Making Shadow Puppets – STEM Activity

Have you ever played with your own shadow? It is fascinating how it follows your every move. But why do you not see your shadow every day? Why is your shadow very long sometimes, and other times very short? In this activity, you will make your own shadow puppet and explore how you can change the shape or size of its shadow. If you like, you can even create your own shadow play! Read more

Everybody and everything that is opaque has a shadow. Shadows are fun to play with because you can change their shape and size or even make them disappear. In this lesson, students will first explore how shadows are made and how their appearance can be changed. Then students will use their gained knowledge to create and perform a shadow play. Remote learning: Part 1 on this lesson plan can be conducted remotely. The Engage section of the lesson can be done over a video call, then students can… Read more

Are you getting ready for a summer of reading with kids? Make things even more creative and fun this summer with free, hands-on science and engineering activities that help students bring their stories to life. Pair Summer Reading with Storytelling Fun! Library reading programs are a hallmark of summer break! Checking off "books read" on a colorful map, a multi-part bookworm, or some other engaging book log as part of your library's summer reading… Read more

Pair changing leaves and temperatures, apple season, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and fall festivities with these free lessons and activities for enriching hands-on STEM. STEM Activities to Bring Autumn Themes to Science Class 1. Invisible Ink with Turmeric The same turmeric you might have out for Autumn cooking or as a seasoning at Thanksgiving, can be used as a revealing agent in the Secret Messages With Invisible Ink! chemistry activity. Write… Read more

Try these clever STEM activities to connect hands-on science and engineering to the ever-popular world of Mario! Let's-a go! Your kids and students probably know Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and the Mario World gang, and chances are you do, too! March 10 is Mario Day, so known because in the right typeface, M A R 1 0 looks like M A R I O. (Once you see it, you see it!) This is the kind of clever… Read more

Free STEM projects, experiments, lessons and activities to teach students about the science of visible light. The free STEM projects, experiments, lessons and activities below help educators teach K-12 students about the physics of light, specifically, visible light, with hands-on exploration and active learning. The resources below have been grouped by grade band to help educators select the experiments and lessons that best fit their needs. (Note:… Read more

As the end of the school year approaches, these activities can be great fillers in between testing, in odd spaces in your schedule, or just for general end-of-the-year fun. 8 Free STEM Ideas to Fill End-of-Year Time The final weeks of the school year often mean varied schedules and pockets of time in the classroom that can be hard to fill. The activities featured here use simple materials and are easy to do with students even in small amounts of time.… Read more

Looking for last-minute STEM ideas for the end of the year, for after testing, for a classroom warmup, or for a rainy day at home? Try these paper-based STEM activities! Science Activities that Use Paper! Doing science and engineering activities doesn't have to require lots of materials. If you are looking for something to do with students in the classroom or with kids at home, an engaging STEM learning experience might be just a stack of paper… Read more

Check in each week at Science Buddies this summer for our Awesome Summer Science Experiments series! Each week, we'll highlight a few activities for awesome science and engineering kids can do at home. We've got a whole summer of fun STEM themes lined up for kids of all ages — for free. This week: amazing art science experiments and creative activities for artists, makers, storytellers, and innovators! Awesome Science Experiments for Artists Are… Read more

Gingerbread houses and characters are a great way to capture students' attention in the days leading up to winter break! Shake things up this December with a gingerbread house building STEM challenge in your classroom or try one of these other fun gingerbread-themed science and engineering explorations. Gingerbread STEM! Activities involving gingerbread houses and gingerbread people pop up in many classrooms in December and through the winter months.… Read more