Kindergarteners are curious little human beings. They love to explore the world around them and are always eager to try new things. Introducing them to STEM activities is a great way to channel their curiosity and inquisitiveness. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and it has numerous benefits for early learners.
Activities revolving around these four areas are necessary to help kids develop the right skills and knowledge base to excel in today’s world. As schools realize that the best outcome to textbook learning is combining it with hands-on activities so kids can see and practice what they have been learning, educators now love to incorporate age-appropriate STEM activities and experiments into their classrooms. If you’re also searching for some cool STEM-related activities for your kindergarteners, don’t forget to browse our compilation below.
Explore & Experiment: Innovative STEM activities for kindergarten
1. Cardboard and Straw Marble Run
Kids can play for hours at a stretch with a marble run. Most kids will know what a marble run is and what it looks like. Until now, they must have played with a store-bought marble run, but this hands-on activity will allow them to make it on their own! Kids will surely love this fun engineering project.
Things You’ll Need:
Cardboard boxes, colorful straws, strong-hold glue, scissors, and marbles.
Instructions:
- Divide your class into small groups for this fun STEM activity.
- Hand each group a cardboard box, some straws, glue, and kid-friendly scissors (be watchful, though!).
- Let kids use their creativity to make a marble run by gluing straws at different angles such that a marble can roll down towards the base when released at the top.
- To give a clear picture of the project, you can show kids a few images of how they can create a marble run.
- When all groups are done, let the kids have some fun!
2. Shapes with Marshmallows
Marshmallows are not just a sweet treat. Their soft and squishy nature makes them an excellent craft material. And therefore, we are going to use them for our next STEM activity for kindergarten students. Shapes are a part of the math curriculum, and this activity offers kids a hands-on opportunity to build models of different shapes.
Things You’ll Need:
A bag or two of small marshmallows and toothpicks
Instructions:
- Provide individual students with marshmallows in a bowl and a handful of toothpicks.
- Demonstrate how they can make different shapes using these two items.
- Kids can make 2D shapes like squares, triangles, rectangles, etc.
- Use prompt cards to tell kids which shape they must work on and how many toothpicks and marshmallows they will need to make a particular shape.
- When done, let kids display their work on a table for others to see and appreciate!
3. Ice Cream in a Bag
Who doesn’t love ice cream? This fun STEM experiment allows kids to make ice cream right in the classroom. This activity revolves around the fact that when salt is added to ice, the temperature of the mixture is far lower than ice alone. So, when you use salt and ice to cool your ice cream mixture, you get better quality ice cream than when using only ice.
Things You’ll Need:
Half and half, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, ice, measuring spoons, 2 small and 2 large Ziplock bags, 2 towels
Instructions:
- Take two small Ziplock bags and fill each with ½ cup half and half, 1 tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp. vanilla extract. You can call students individually to measure the quantities and fill the ingredients in the bag. Seal the bags and shake them well.
- Now take two large Ziplock bags and add 3-4 cups of ice in each. Add ½ cup salt in one bag and mark it as “ice + salt.”
- Place one small Ziplock bag filled with ice cream mixture in each large bag.
- Divide your class into two groups. Cover the ice bags with a towel and hand them to students so they can shake them for a good 5 minutes.
- You may set the timer to know when it’s time to stop.
- After 5 minutes, let the kids touch the bags and decide which bag seems cooler. The ice + salt bag will be cooler.
- Take out the ice cream bags and feel the texture. The ice cream placed in a salt + ice bag will be better frozen because its temperature is well below freezing.
4. Secret Messages
In this activity, kids learn how simple household items can be used to write and reveal secret messages on paper. This simple activity is very engaging as kids experience that sending secret messages is possible and is not just something that happens only in fairytales.
Things You’ll Need:
Baking soda, rubbing alcohol, turmeric powder, water, Q-tips, paper, and bowls
Instructions:
- Call two volunteers from your class. Let one of them make a solution of 1 tbsp. baking soda and 1 tbsp. water in one bowl. The other can use 1⁄2 tsp. turmeric powder and 3 tbsp. rubbing alcohol to make a mixture in another bowl.
- In the first round, kids can bring their papers and write secret messages using the baking soda and water mixture.
- Allow the sheets to air dry for an hour or so.
- Now kids can exchange their sheets, dip a paintbrush in the turmeric-rubbing alcohol solution and rub it all over the paper. The secret message will be revealed!
- Take this opportunity to explain to kids that turmeric acquires a deep red color when it comes in contact with alkaline baking soda and hence, can reveal the message.
5. Capillary Action
This is one of the classic STEM activities that every kindergartener must try out. This experiment is based on the principles of capillary action. How water transfers from one container to the other through capillary action is what kids will get to observe.
Things You’ll Need:
6 Clear disposable glasses, tissue papers, food coloring, and water
Instructions:
- On a table, place six clear disposable glasses in a row. Select a place where there is no commotion, as the glasses will be there overnight.
- Half-fill alternate glasses with water and add some drops of food coloring to each glass with water. Use different colors for easy differentiation. Ask your students to help you in this step.
- Roll a tissue paper and place it between glasses in a way that one end is immersed in the colored water and the other end is positioned in the empty glass. You will have to use a total of three tissues for six glasses.
- Ask kids to observe how water wets the tissue paper and moves upward due to capillary action.
- Leave the setup as it is. Make observations after 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and the next day.
- Kids will see how colored water travels through the tissue paper and fills the empty glasses. Enjoy the amazement on your students’ faces!
6. STEM with Legos
Legos are kids’ all-time favorites! They love using their imagination and building things with those tiny colorful blocks. So, why not add them to your curriculum for some classroom fun? Using Legos, you can challenge your little engineers to build structures that stand apart and encourage them to use their skills to make something unique.
Things You’ll Need:
Lots and lots of Legos
Instructions:
- For this activity, you may either choose to provide Legos or have kids bring their own so everyone has a good number of blocks to work with.
- Now write on the board or say out loud what structure the kids should make.
- You can use prompts like – make a model of your house, a bridge, a supermarket, etc.
- Once everyone is done, you may ask them to display and explain their work to the rest of the class.
7. Sink or Float Experiment
Sink or float is another STEM activity for kindergarteners. It is a great way to introduce kids to the concepts of sink and float. Through this activity, kids can see how some things sink in water while others float, irrespective of their shape and size. You can explain that even if some objects are big, it does not necessarily mean they will sink in water.
Things You’ll Need:
A large bowl of water, 8-10 small objects (leaf, pebble, eraser, pencil, coin, etc.)
Instructions:
- Gather a large water bowl and a few small household objects to drop in the water.
- Do it yourself or ask a volunteer to drop one object in the water bowl.
- Before dropping, ask kids what they think. Will the object float or sink in the bowl?
- Now let the kid drop the object into the water. Ask students to observe the result.
- Repeat the experiment with other objects and discuss why things sink or float in water.
8. Popsicle Stick Patterns
Give your students an opportunity to practice patterns through this fun, challenging STEM activity. It reinforces color recognition and helps in building pattern recognition as well. You can make as many patterns as you want so your students get ample practice in one session.
Things You’ll Need:
Popsicle sticks in different colors
Instructions:
- Set up a station in your class for this wonderful STEM activity.
- Use popsicle sticks to create different patterns (such as red, green, red,…), starting from easy patterns and gradually increasing the difficulty level.
- Place the patterns, one below the other, and call one student at a time to continue the pattern.
- Check how many of them did the student get right. You may even note the score in a notebook.
- Remove the pattern created by the first student so the next one can give it a try.
- The activity is complete when all students have participated in it. Declare the names of the students who got them all correct and reward them if you would like.
Wrapping up,
Kindergarten is a great age to expose kids to STEM activities. Kids this age love to learn through play, and activities like these allow them to do that. Besides giving kids a chance to try things out by themselves, many other benefits are attached to STEM activities. It promotes curiosity and builds creativity the same way as online creativity games do.
It encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, logical reasoning, and independent thinking too! With so many benefits, it’s worthwhile to add these to the curriculum so little minds get a well-rounded exposure to how things work in the real world. So, don’t wait any longer and get started with STEM activities in your kindergarten classroom today! Your students will love them for sure!
I am Priyanka Sonkushre, a writer and blogger. I am the person behind “One Loving Mama,” a mom blog. Equipped with a Bachelor’s degree along with an MBA, my healthcare background helps me deeply understand learning difficulties. I know how challenging it can be for parents to find the right resources to help their children excel in life. So, here I am to blend my healthcare expertise with my parenting experience to create valuable and helpful resources for parents and teachers supporting children with learning differences. If you wish, you can follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn.