30 Engaging STEM Activities for Kindergarten
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Boost your child’s critical-thinking and spark creativity and curiosity with these fun and interactive STEM activities.
Explore the world with young students using these interactive STEM activities for kindergarten. They encourage a sense of wonder and curiosity, while teaching basic science and math concepts. Plus, these STEM activities are so fun, they feel just like playing!
Did You Know? STEM is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that focuses on integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math through hands-on, problem-based learning. It aims to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students while preparing them for future careers in STEM fields.
Easy STEM Activities for Kindergarteners
1. Toothpick and Marshmallow 3D Shapes
Give your child mini marshmallows and a box of toothpicks, then ask them to create cubes, pyramids, oblong boxes, and more 3D shapes. You can also do more complex 2D shapes, like hexagons or octagons.
Expand Learning: Connect some of these shapes together to make more complex structures. For example, a cube with a pyramid on top looks like a simple house!
2. Weather Graphing
Track the weather each day, using a bar graph to note how many sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, or windy days you get each month. Compare these monthly charts side-by-side to see the big picture of weather patterns where you live.
Expand Learning: Track the daily high and low temperatures on a line graph (use a sheet of graph paper to make this easy). Look up past record highs and lows and see how your current temperatures compare.
Tip: If your child is ready to explore the concept of graphing even more, try using our free printable graphing worksheets.
3. Magnifying Glass Exploration
Equip your kindergartner with a magnifying glass and encourage them to examine all sorts of things in detail, ranging from the living room couch or an orange peel to the dirt and concrete outdoors. Ask them to describe what they see as they look at each item.
Expand Learning: Buy a small digital microscope that you can hook up to your smartphone and explore the microscopic world everywhere you go!
4. Simple Marble Run
Save empty cardboard tubes and glue small magnets to one side of each. Stick these to a magnetic surface like the fridge, linking them up to form a marble run from top to bottom. The endless combinations will keep your child busy for hours!
Expand Learning: Build two marble runs side-by-side, then test them to see which one is the fastest.
5. Tallest Tower Challenge
Use any type of building material you like for this kindergarten STEM activity: blocks, books, boxes, even stuffed animals! Challenge your child to build the tallest tower they can before it falls over.
Expand Learning: Limit the number of items your child can use for this challenge. For instance, what’s the tallest tower they can build using just ten books? This encourages creativity and problem-solving skills.
6. Bead Pattern Jewelry
Recognizing and matching patterns is a key STEM skill. String beads in specific patterns to create cool bracelets or necklaces. For example, you might do two red beads, four blue beads, and three green beads, repeated over and over again.
Expand Learning: Try a simple arithmetic progression when creating patterns, such as one purple bead, two green beads, three pink beads, four yellow beads, etc.
7. Five Senses Discovery
Discuss each of the five senses, then use them to examine an object in detail. An apple is an excellent item to start with, since kids can explore the texture of the skin, the color, the smell of the fruit, the sound of an apple being sliced, and finally the taste of the sweet treat.
Expand Learning: Place an item into a bag, then have your child reach in and see if they can use just their sense of touch to figure out what it is (no peeking!).
8. Living vs. Nonliving Sort
Create cards with pictures of living (animals, plants, people) and non-living (rocks, chairs, cars) items. Discuss what makes a living item different from a non-living one, then ask your child to sort the pictures by type.
Expand Learning: Break the living item cards into more specific categories, like birds, mammals, plants, etc. You can also sort them by categories like feathers, fur, or skin, or where they live (water or land), and so on.
9. Animal Tracks
Use toy animals to make tracks in playdough or the sandbox. Then, see if your child can identify which animal made the tracks. Talk about the differences in animal feet, such as paws vs. webbed feet vs. hooves.
Expand Learning: Ask your child why they think different animals have different kinds of feet. Consider the environment they live in, how they find food, what predators they have to evade, and other factors.
10. Bridge Building
Stack two piles of books of equal height and place them 10-12 inches apart from one another. Put a few small toy figurines on one side, then ask your child to imagine there’s a raging river separating the two stacks. How can they build a bridge to help the figurines get to the other side safely?
Expand Learning: Make the distance between the two stacks longer to increase the difficulty of this STEM activity.
11. Domino Chain Reaction
Once you teach kids how to set up dominos on end in rows, they’ll spend hours creating their own fun patterns and designs. Flicking the first domino to watch the chain reaction never gets old!
Expand Learning: Challenge your child to accomplish a small task with their chain reaction. Can they set up the dominos so that one hits a ball, which rolls to start off another domino chain? Watch videos of incredible domino chains, then try to recreate them at home.
STEM Experiments for Kindergarten
12. Ice Melt
Add an ice cube to each well of a muffin tin, then experiment by adding different items to see what helps it melt the fastest. Some items to try: salt, sugar, flour, pepper, cold water, warm water, and vinegar. Make predictions before you experiment, then check your results to find out if you were right.
Expand Learning: Try freezing different liquids (juice, milk, water, etc.), then set them out in a sunny spot to see if they all melt at the same rate.
13. Electric Balloons
This is one of those classic STEM activities for kindergartners: the hair-raising static electricity balloon! Simply rub an inflated balloon on someone’s hair (be sure their hair is at least an inch or two long to see real results). Then, hold the balloon above their head, and watch as static electricity attracts the hair to the balloon!
Expand Learning: Play around with different lengths of hair to see how much of a charge you need to work up in order to make even the longest hair “float” on air.
14. Dancing Raisins
Fill a clear glass with carbonated water or clear soda, then drop in some raisins one by one. Kids will be amazed when they start to “dance” in the water!
Expand Learning: Ask your child why they think the raisins rise and fall. Tell them to watch closely to see the bubbles form and pop on the surface of the raisins. Why doesn’t the same thing happen in plain water?
15. Taste Test
Line up some foods like chocolate kisses, goldfish crackers, sour gummy worms, and lemon juice. Taste each one and determine if it tastes sweet, salty, sour, or bitter.
Expand Learning: Each time you eat, ask your child to think about the different tastes they’re experiencing. How many types of basic tastes can they discern in each dish?
16. Orange Sink or Float
Fill a tall container with water and grab an orange. Ask your child if they think the orange will sink or float. Drop in the unpeeled orange, and see if they’re correct. Now, ask what they think will happen if you peel the orange first. Then, remove the peel and drop in the orange. What makes the peeled orange sink?
Expand Learning: Try this with other fruits and vegetables and record your results. What similarities and differences do you notice in their buoyancies?
17. Rain Cloud in a Jar
You’ll need a large jar, shaving cream, and food coloring, and a dropper for this kindergarten STEM activity. Fill the jar with water about ¾ of the way, then top it with shaving cream. Mix a few drops of food coloring into another glass of water, then use the dropper to squirt the colored water on top of the shaving cream “cloud.” In a few moments, the colored water will drip through, just like rain!
Expand Learning: Make some observations about rain with your child. Does it ever fall from a clear sky? What kinds of clouds mean it’s more likely to rain? What are some of the different types of rain (drizzle, downpour, mist, etc.)?
18. Breathing Plants
When trees “breathe,” they release water vapor into the air, a process known as transpiration. To see this in action, tie a clear plastic bag tightly around the end of a tree branch with big green leaves inside (do this on the living tree itself). Check back the next day, and you’ll find water inside the bag!
Expand Learning: Look at a diagram of a leaf to see the stomata, which are tiny holes that the tree opens to take in carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. Explore leaves up close to see the veins that carry the water from the roots to the leaf, where transpiration occurs.
Outdoor STEM Activities for Kindergarten
19. Nature Bingo
Create bingo cards with a picture of a nature item in each square. Then head out on a nature walk to see what you can find. Equip each player with a clipboard and pencil to mark off their discoveries. The first to get five in a row wins!
Expand Learning: Focus your bingo cards on a specific category of nature, like plants or birds. You can look for specific species, or just track down different colors, sizes, and other features.
20. Bird Watching Journal
Set up a bird feeder station in your yard, then watch for feathered visitors. Ask your child to draw pictures of each bird they see, then look them up in a bird guide or online to find out what type of bird it is.
Expand Learning: Experiment with different types of bird food (sunflower seeds, suet, mealworms, etc.) to see which types of birds are attracted to them. Keep track of your findings in your birding journal.
21. Bug Observation
Spend some time watching the insects in your yard or local park. Note how they fly or crawl, what plants they like, how they interact with each other, and what predators they have.
Expand Learning: Plant a butterfly garden in your yard, choosing plants to attract both butterflies and caterpillars. Visit a local native plant nursery for help selecting the right plants.
22. Shadow Tracing
Head outdoors on a sunny morning with some sidewalk chalk. Choose a point to stand on, then have your child trace your shadow with the chalk. Come back throughout the day to stand on the same point, tracing your shadow in different colors each time. At the end of the day, see what your child can observe about the changing shadows.
Expand Learning: Try changing the position of your bodies to make different shadow shapes. You can even bring other items into the mix, working to create a whole shadow picture!
23. Flower Identification
Take photos of wildflowers on your next nature walk or pick a bouquet (remember to be careful about protected species and touching unknown plants, since they could cause rashes or other reactions). When you return home, use a nature guide book or website to help you figure out what types of flowers you’ve found.
Expand Learning: Repeat this activity throughout the changing seasons, noticing the different wildflowers in bloom in your area from one month to the next.
24. Cloud Drawing
Take a notebook and pencil outside and study the clouds, drawing the various shapes that you see. Start a new page every few minutes as the clouds change. When you’re done, you’ll have a record of how the clouds moved through during your observation time.
Expand Learning: Try this STEM activity on several different days, when there are different types of clouds. Talk about the various types, and learn their names if you like.
25. Giant Bubbles
This is one of those STEM activities for kindergartners that requires a little effort to set up, but it’s so cool! You’ll need a kiddie pool, a hula hoop, and some dish soap. Fill the kiddie pool with water and dish soap to create a bubble solution (if you can add some glycerin from the drugstore, even better). Have your child stand in the pool, with the hula hoop in the water at their feet. Slowly pull up, creating a giant bubble with your kindergartner inside!
Expand Learning: Experiment with different ratios of dish soap, water, and glycerin to see which bubble solution gives the best results.
ABCmouse STEM Activities for Kindergarteners
26. Craft Stick Catapult
Use wood craft sticks, rubber bands, and a bottle cap to put together this simple DIY catapult. Your kindergartner will get a real kick out of launching cotton balls and small toys!
Expand Learning: What other ways can your child find to build a catapult? Can they make improvements on the design, or use different materials to get better results?
27. Leaf Prints
Gather leaves from various trees, then follow the instructions in our video to make leaf prints. What do you notice about the leaves? Are the edges smooth or serrated? Do they have multiple lobes, or just one? What patterns do the veins make? Find more detailed instruction creating leaf prints here.
Expand Learning: Use a nature guide or the internet to identify the types of leaves you find. Make flashcards with the leaf print on one side and the name written on the other, then practice learning to recognize the leaves on sight.
28. Optical illusion
This STEM activity will blow kindergartners’ minds! Use the instructions in the video to create two-sided sticks with an image on each side. Spin the stick rapidly, and watch as the two images seem to blend into one.
Expand Learning: This toy, known as a thaumatrope, dates all the way back to 1826. Learn more about its history, then brainstorm more two-sided images to try.
29. Silly Plant Hair
Growing seeds is a traditional learning experience with multiple benefits. The fun twist of growing grass seeds as “hair” makes this one of our favorite STEM activities for kindergartners. Check out our video to learn more.
Expand Learning: Grow different types of seeds to create different hairstyles! Mustard, alfalfa sprouts, and lettuce are all easy to raise and fast-growing too.
30. Salt Painting
This fun project combines art with science, teaching kids about concepts like capillary action and color mixing. Draw glue lines on your paper, then cover them with table salt. Shake off the excess and allow the glue to dry overnight. The next day, use watercolors or food coloring to drop colors onto the salt lines. The colors will spread and mix, creating a beautiful, sparkling result.
Expand Learning: Can you recreate this project with other substances, like sugar? What if you color the salt first, then add it to the glue? Form some hypotheses, then test them to find out what happens.
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