Are  you looking for STEM enrichment activities for kids age 3 – 8? This site is packed with fun, easy, play-tested projects that work well for preschool and early elementary kids, whether you’re a parent of one or a teacher of many.

My core content is my set of full lesson plans, available for 50+ themes. Such as Dinosaurs, Construction, Shadows, Simple Machines, and Space Travel. For each theme, lessons include: art projects, crafts, science experiments, games, building projects, recommended songs, books, sensory play, snacks, free printable worksheets and more. Check them out!

For quick bite-sized lessons, check out my Fifteen Minute Focus series.

More fun stuff:

• Theory articles on teaching STEM: Science Process Skills, Teaching Math Skills, Parent Role in a Parent-Child Class, Class Structure, Music and STEM Learning
• Be sure to check out my resource page for Recommended Books, Blogs, Websites, Apps, Videos and Podcasts.
• Cool Tools to Build for the Classroom: Wind Tube, Scarf Cannon / Ball Levitator, DIY Ball Wall.
• science fair projects and reviews of science museums across the country
• Additional posts on STEM topics and on nature education on my blog More Good Days with Kids.

How we play-tested these activities:

For over ten years, I have taught STE(A)M enrichment classes called Family Inventors’ Lab, and Discovery Science Lab which focus on hands-on learning and exploration of science, engineering, and nature. They are multi-age, parent-child classes for preschool to elementary age kids, from 3 – 8 years old. The focus is on tinkering: making things, testing them, re-building them, testing again, and learning in the process. Check out our video overview of some of our favorite preschool STEM projects.

Most of our projects use only free or low cost materials, most of which people already have. Our goal is to encourage families to “try this at home” and make  experimenting a part of their daily lives. We do use a few special STEM toys.

We have a new theme for each week. Every theme post contains enough easy activity ideas for 15 stations and two “group times”. If you’re a homeschooling parent or a preschool that meets multiple times a week, you might do a few theme activities each day throughout a one-week curriculum unit on the theme. If you’re planning a science themed birthday party, you might choose simple activities from a variety of themes. (Some of the best party themes would be: Robots, Dinosaurs, and Build a House.) Many of these themes would also work for a DIY Summer Camp or Vacation Bible School curriculum.

Sources:

Inspiration for the activities comes from many places, including blogs and websites (I include links to sources, and I’ve pinned lots of my favorite ideas on Pinterest at pinterest.com/InventorsOfTomorrow/), children’s museums and science museums that we visit, and books such as Tinkerlab, The Curious Kid’s Science Book, the Growing Up Wild Activity Book, and more (check out my book reviews) and the clever minds of my co-teachers, Cymbric, Angela, Monisha, and Peter. I include Amazon Affiliate links, in case you want to learn more about products or books that I refer to. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) However, rather than buying lots of products, I recommend you get your books from your local library, and use items out of the recycling bin or re-useable goods from thrift shops as much as possible!

Copyright note:

Whether you’re a parent, or a teacher, anywhere in the world, you are welcome to use any idea that I share in the Inventors of Tomorrow series, free of charge, even including the full lesson plans. I want all kids to have access to the joy of fun, hands-on STEM learning.

Learn more about me – www.JanelleDurham.com