STEM Activities for Kids (482 results)

None of Your Fizz-ness – Make Your Own Sherbet!

STEM Activity

1 review

Did you know that if you could take the acid in your stomach and put a few drops on a wooden table, your stomach acid would eat right through it? The acid in your stomach is as powerful as battery acid! Luckily your stomach isn’t damaged by this powerful acid, because it has special cells that act as a barrier to the acid, preventing it from breaking down your stomach tissue. These cells produce a basic mucus that neutralizes the acid in your stomach. Turns out, your stomach is a pretty… Read more

Paper Squawker

STEM Activity

7 reviews

Did you know that not all animals use their ears to ‘hear’ sounds? Snakes, for example, perceive sound waves through their jaw bones! And many insects perceive sound waves through their antennae. While these methods of detecting sound might be different, they all respond to the same thing that our ears do, which is sound waves in the environment. In this activity you will generate some impressive sound waves from very simple materials, and observe how these sound waves are… Read more

Phone Book Friction

STEM Activity

24 reviews

A popular science demonstration shows that when you overlap the pages of two phone books, they are nearly impossible to pull apart. Since most people do not have two phone books sitting around, we will show you how you can do the same experiment with sticky notes. Sticky notes are much smaller than phone books, so they should be easy to pull apart, right? Try this activity to find out! Read more

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

215 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

Physics Secrets for Hula Hooping

STEM Activity

6 reviews

Have you ever spent time spinning a hula hoop around your waist or arm? Could you easily do it, or was it difficult? Have you ever wondered how hula hoops work, or, in other words, what makes them be able to spin around a person's waist or arm? It comes down to the physics that is involved. Physics can help you determine what makes one hula hoop a winner and another a flop. In this activity you will get to create your own hula hoops and investigate how their masses affect how they spin. … Read more

Pinocchio’s Arm: A Lie Detector Test

STEM Activity

9 reviews

Did you ever think of lying as an interesting social skill? Lying is actually tied to empathy, the ability to see things from another person’s perspective. Most humans begin to develop these skills around the age of three, when they begin to understand that what they know about the world might be different from what other people know about the world. Telling lies might be a skill, but lies can be bothersome. Sometimes, you really like to know how to tell a truth from a lie. Will the… Read more

Program a Maze with Paper

STEM Activity

62 reviews

You probably use computer programs every day. Every time you use the internet, play a video game, or us a smartphone, you are using computer programs. Do you want to learn a little bit about computer programming, without the need to actually use a computer? In this fun activity, you will write a “program” – a set directions for a volunteer to find their way through a maze. Can you help them find their way through without crashing? Read more

Program Your Own COVID-19 or Flu Simulator with Scratch

STEM Activity

31 reviews

Are you curious about how public health officials think about and model how diseases like flu and COVID-19 move from one person to another? In this activity, you will use the kid-friendly programming language Scratch to write a simulation that uses bouncing dots to represent healthy and sick people. The simulation will show how we can take measures to slow the spread of a transmissible disease. Read more

Puffing Up Marshmallows

STEM Activity

6 reviews

With the peak of camping season behind us, any leftover marshmallows can be offered up to science exploration! Did you realize that this sticky, tasty treat is nothing more than air trapped in a stretchy substance? Have you ever tried to expand a marshmallow without getting your hands all sticky? How did you do it? And how big did it get? Blowing up marshmallows is what this activity is about. You might not “see” a gas like air, but could it help puff up a marshmallow? Be ready to… Read more

Rolling Race

STEM Activity

20 reviews

Imagine rolling two identical cans down a slope, but one can is empty and one is full. Which one will reach the bottom first? You might have learned that when dropped straight down, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of how heavy they are (neglecting air resistance). Is the same true for objects rolling down a hill? Try this experiment to find out! Read more

Salty Science: Is There Iodine In Your Salt?

STEM Activity

2 reviews

Have you ever noticed that the salt you’re using says it’s “iodized”? Iodine is a micronutrient, which means we need it in small quantities to be healthy. Because iodine is relatively rare in many people’s normal diets, it’s added to table salt. Then when people salt their food, like tasty turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, they’re also getting some iodine. In this science activity, you’ll use some kitchen-friendly chemistry to investigate… Read more

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