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Back to school ice breakers, team building games

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Back to school ice breakers, team building games

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This question comes up at the start of every school year: What is a good STEM book to read on the first day of school? There are SO many wonderful options that I hope this list helps you find the perfect one(s) for you and your class! (Disclaimer: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support our work in bringing you downloads of value and information about educational resources. The link below is an Amazon affiliate link. You can read our full disclosure here.)

STEM Read Aloud Books to Encourage Teamwork and Growth Mindset

There are so many fantastic STEM read alouds! If you have one that wasn't mentioned please comment and I'll try to add it. With so many options, I know one of these will be just right for your students!

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

This is one of my most favorite read alouds for STEM. A girl struggles to bring an idea to fruition. Trial and failure are at the forefront of this beautifully illustrated story. STEM projects almost never work right the first time, or look how students imagined. This is a great way to set the tone that failure is expected and perseverance can pay off!

What I really love about this story is that it shows the iterative portion of the engineering design process. The girl needs to keep improving upon her ideas to get her magnificent thing. Such an important lesson!

STEM activity idea: Give students a piece of paper and ask what they can make with it. When they have finished, give them a second one and ask if they can improve upon their initial idea.

Recommended for any age.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Your younger students in particular will appreciate this rhyming story and the colorful and bright illustrations that accompany this read aloud, once again featuring the importance of failure.

You can even feature Rosie Revere, Engineer read from space at Story Time from Space read by astronaut Kate Rubins.

STEM exploration: Find something in your classroom that was designed by an engineer or engineers. Talk about what design features it has, how it works, what materials it's made of, and how it was possibly manufactured (check out the How It's Made TV series for some short video clips on how things are made.)

Recommended for K-3.

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Gary Rubinstein and Mark Pett

As I gathered this list I did notice a running theme - young girls who struggle with failure. About half of the stories on this list feature little girls who like to tinker and fail. This one is not STEM-focused but is so, so important particularly for all of the perfectionists in your class. I can't stress enough how important it is to show failure, over and over again, and how it can be celebrated. It can be used as a way to pivot towards success, simply as a way to learn and grow, or how to laugh and even enjoy our mistakes (as Beatrice does in the book)!

Recommended for up to grade 3.

If I Built a School by Chris van Dusen

Chris van Dusen has a number of "If I Built" books that are all worth checking out! Another book with fabulous rhyme and rhythm, this book will inspire imaginations.

STEM activity idea: Have students design and create a prototype of their dream school, or find this Storybook STEM resource from Teach Outside the Box:

Recommended for K-3.

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

Steve Breen's illustrations in this book will appeal to your younger and older kids! Violet is a quirky, nerdy, kid with aspirations of flying. Not only will this story make your students laugh, it will inspire them to tinker and look at junk in a new way. This story will really speak to your students who don't feel like they fit in.

STEM activity ideas: Design and create paper airplanes to fly and race, or find a number of STEM activities for Violet the Pilot here:

Recommended for K-5.

Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin

This hilarious and fun STEM read aloud features clever squirrels who constantly outwit the lead character and eat the bird seed from the bird feeders. It also shows the squirrels coming up with detailed design plans and working together to outfox the man and get the bird seed for themselves.

STEM activity idea: Design a squirrel-proof bird feeder. Or find these Bookshelf STEM ideas:

Recommended for K-5.

Ticktock Banneker's Clock by Shana Keller

This one is particularly suited to upper elementary students and tells the historical story of Benjamin Banneker's drive to create a strike clock based on a pocket watch. The story goes in depth showing how sometimes you need to take a lot of time and patience in order to accomplish a bit task.

STEM activity idea: Create a scale drawing of your classro om! Kerry Tracy from Feel-Good Teaching has a STEM resource for this read aloud:

You can also find historical background, teacher guides, and the author's read aloud at the Shana Keller's website.

Recommended for grades 3 and up.

Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse by Torben Kuhlmann

While this is another story about a character obsessed with flying, this time the character is a mouse. Oh, my, the illustrations in this story are all frame-worthy, but the story of perseverance is just as good. I have fallen in love with all of Torben Kuhlmann's books and highly recommend them.

Recommended for grades 2 and up.

After the Fall by Dan Santat

Yes, this is another book about failure, accidents, fears, and most of all, growth mindset! Humpty Dumpty is terrified of climbing the wall since his fall. This story is relatable and perfect for your students who need a little extra encouragement when things aren't going their way.

STEM activity idea: Design and create a paper airplane.

STEM activity idea: Brooke Brown from Teach Outside the Box has a Storybook STEM resource for this read aloud:

Recommended for K-5.

What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

This book isn't specifically STEM, but it's just so wonderful and applicable for any teacher as a first day book. It's a story about wonder, bravery, and how good things can come from taking chances.

STEM activity ideas: Try these Bookshelf STEM activities:

Recommended for any age.

Izzy Gizmo by Pip Jones

This story is fairly similar in theme to The Most Magnificent Thing and Rosie Revere, Engineer . However, the story is unique and the illustrations show so much expression in Izzy's face! This is another lovely rhyming story about not giving up. You'll definitely want to read it to your students.

Recommended for K-4.

Teammates by Peter Golenbock

This story came as a recommendation as part of Elementary STEM Club and I'm so excited to share it here! One of the best ways to start off your school year is by doing team-building. This book goes hand-in-hand with team building and is so important from a historical perspective. The story talks about segregation, including segregation in baseball and discrepancies in pay and playing conditions. It also talks about how Jackie Robinson felt as an outsider, being the only black player and being avoided, ridiculed, and threatened.

While this read aloud isn't STEM-centric, it is so important to set the stage in STEM for including ALL your students, regardless of race, gender, or ability. It shows how important it is to be kind and accepting. Themes like teamwork and inclusivity are so crucial to STEM that I hope you will check this book out!

Recommended for grades 3 and up.

What to Do with a Box by Jane Yolen

This one is just right for your littlest makers! A box can be anything you set your mind to. Perfect to spark the imagination or provide a little bit of escape, this will surely be one of your favorite ways to start off your STEM year with your tiny engineers. There are several "box" STEM read alouds and I like all of them ( Boxitects and A Box Can Be Many Things are two others).

STEM activity: Provide boxes for your students and let their imaginations run wild! If you can plan ahead and ask for large boxes from things like appliances, school supplies, etc., you will see some amazing creations. Otherwise, have parents save cereal boxes! The thin cardboard is very easy to work with, especially for little hands.

Recommended for up through first grade.

Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland

Do you love woodland animals? You're going to ADORE this read aloud from Nicholas Oldland. This is another one about teamwork and how you need to work together sometimes to get things done!

STEM activity for teamwork: Students work together to build a tower with blocks, using only one hand each.

Recommended for up to grade 2.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

"Just make a mark and see where it takes you." This statement sums up what I just adore about this read aloud! Sometimes the hardest part of STEM is simply getting started. It also shows how believing in others (or when others believe in you) can make such a difference.

STEM activity idea: Free downloadable resources for Dot Day from Meredith Anderson:

Recommended for up to grade 4.

Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro

One of the things I love in this book is that Maxine is shown using a device like Makey Makey! Maxine is a tinkerer and goldfish owner extraordinaire who loves to repurpose old things into new. If your students like to talk about their pets, they will really love this read aloud!

STEM activity ideas: Try Makey Makey (below) or use these Bookshelf STEM activities:

Recommended for up to grade 5.

Get Makey Makey:

Pin these ideas to save them for later:

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STEM Read Aloud Books for the First Day of School - STEM Activities for Kids

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This question comes up at the start of every school year: What is a good STEM book to read on the first day of school? There are SO many wonderful options that I hope this list helps you find the perfect one(s) for you and your class!

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With back to school just around the corner, it's time to get kids excited about school and learning once again. At Lifestyle Learning™ we love using STEM activities to get kids back in learning mode after a long, lazy summer.

STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for your child. Making science, technology, engineering, and math both fun and interesting helps your child to do much more than just learn. Exposing kids to STEM at home allows them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts.

What's fun about these particular STEM projects is that kids will love trying out these back to school STEM activities at home as a bridge between summer break and fall learning. Most of these projects are designed for elementary-aged kids, but you can modify many of these to also work in a kindergarten or preschool classroom.
#1 - The Pencil Catapult
The #2 pencil is a classic school supply and the perfect instrument to create a pencil catapult! There are so many great learning opportunities that a catapult can bring to the table from engineering design to math to science and more. What you launch is up to you!

Check out our friends over at Little Bins Little Hands for detailed instruction with diagrams.
Supplies: #2 - The Apple Volcano
The apple volcano is a fun way to kick off a new school year. This basic science experiment uses apples and just a few household materials to help get your kids interested in science. Our friends over at Sylvan Learning provide all the instructions, including photos to help you kick-off this STEM project.

Supplies:

Hydrogen peroxide

Liquid Soap

Food Coloring

Yeast Packet

1-3 apples

Knife

Tray or baking dish

Measuring cups

#3 - M&M School Bus Math
We love this project from Toddler Approved. It's a great activity to get your kids interested in math. Not a fan of M&Ms? You can easily use cereal or another healthy treat as a substitute.

Supplies:

M&Ms (or other counters)

School bus template

Contact paper to laminate the bus template

Dice

Whiteboard marker

#4 - Fizzing Rainbow
This STEM activity from steamsational.com is perfect kindergarteners - it's easy and fun! Vinegar, baking soda and food coloring come together for a colorful fizzy reaction. With this STEM activity for kindergarteners, the exploration and discovery are all open-ended, giving them the chance to see how things work together without the confines of a strict academic environment.

Supplies:

#5 - Inventor Box

If your child is already familiar with and enjoys STEM activities, then encourage him or her to tinker and invent by creating an Inventor's Box. It's an easy way to bring more STEM activities into your everyday play. The best thing about this inventor's box is it gives your child the opportunity to understand how to use the materials to solve problems. Check out this simple and earth-friendly robot project from Modern Parents Messy Kids using an inventor's box.

Supplies (for the box)

Small boxes

Oatmeal containers

Plastic lids

Egg cartons

Toilet paper tubes

Paper towel tubes

Empty spools of thread

Supplies (for attaching parts)

Creating fun and engaging back-to-school STEM activities for your kids is easier than you think. Make sure to check back for more tips from Lifestyle Learning™

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5 Amazingly Fun STEM Activities for Back to School

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With back to school just around the corner, it's time to get kids excited about school and learning once again. At Lifestyle Learning™ we love using STEM activities to get kids back in learning mode after a long, lazy summer. STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for your...

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Did you know that STEM activities are a great way to build classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year?

Unfortunately, STEM challenges can tend to be used as a classroom competition where students and groups are competing against each other. While classroom competitions can be fun, the goal of STEM should be to encourage a growth mindset in students.

How do we accomplish this?

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Building Teamwork at the Beginning of the Year with STEM - Carly and Adam

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Did you know that STEM activities are a great way to build classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year? Unfortunately, STEM challenges can tend to be used as a classroom competition where students and groups are competing against each other. While classroom comp

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Get into that creative mindset with your child as they head back to school with these 20 Back to School STEM activities for kids. Explore hands on fun with science, technology, engineering and math to start off a new school year.

STEM fun for the first day of school!

Back to School STEM Activities

These Back to School STEM Activities are themed with school supplies like pencils, crayons and more traditional themes like buses and apples for a warm welcome in to the school year.

As you kick of the school year start off by building your own DIY Dollar Store STEM kit. Here are some tips for storing STEM activities in a DIY STEM lab.

Plus for back to school fill your bookshelf with these popular STEM books for kids! We'd want to encourage you to make time for STEM activities the rest of the school year with our 50 Stem Activities for Kids!

STEM Activities with Pencils

Pencils are a classic icon for Back to School so we put together a collection of five STEM Activities with Pencils to do with your child.

Can you build a tower with pencils? How tall can your pencil tower go?

Create a pencil catapult! With just a few supplies you'll be launching tons of back to school fun.

Get ready to build a bridge with pencils! Try your hands at a pencil Da vinci Bridge.

The magic breaking pencil activity is a fun way to demonstrate how light waves work with kids

Explore the chemistry of polymers by making your very own leakproof bag experiment. Who would have ever thought that a plastic bag, some water, and a few pencils would be so much fun!

STEM Activities with Apples

Apples are the classic first day of school item, so why not have a little STEM fun with apples? Here are five quick and easy STEM Activity with Apples.

Can you pick your apples from the apple tree with the help of a few magnetic tubes? Take this Back to school STEM challenge with our apple STEM activity .

How high can you stack your apples? Try out this apple stacking STEM Game!

Make back to school snack time a STEM challenge too with this fun and easy apple toothpick STEM challenge

Pull out the containers for this easy apple science experiment and discover how different liquids affect apples.

Create an explosive apple volcano with just a few supplies in your cabinet.

STEM Activities with Crayons

A fresh new box of crayons is a sign of a new school year. It also means there might be a few broken crayons looking to become a STEM activity for back to school. These five STEM activities with crayons explores all sorts of ways that properties of matter can change.

How many crayons can you count? This sensory bottle math game with crayons is tons of hands on fun!

Will it sink or float. Try this crayon sensory bottle science experiment!

Explore how crayons can change with heat with this beautiful melted crayon stain glass art project.

Back to school time you tend to clean out the boxes and find old broken crayons, this hot rock melted crayon art is perfect for those crayons to find new life and explore how properties can change with heat.

Can you make a rainbow crayon? Discover the melting point of crayons, does the color matter?

Bus Themed STEM Activities

For little ones, the school bus is one of the things they are super excited about, even if they walk to school. Take advantage of this interest and see how much fun they'll have with these five bus themed STEM Activities.

Can you make the wheels on the bus move? This wheels on the bus STEM Activity is perfect as we head back to school!

Work on numbers as you head back to school with this delicious school bus math game.

Build your own school bus photo frame with popsicle sticks for a back to school keepsake.

Create your own school bus with watercolors to work on math facts for the school year!

Sometimes it's all about simplicity and the challenge of building your own version of a bus with a fun challenge inside like this. school bus sensory bottle.

STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for your child. Making math and science both fun and interesting helps your child to do much more than just learn.

STEM is in every part of our lives. Science is everywhere in the world around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives. Engineering is the basic designs of bridges and building. Mathematics is in every profession and family, every activity we do in our lives.

By exposing students to STEM at home and school and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, our hope is that they will develop a passion for it and in their future express their interest in a STEM related job.

We're excited that you can inspire your child to kick off their first day of school with tons of Back to school STEM Activities!
Which one will you start with as your first STEM Challenge for Back to School?

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Get into that creative mindset with your child as they head back to school with these 20 Back to School STEM activities for kids. Explore hands on fun with science, technology, engineering and math to start off a new school year. STEM fun for the first day of school!

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It's back to school time again, and what better way to get off to a great start than with some back to school STEM challenges? (Trick question - there is no better way!) Let's welcome our guest writer, Kerry Tracy! She has been creating STEM Challenges for years, and today is going to share some of her favorites for back-to-school!

Top 5 Reasons to Do Back to School STEM Challenges:

5. Gives you a chance to review routines & procedures for group work and handling materials.

... there are more reasons, of course, but I already sort of cheated by having four reasons in #2!

Hopefully, you're now convinced, but you might still be feeling a little trepidation about it if you've not yet started drinking the STEM-flavored Kool-Aid! At the end of this post, I'll link a freebie (Getting Started with STEM Challenges) that includes links to a five-part video series that will give you the background you need to feel confident implementing challenges in your classroom!

I always create with grades 2 - 8 in mind (those are the grades I taught); it's easy to modify the building criteria & constraints to differentiate for different ages, abilities, and standards. And since you're taking the time to do these challenges, you may as well incorporate some related standards-based lessons across your subject areas, then come back and do a second iteration to apply the learning!
You'll notice the materials are largely the same for each challenge - that is by design to make it simple to shop and take even more advantage of summer sales!

Premise:
Using apples and school supplies, students build the tallest tower possible with an the apple perched at the top.
Materials:

But is it awesome?
Of course! This is the perfect challenge to start with because tower-building is a classic. It's easy to understand exactly what to do, and everyone has some background - I've never met anyone who never tried to build a tower!
Notes:
You'll likely want to use smaller apples for this one, and don't forget to follow it up with some measurement lessons: standard and non-standard units, metric conversions, etc.

BTS STEM Challenge 2: Apples Afar

Premise:
Using apples and school supplies, students build a cantilever (a structure that's supported on just one end). If you have very young students, maybe that's all you do. To increase the difficulty, have them support a small apple on the end jutting out!
Materials:
But is it awesome?
Why, yes, thanks so much for asking. You're going to get to know a lot about the way your kids think and problem-solve here because it can be a tough one, and it's a fabulous opportunity to practice that growth mindset!

You'll want to follow this one up with lessons on physical science standards in forces & interactions. Newton's Laws of Motion are a natural fit!

BTS STEM Challenge 3: Apple Annihilator

Using apples and school supplies, students build an apple wrecking ball to to "annihilate" markers and/or test for accuracy.

Do you even have to ask? Students love this one, and if you're planning on doing Apples Aloft, why not pair these up and put the Annihilators to a test greater than markers!
Notes:
You'll need to be able to stand up the markers, so broad highlighters or Crayola markers work well for this. Again, smaller apples are recommended. Don't forget to follow up with lessons on forces & interactions.
Prefer a video description? Click here on/after August 4, 2016

Premise:
Using apples and school supplies, students create an apple-catcher to protect the fruit from hitting the ground.

Yes, but the drop test is tough! Don't let that scare you off. It's so satisfying when you get it to work, and since there are leveled ways to measure success, you'll be able to choose the one that's right for your kids: For young students, have them simply place the apples in the catcher to see if it will hold. To increase difficulty, drop the apples from ever-increasing heights - one inch at a time - to see how high the apples can be dropped from and still be caught, or keep the height consistent and test success rate out of four drops.

Have groups team up for testing, so they are sure to test different zones of the design and exploit potential design flaws. Schedule a little extra time for this one, and don't forget to follow up with lessons about Isaac Newton and gravity!
Prefer a video description? Click here on/after August 11, 2016

Using apples and school supplies, students create an apple carrier that can be worn on their heads and used to compete in an Apples A-head Relay Race. Premise:

Materials:

You'll want each student to create his/her own headwear. The last thing you want to start out your year with is a But is it awesome?
This one is so much fun! This STEM challenge incorporates PE and strategy, and just a little extra teamwork to get the job done! Plus, you can throw some obstacles into the relay race for a little extra fun.

lice outbreak! Follow this one up with lessons on gravity and Isaac Newton. Throw in some related math problems for fun!
Prefer a video description? Click here on/after August 18, 2016

One Last Note:

Even if you don't teach standards on forces & interactions, these challenges fall into NGSS standards in Engineering for grades 2 - 8, and when you actively look for connections, you'll find them everywhere!

Gotta Have More?

If you're ready to get started with back to school STEM challenges, want to brush up, or just have an editable parent-request letter for materials donations, grab this freebie below!

If you want to see more details about these back to school STEM challenges, they are available for purchase with supplementary materials here:
Kerry was a teacher for 10 years in grades 2 - 7 and holds a Master's degree in Design-Based Learning. Her teaching "loves" are science and writing. You can find more on her blog, in her TpT store, and on her YouTube channel.

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5 Back to School STEM Challenges for Grades 2-8

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It's back to school time again, and what better way to get off to a great start than with some back to school STEM challenges? (Trick question - there is no better way!) Let's welcome our guest writer, Kerry Tracy! She has been creating STEM Challenges for years, and today is going to share some of her favorites for back-to-school!