These STEM Challenges for kids help promote one (or more) of the following subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In other words, they are very educationally beneficial while also being a ton of fun! Enjoy these steam building challenges and as a bonus enjoy this printable scavenger hunt in the classroom.
Making learning fun is always a goal for parents and teachers alike. You want your kids to be entertained, but nothing’s wrong when there’s a little education going on at the same time. It helps make the most of playtime. There are many STEM toys out there that are great at helping foster skills and learning concepts while also being fun for kids.
Speaking of STEM, however, your kids can have fun without buying special toys. There are many building materials you can use that are found in your own home! Things like:
- LEGOs (okay, this is a special toy, but most already have these painful blocks at home!)
- Q-Tips
- Aluminum foil
- Toothpicks
- Paper plates
- Straws
- String
- Empty toilet paper rolls
- Plastic wrap
- Pencils
It’s amazing what you can build with when you get a little creative!
STEM Challenges for Kids
We have put together a fun printable STEM Challenges pack for kids. We hope your kids enjoy building these different items using household materials. There’s also a fun STEM scavenger hunt included!
Once you print these fun STEM worksheets, you will see a number of fun activities. Clip the cards for more handheld fun or leave the paper as is. We recommend you print on cardstock paper so the challenge cards or sheets stand up to long-term use.
You’ll see the supplies list within the STEM Challenge cards. Your kids can refer to this each time they go to make something new.
Examples of building STEM Challenges for Kids that are included:
- Catapult
- Robot
- Tall Tower
- Marble Maze
- Straw Rocket
- Hexagon
You can always add to the challenges by coming up with more things for your kids to build and create!
Of course these are perfect activities for at home, but they can also be used in the class – share with your teachers!
STEM Scavenger Hunt
Give your kids a break at building by taking them on a scavenger hunt in the classroom! This classroom scavenger hunt printable offers a list of STEM-related items that your kids can find at home or when out. Print the hunt again and again each time you go somewhere new!
When doing the scavenger hunt, your kids will have to find things like something…
- With wheels
- That needs a battery
- That cools items
- Reflective
- Symmetrical
- Asymmetrical
- That can dissolve in water
All of the items in the scavenger hunt uses one of the fields of STEM, so they will be learning why they are searching.
How do you do a scavenger hunt in the classroom?
This scavenger hunt checklist is the perfect classroom activity. Keep it within the four walls or extend it around the school or even outside to the playground. It extends the lesson into something fun and engaging which totally equates memorable. Imagine that light bulb moment that will go off when taking a science assessment but connecting the test question to the science classroom activity.
Another way to extend the science lesson, once they do this stem scavenger hunt at school, have them make their own scavenger hunt activity. Use this science lesson (or any lesson that is similar) and let the kids go to down making their own scavenger hunts for classmates. I bet they get very creative and competitive! You can even use this on another subject – how about a DIY math scavenger hunt?
For team building, pair up kids in tables or teams and let them take the classroom treasure hunt checklist their peers made. Do you have science buddies? If you are apart of an upper grade, pair students. Older students can be paired with kids from lower elementary classrooms. There is a lot learned in teaching a younger peer. Let them guide their science buddy through this simple scavenger hunt and science activity.
This can be the perfect activity for online learning too. For distance learning or virtual activities using the computer (even if at school), this can be a series of images they find on the web similar to a photo scavenger hunt only collecting images and adding them to their Google classroom photo library/folders.
STEM Challenge for Kids Printables
Download our free STEM Challenge & Stem Scavenger Hunt printables. This steam activity and classroom scavenger hunt printable comes in a PDF format so it can easily be viewed on a tablet or downloaded to a printable science worksheet.
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How to Print at Staples
Want to have these professionally printed? I have a video to show you how I print my PDF documents at Staples.
Looking for more fun STEM activities? Check out our STEM Projects for Kids! Pin to Pinterest.
Our 5 Minute Science Experiments for Kids are always fun too! Pin to Pinterest.
We have a great scavenger hunt for the first day of school! Don’t forget the Back to School Scavenger Hunt. Go an at home treasure hunt for your school supplies! Pin to Pinterest.
WHAT’S TRENDING? Looking for a few engaging activities? Grab Minute to Win it Games – Traditional, Holiday, Group, and more! Use these fun activities in the office, classroom, or at your next birthday party.
Last Updated on April 27, 2022 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living
