STEM challenges are beneficial to children for so many reasons. These fun and engaging science, technology, engineering, and math activities help kids fine-tune their problem-solving skills, creativity, teamwork strategies, and fine motor skills.
In addition to these benefits, STEM activities also help to reinforce, in concrete ways, children's understanding of abstract concepts that are introduced through books and other classroom media.
These 30 second grade STEM challenges will keep your whole classroom busy and having a great time in the process. Simply provide your students with the supplies listed, present them with the challenge, and let the fun and learning begin!
1. Make a rain cloud in a jar using water, shaving cream, and food coloring.
- Food coloring
- Water
- A clear jar
- Shaving cream
- Plastic pipettes
2. Make a miniature greenhouse using clear plastic cups.
3. Make a tower as tall as you, using only miniature marshmallows and toothpicks.
4. Build a 2D human skeleton using playdough.
5. Build a 3D model of the Earth using playdough.
6. Use a stopwatch to see how long it takes a gummy bear to swell to twice its original size.
- gummy bears
- glass jar
- water
- stopwatch
- pencil
- paper
- ruler
- spoon
7. Make a glider using two construction paper circles and a straw.
8. Build 2D and 3D shapes by looking at a drawing.
- craft sticks
- playdough
- drawings of geometric shapes
9. Design a shelter for a sun-sensitive animal using recycled materials, construction paper, and pipe cleaners.
10. Build a raft using twine and sticks from outside.
- blue food dye
- Rubbermaid storage bin
- glue gun
- sharpies
- roll of twine
- sticks/twigs
- scissors
11. Build the tallest tower possible using straws and tape.
12. Design a 1/2 pattern from glass gems on a snowflake cutout. Switch places with a classmate and make each other's patterns symmetrical.
- The Symmetry of Snowflakes (Book)
- glass gems
- circle template
13. Make a dominoes chain reaction that climbs books.
- dominoes
- books
14. Using scissors, tape, and construction paper, turn an empty cereal box into something else.
- scissors
- tape
- cereal box
- construction paper
15. Build a solar system from Legos.
16. Make symmetry cards using pipe cleaners.
17. Build a bedroom model with Legos.
18. Make a paper airplane from construction paper that can carry coins.
- construction paper
- tape
- coins
19. Use marshmallows and spaghetti to build 3D geometric shapes.
20. Make a family portrait out of Legos.
21. Make geometric shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks.
22. Build a structure with craft sticks and plastic cups using one wooden cube as the base.
23. Build the tallest structure possible using craft sticks and plastic cups.
24. Build a tower using paper plates and toilet paper rolls that will support the weight of a toy animal.
- empty toilet paper rolls
- paper plates
- plastic animal figurine
25. Make outlines of flowers on a geoboard.
26. Make a pom pom run on the wall from empty toilet paper polls.
- empty toilet paper rolls
- clear tape
- electrical tape
- pom poms
27. Make a bead bracelet with a repeating pattern.
28. Build a 3D rainbow from Legos.
29. Build an airplane from an egg crate.
30. Make an aluminum foil boat and see how many coins it can hold.
- aluminum foil
- coins
- scissors
28 Fun & Exciting First Grade STEM Challenges