STEM Activities for Kids (482 results)

Fake Blood made Scientific

STEM Activity

14 reviews

With Halloween just around the corner, bloody scenes are just a block away. Whether it is dripping vampire teeth, a bloody nose, or a leaky bandage, fake blood is sure to bring characters to life, so to speak. While chocolate syrup might make convincing fake blood on black-and-white photography, it is not passable for real-life encounters or color film. In this activity, science helps you engineer your latest product: good-looking (and tasty!) fake blood. Read more

How Do Melting Polar Ice Caps Affect Sea Levels?

STEM Activity

85 reviews

Have you ever noticed that if you leave an ice cube out on the kitchen counter and come back to check on it in a while, you find a puddle? The same thing happens to ice in nature — if the temperature gets warm enough, the ice melts. In this science activity, you will explore what happens to sea levels if the ice at the North Pole melts, or if the ice at the South Pole melts. Does melting ice at either cap contribute to a rise in sea levels? It is an especially important question for… Read more

How do Self-Driving Cars Know What to Do?

STEM Activity

236 reviews

How do driverless cars know what to do at an intersection? How do they know when they should stop and when it is their turn to go? What about yielding to pedestrians? In this activity, you will write your own algorithm, or list of steps, for a driverless car to follow when navigating through various road scenarios like stop signs, traffic lights, and roundabouts (traffic circles). Read more

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

225 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

How Do Viruses React To Soap?

STEM Activity

66 reviews

Have you ever wondered why we wash our hands with water and soap to get rid of bacteria and viruses? Good hand hygiene becomes especially important during viral outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic! The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommendations for handwashing say to scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap. But how does soap kill viruses such as SARS-COV-2? In this activity, you will find out by experimenting with models of different virus types to see how they… Read more

How Many Colors in a Rainbow?

STEM Activity

49 reviews

Have you seen a rainbow in the sky after a rain shower? How many colors were there? A rainbow is often described as having seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, but you might spot a rainbow and see fewer colors. Or you might see more than seven! It can be tricky to count the colors in a rainbow, because they all blend together so seamlessly. Want to see for yourself? In this activity you will explore the physics of light and create your own mini-rainbows. How many… Read more

How Tails Help a Kite to Fly

STEM Activity

57 reviews

Have you ever tried to build your own kite? Kites have been a source of entertainment for centuries for kids around the world. How do some features of a kite, such as its tail, affect how it flies? In this activity you will have a chance to build your very own kite, a simple sled kite, and use it to investigate how tails help kites fly. How well will your kite fly? Read more

LED Stickies

STEM Activity

27 reviews

Add some light to your refrigerator magnets and learn about circuits in this fun craft project! Read more

Lighten the Load with a Pulley

STEM Activity

57 reviews

Before the Industrial Age, people had to rely on muscle power to move and lift heavy objects. Simple machines like pulleys, levers, and ramps made it easier for humans to lift heavy objects like rocks and logs. In this project you will use simple household materials to explore one of these classic machines – the pulley. Read more

Make a Hygrometer to Measure Humidity

STEM Activity

29 reviews

Does your hair go frizzy during "April showers," when the weather turns damp? Strands of hair can relax and lengthen when the humidity (or the amount of water vapor in the air) increases, and then contract again when the humidity decreases. In fact, the rate of change in the length of hair strands is so dependable that they can actually be used as the basis for a hygrometer, a device that measures the humidity level in the air. Read more

Make a Night-Light

STEM Activity

27 reviews

Are you ready to move beyond paper circuits and squishy circuits? This is a great intermediate circuit project where you will build your own working night-light. And of course, you will have some fun decorating it! Read more

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