyed t-shirt? It can be a lot of fun to dye a shirt in bright colors with spiraling designs (especially when it is done on a warm day outside to prevent indoor messes)! In this science activity, you will get to dye a t-shirt with your own colorful artwork using permanent markers. Along the way, you will find out how solubility helps your drawings leave beautiful designs on the fabric. Read more

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

STEM Activity

36 reviews

Did you ever wonder what hand sanitizer is made of, or how you can efficiently disinfect your hands or other frequently touched surfaces like doorknobs? Handwashing is still the best way to keep your hands clean, but hand sanitizer is a great alternative for situations where clean water and soap are not available, and you can even use it to disinfect surfaces! Intrigued—try out making a hand sanitizer yourself! Read more

Soil Science: Study Microorganisms in Winogradsky Columns

STEM Activity

10 reviews

Our planet recycles and reuses everything on it that is needed to support life. It is an amazing, giant recycling system called the biogeochemical cycle. You can actually model this on a small scale by using a plastic bottle and mud to build what is called a Winogradsky column. In this activity, you will build your own Winogradsky columns and investigate how including different nutrients can affect which soil microorganisms flourish and which fail. Read more

Featured

Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

229 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

The Impossible Arrow Illusion

STEM Activity

33 reviews

Make your own 3D printed "impossible arrow" illusion in this fun activity. No matter how many times you spin the arrow around, it always seems to point in the same direction—but its reflection in a mirror points the other way! How does it work? Try it and find out! Read more

Apparent Motion in Flipbooks

STEM Activity

40 reviews

Have you ever been tricked by an optical illusion? Optical illusions can be fun, but they are also quite scientific. In this activity you will investigate the phenomenon of apparent motion by making your own flipbook animations. Read more

Build a Bottle Centrifuge

STEM Activity

20 reviews

Have you ever ridden a merry-go-round at a playground? Did you notice how you felt like you were being flung toward the outside, so you needed to hold on to stay in place? Scientists make use of this effect in a centrifuge, which is a machine that separates substances based on their density. They can, for example, use it to separate different substances within a blood sample. In this fun activity, you will build your own simple bottle centrifuge and test how it works. Are you ready for a spin? Read more

Candy Waterfalls: Can Candy Flow Like Water?

STEM Activity

88 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

Circus-Trick Science: How to Balance Anything

STEM Activity

18 reviews

Have you ever wondered why it is harder to keep your balance with a heavy backpack on? Or why it is difficult to make a toddler's sippy cup tip over? Maybe you are the kind of person who wonders about circus balancing acts and would like to learn how to ride a bike on a rope. Or perhaps you want to know how to make your toy car less prone to toppling over when racing through a sharp curve. In this science activity, you will get to investigate balance using marshmallows, skewers, and… Read more

Distorted Images in Curved Mirrors

STEM Activity

10 reviews

Have you ever visited a house of mirrors and seen a wacky-looking version of yourself? In this activity you can construct your own miniature house of mirrors. Try it out and see what funny reflections you can make! Read more

Duplicate Your Drawings with a Machine

STEM Activity

29 reviews

Have you ever wished you could copy a drawing but make it larger or smaller? If you've tried to create a larger or smaller copy of your work, you've probably realized that it is very hard to get the details right. A machine called a pantograph, however, could help. It makes copies that can be scaled up or down or made the same size. In this activity you will make your own pantograph and then duplicate your drawings. Can you figure out how it enlarges, shrinks or turns drawings upside down? Read more

Explore Our Science Videos

Arduino Self-Driving Car Lesson Introduction

Stopping dog from eating cat poop (with engineering)

How to use micro:bit pins to detect touch | Tutorial #10