Predator vs. Prey: The Food Chain Game

Animals and food chains are popular topics for children to learn during science class. There are many books and crafts available about food chains that make children excited about what they're learning. This post is about The Food Chain Game which children can play outdoors during science, STEM, and even recess. Keep reading to learn more!

Phases of the Moon STEM Activity + FREE Printable

Students in second and third grade are often introduced to the basics of astronomy in science class. They learn about how Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours causing night and day and how a year is measured by its revolution around the sun. They learn about how the moon revolves around Earth every 29.5 days and its effect on the tides. And, they learn how sunlight reflecting off the moon's surface and Earth's shadow interact to cause the phases of the moon that we see at night. The STEM minilesson below can be used to enrich your science and STEM lessons and activities about the moon. Keep reading to learn more!

Can You Grow Pine Trees From Seeds? STEM Activity

I remember when I was a little girl, I loved going outside and collecting pinecones. Some pinecones I'd paint and decorate with glitter. Others I'd smother with peanut butter and birdseed and give to the squirrels. And, others I'd keep in a basket on my front porch just because they were pretty and I liked how they smelled. It wasn't until I was older that I learned how important pinecones are to a tree's life cycle. 

This is a simple STEM activity that you can use during your science lessons about trees, tree life cycles, habitats, and the environment. It can also be used as an Earth Day activity. Keep reading to learn more!

    

12 Easy to Grow Flowers for Your Classroom

Spring is coming and now is a good time to plan your upcoming plant and plant life cycle units. Many teachers integrate planting seeds into their science units at this time of year, then use the newly sprouted seedlings as gifts for Mother's Day. Listed below are some photos and basic information about 12 easy-to-grow flowers that'd be perfect for your indoor gardening activities. Enjoy!

How to Make Jello Outside in the Snow

Children in elementary school start learning about the states of matter, the properties of matter, and how matter changes when heat is added or removed from it. Making this tasty jello snack with your students is a fun way to integrate simple cooking skills into your science and STEM lessons about matter. Keep reading to find out how!

Do Squirrels Eat Pumpkins?

Have you ever looked out of your window to watch the squirrels gather food for the winter? Have you ever wondered what they like to eat? Squirrels aren't picky and will eat almost anything. We know they like to eat acorns, pecans, berries, apples, vegetables from the garden, and seeds just to name a few. Sometimes squirrels will eat food meant for other animals such as birdseed, cat food, and even dog food. But... do squirrels like to eat pumpkins? Check out this science and STEM experiment we conducted to try and answer this question.

The Big Marshmallow Tower STEM Challenge

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to go into a local private school and work with some pretty amazing kids. I spent most of the afternoon with a class of fourth and fifth-grade girls and a class of eighth-grade boys. Both classes had fun putting their geometry and engineering skills to the test. Their mission-- to build structurally sound towers out of nothing but marshmallows and spaghetti noodles!

Minecraft Math: Star Ways Day Pixel Art

Star Wars Day is here again and it’s a terrific time to integrate Star Wars activities into your STEM and other technology lessons. Many teachers think of science experiments when it comes to STEM, however, STEM is not just about science. It includes the integration of math and technology as well.

Today's post is about a pixel art STEM activity that integrates students’ love for Minecraft with their love for Star Wars. It can be a challenging activity and can take anywhere from several hours to several days to complete. There is a potential for students to get frustrated with this activity, so I recommend this activity for students in the middle elementary grades and above.

20+ Spring STEM Experiments and Activities

Spring is a terrific time to conduct STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) experiments and activities in your classroom. Plant life cycles, types of weather, and the water cycle are popular STEM themes during this time of year. The STEM experiments and activities featured in this round-up were created by moms and teachers from all over the internet. If you see an activity in this post that you'd like to try, click on its link and head to its original website for material lists, directions, photos, etc. There are lots of spring activities in this post, so let's dive right in!

What Happens If You Don't Brush Your Teeth?

Several months ago I wrote a blog post about a children's book called Dragon's Breath by Michael Gordon. In Dragon's Breath, there is a dragon named Joe who refuses to brush his teeth because he thinks dragons aren't supposed to brush them. By the end of the story, Joe finally brushes his teeth... but what would have happened if he didn't? What would have happened to his teeth? This fun science - STEM experiment shows what happens when dragons... and children... choose not to brush them. Keep reading... the results are gross!

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

How to Use Skittles to Explore Primary Colors and Secondary Colors

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about the different ways you can use Skittles to teach some basic math skills such as counting, sorting, and graphing. Did you know you can use Skittles to teach some basic art concepts too? Skittles can be used to teach children about primary colors and how to combine them to make secondary colors. Keep reading to learn how!

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Snowflake Bentley is a children's biography about Wilson Bentley... the man who discovered that no two snowflakes are alike. Author Jacqueline Briggs Martin wrote Snowflake Bentley in 1998 and the book has been in constant publication since then. In 1999, illustrator Mary Azarian won the Caldecott Award for her illustrations in the book. Who is Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley? Why is the book about him so popular? Keep reading to learn more about Snowflake Bentley and how to integrate it into your language arts and STEM activities!

Minecraft Math: Thanksgiving Pixel Art

I love Minecraft pixel art. Back in September, I wrote a blog post about the advantages of having children create pixel art while playing Minecraft, described how creating pixel art can strengthen their math skills, and shared directions for making three Halloween pumpkin designs. In today's post, I'm sharing the directions you need to make this Thanksgiving turkey pixel art in Minecraft. Keep reading for details!

A Dinosaur Made Me Spill: A Water Cycle Adventure by Carla Mae Jansen

The water cycle is one of my favorite science units to teach to my second and third graders. There are lots of fun STEM experiments and children's books to make learning about the water cycle exciting. Carla Mae Jansen is in the process of publishing her new children's book about the water cycle... A Dinosaur Made Me Spill... that would be a fun addition to the unit. Its release is planned for this upcoming summer (2022). In today's guest post, author Carla Mae Jansen writes about A Dinosaur Made Me Spill, how she came up with the idea for the book, and how you can preorder it on Kickstarter. Keep reading to learn more!

This is a guest post written by Carla Mae Jansen, author of A Dinosaur Made Me Spill. To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page. Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

  

Planet Power! Types of Renewable Energy

By the time children reach third and fourth grade, they traditionally start learning about different types of energy. Some of the ones they learn about are:

🍎 kinetic energy

🍎 potential energy

🍎 light energy

🍎 sound energy

🍎 heat energy

🍎 thermal energy

🍎 electrical energy

🍎 mechanical energy

However... times are changing and more and more schools and homeschool families are introducing types of renewable energy. What is renewable energy? How many different types of renewable energy are there? How can renewable energy help us? Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions and more!

The inspiration for this blog post came from the children's book Planet Power by Stacy P. Clark. Planet Power is a nonfiction children's book about six types of renewable energy... hydropower, solar power, wind power, tidal power, geothermal power, and wave power.

 

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post. 

Simple Activities for Toddlers: A Practical Play-At-Home Handbook for Parents by Lisa Forsythe

Back in March, I wrote a blog post about Crackle and Pop! Bible Science Experiments by Hanna Holwerda. Crackle and Pop! is a fun collection of STEM and science activities that parents and teachers could use with their students. In today's guest post, author Lisa Forsythe tells us about her new book Simple Activities for Toddlers. Simple Activities for Toddlers is another fun collection of activities parents and teachers need to know about. It is packed full of crafts, games, STEM activities, and other fun ideas. Keep reading to learn about Simple Activities for Toddlers and how it can be a tremendous resource for parents... and teachers... of our littlest learners!

This is a guest post written by Lisa Forsythe, author of Simple Activities for Toddlers. To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page. Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow by Najla Ahmad

When I was a child, I loved listening to the original Over in the Meadow poem. My kindergarten teacher had a felt storyboard set for the poem and I remember feeling giddy whenever she brought it out. In today's guest post, Najla Ahmad talks about her children's book Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow... a fun, multicultural twist of that old poem. In Najla Ahmad's version of Over in the Meadow, children learn fun facts about animals and a little bit of Urdu... the national language of Pakistan and 22 states in India. Keep reading to learn more!

This is a guest post by Najla Ahmad that first appeared on my blog in 2016.

To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Minecraft Math Halloween Pixel Art

Anybody who knows me will be able to tell you about my love for the game Minecraft. In a previous post, I wrote about how you can use Minecraft to teach finding the area of an object in math. With Halloween right around the corner, I’d like to share another fun STEAM activity with you in today's post… how to use math and technology skills to create Halloween pictures in Minecraft. In the Minecraft community, these types of pictures are called pixel art. But in the classroom, teachers often refer to them as graph art.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Minecraft Math Find the Area

With Minecraft being the rage among children... and adults... of all ages, teachers are wondering how they can tap into the excitement and use Minecraft as a teaching tool. Believe it or not, Minecraft can be used to teach math skills such as finding the area, volume, and perimeter of shapes. 

For the purpose of this blog post, I’m not going to teach you how to play Minecraft. There are many resources online and books you can read to learn how to play it. Rather, I’m going to show you how to use Minecraft to introduce finding the area to your young students.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Top Five Science Materials in Your Junk Drawer

Once upon a time many moons ago, I posted an article called The Top 5 Science Materials to Keep in Your Kitchen. Science materials don't need to be high-tech or expensive. Check out these top five science materials you probably have in your junk drawer right now.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.