crafts
Dinosaur Fossil Excavation
Bury toy dinos in a salt-dough block and hand over a brush and a spoon.
70 minIndoor or outdoorSome mess
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STEM Activities for Kids
STEM at this age is not coding clubs. It is testing an idea, seeing it fail, and changing one thing — the habit that underlies every scientific and engineering discipline.
The best activities here have an instant, unarguable result. A marble either reaches the cup or it does not, and that clarity is what keeps children iterating.
Browse by age
Number of activities suitable for each age. Many activities suit several ages, so these overlap.
Featured stem activities
sensory-play
Frozen Dinosaur Ice Rescue
Dinos trapped in an ice block, freed with warm water, salt and a pipette.
40 minIndoor or outdoorSome mess
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learning
Coffee Filter Butterflies
Marker colour blooms across wet paper — chromatography that ends as wall art.
25 minIndoorLow mess
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learning
Walking Water Rainbow
Water climbs kitchen paper between cups and mixes new colours on its own.
25 minIndoorNo mess
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learning
Fizzing Baking Soda Eruptions
A tray of coloured bicarb and a pipette of vinegar. Endlessly repeatable fizz.
30 minIndoor or outdoorSome mess
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outdoor
Shadow Drawing
Line toys up in the sun and draw round their shadows. Sunny-day magic.
30 minOutdoorNo mess
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learning
Sink or Float Kitchen Lab
Test ten safe household objects in a bowl of water, make predictions and record which ones sink or float.
25 minIndoorLow mess
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learning
Cardboard Marble Run Challenge
Tubes, tape and a wall — an engineering problem with an instant pass or fail.
60 minIndoorNo mess
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sensory-play
Slime Making
Glue, activator and a few minutes of kneading make a stretchy slime that turns into its own sensory play session.
30 minIndoorSome mess
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science
Kids Science Colour Lab
Mixing primary-coloured water, pipettes and household fizz to test what happens when colours and reactions combine.
35 minIndoorSome mess
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science
Baking Soda Balloon Experiment
Vinegar and baking soda fizz inside a bottle and inflate a balloon on top without anyone blowing into it.
15 minIndoorLow mess
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science
Magic Milk Colour Experiment
A drop of dish soap sends food colouring swirling across a plate of milk in patterns that never repeat.
15 minIndoorLow mess
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science
Homemade Colour Mixing Lab
Coloured water in jars and a set of pipettes turn a kitchen table into a hands-on colour-mixing lab.
35 minIndoorLow mess
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stem
Build a Paper Bridge
Two stacks of books and a sheet of paper turn into an engineering challenge to hold as many coins as possible.
30 minIndoorNo mess
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stem
Cup-and-String Telephone
Two paper cups and a length of string turn into a working telephone that teaches how sound actually travels.
20 minIndoor or outdoorNo mess
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stem
Magnet Discovery Hunt
A room-by-room hunt with a fridge magnet turns 'what will stick' into a proper hands-on science lesson.
25 minIndoorNo mess
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Twenty printable activity cards for ages 2–8, sorted by time and mess level. One email, no spam, unsubscribe any time.
Frequently asked questions
What age can children start STEM activities?+
Three, with simple cause-and-effect experiments. Genuine design challenges land best from about five.
Do I need a STEM kit?+
No. Cardboard, tape, water and bicarbonate of soda cover most of what a primary-age child needs.