Low-Cost, High-Interest Elementary STEM Activities

For years, I enviously read articles and saw photos of schools with amazing elementary STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs. I dreamed of implementing something similar at my school but felt overwhelmed because I didn’t have the funds for equipment or the knowledge of where to start. 

After attending a workshop where an educator from another district shared her format for STEM stations and showed how you can begin with low-budget items, I was inspired. Finally I had a model that was easy to replicate and allowed me to start small and expand the program over time. For the first time, providing a hands-on STEM program for my students felt like an achievable goal.

When I first piloted STEM stations eight years ago, I had a very small budget. I’ve added more activities each year as I’ve gained funding for more materials and equipment. Adding one new element at a time has also allowed me to focus on the reasonable goal of building the program step-by-step rather than trying to learn everything all at once. Little by little I‘ve developed a set of high-interest, hands-on activities that keep kids motivated, engaged, and learning.

STEM activities are the perfect way for students to practice problem-solving, teamwork, growth mindset, and resilience. All of these skills are vital to student success in school, in their future workplace, and in life.

Expectations

When working with students, I emphasize that scientists don’t expect things to work perfectly on their first try. They know it will take many tries and creative problem-solving to succeed. Usually, when someone fails at something, we think it’s bad. But if we shift to a growth mindset, we learn that to fail just means it’s our “first attempt in learning.” By introducing this idea before we begin, we are setting the expectation that a growth mindset is essential to our task.

I tell students that adults collaborate all the time in their work, so if they’re working on a STEM activity and have tried several different approaches with no success, they should consider consulting with another scientist (a classmate) to get some new ideas.

Planning and classroom management

Before our first day of stations, we discuss the meaning of each letter of STEM and give examples of STEM jobs. We especially focus on engineering, since that’s the discipline that students are least likely to be familiar with. We discuss expectations, and I give them a preview of the different materials they will be working with during STEM stations and explain how these activities help them learn and grow.

If we have three stations, I divide the class into thirds and create a chart to plan out when each group will visit each station. I do stations once a week, and students eagerly look forward to STEM time.

For students in grades K through second, I plan simple tasks that I explain orally—for example, “At the Lego station, your challenge is to build ‘things that go.’ That could be a car, a rocket, a boat, or anything you can imagine that moves people from place to place.” I might invite students at the cup stacking station to design a fortress to protect a castle.

For students in grades 3–6, I include signage at each station with brief instructions. For example, at the 3D pen station the sign shows how to turn the pen on and off, tells them their project choices, and explains how to clean up at the end to prepare the station for the next group.

Starting out: low-cost activities

You can start out with whatever materials you have on hand. When I began, I used the following:

1. Legos. Print Challenge Cards or create your own challenge.
2. Cup stacking with disposable plastic cups. Students of all ages love to build walls and towers.
3. QuiverVision Augmented Reality (requires a mobile device like an iPad). You can print free coloring sheets from the QuiverVision website. After coloring the page, use the Quiver app on your mobile device, and your coloring page will seem to come to life. There are 10 coloring pages that work with the app for free (more are available with a subscription), including one on the life cycle of a butterfly.

Any building materials you have will work: wooden blocks, KEVA planks, magnetic tiles, even recyclables like boxes, cardboard tubes, and plastic containers. Sometimes I give students a literature-based challenge, like “Build a trap that could catch the gingerbread man” or “Build a house for the three little pigs that the big bad wolf can’t blow down.”

The following are my favorite free, online STEM activities that work with technology like Chromebooks or tablets and don’t require signing in to accounts.

• Chrome Music Lab: Work with music, sound, or pitch, or compose a song.
• Bee-Bot: Introduction to computer coding using directional arrows.
• Ozoblockly: Beginning-level block coding.

Adding More Materials

I was able to write grants and use school funding to slowly build my collection of materials. I would purchase one or two items, let students try them and give feedback, and use what I learned to guide future purchases.

This is a list of my favorite STEM materials that I feel give the best bang for your buck in terms of being high-quality, durable, and engaging, as well as providing free access to detailed instructions, lessons, and activities.

• Snap Circuits: One kit allows students to build 70 different projects.
• 3Doodler Start+ 3D Pen: This pen operates at a lower temperature than other models, so it is safe and doesn’t cause burns.
• Evo robots by Ozobot: These are excellent for teaching coding. Young students can start simply by coding using paper and markers, then graduate to using software and block coding.
• Sphero Mini robots: Students love the Sphero Play app, which features a variety of games. They can also be programmed through block coding using Sphero Edu. (A computer or tablet is required.)
• Osmo: Osmo provides a wealth of games for young learners, some of which require manipulatives you purchase. We love Monster (storytelling and drawing game), Newton (physics), and Tangram (geometry, spatial skills). (A mobile device like an iPad is required.)

My elementary students eagerly anticipate our hands-on STEM activities—and I do, too. It takes time to plan and set up the stations initially, but once I teach the procedures, it’s quick and easy to implement the activity each week.

There are lots of opportunities to bring in discussion of STEM careers and tie the principles they’re practicing during STEM stations to other situations, resulting in a wide application of skills—overall, STEM stations are an effective way to provide highly engaging, hands-on learning experiences that students love.