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Need to know the distance between 2 places? Use this interactive website

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Traveler - Premium template for travel companies

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STEAM resources and free resources and games

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STEM Activities for Kids - Home - STEM Activities for Kids

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GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.

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Science, Math, and Reading....website full of activities, projects, lessons, quizzes, everything.

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Optical Illusion Pictures for Kids - Free Pics, Images, 3D Magic, Cool Face Illusions

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Enjoy our great range of optical illusion pictures for kids. Illusions are fun to look at and interesting to learn about as well. Some of these illusions will leave you amazed, wondering how they work, what the science behind them is and why your brain tells you that you're seeing something that your eyes actually aren't.

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Environment & Health

Learn more about what scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences are doing to make sure you have a healthy environment to grow up in.&nbsp;

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Waste, and how we handle it, affects everything around us - air, water, land, plants, and animals. Do you Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle?

Pollution

We all have a role to play in keeping our environment clean. Pollution happens when things get dirtied by chemicals or other harmful substances. &nbsp;Keeping our environment clean, will help keep us all healthy.

Scientists get to solve puzzles every day, because science and research involve finding solutions from the clues that we are given.

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A resource for kids, parents, and teachers to find fun and educational materials related to health, science, and the environment we live in today.

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My children are in love with doing STEM activities (science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) these days! One moment you may find my daughter making magic potions in the bathtub, while another minute she is begging me to help her with her Magic School Bus Engineering Lab Kit.

I like to support my children in all of their efforts, especially when it comes to science and engineering. Therefore, these 25 STEM Activties for Homeschoolers are sure to keep your little scientist engaged, learning and well-prepared for the 21st century. Not only are these 25 easy STEM activities great for homeschoolers, but they are also useful for classroom science experiments and after school science clubs.

Happy STEM-inventing!

Jilleen

Simple Science: How to Make a Volcano with Kids - Happy Brown House

Can You Build the Fastest Wind Powered Car? - Handmade Kids Art

STEM Activities for Kids Using Household Items - Mama Smiles

Building Block STEM Challenge Cards - Life Over C's

Snack Time Engineering - Handmade Kids Art

Snow Dough Science - Raising Lifelong Learners

Gummy Bear Science | Exploring Osmosis with Preschoolers - Raising Lifelong Learners

STEM Activities for Kids: How strong is a piece of paper? - Creekside Learning

Foaming Dragon Science Experiment - The Joys of Boys

Building with Straws - Kids Activities Blog

Building with Playdough Engineering Kit - Lemon Lime Adventures

STEM Paper Airplane Challenge - Kids Activities Blog

Build a Battery Magnet - We Know...Stuff

A Gardening STEM Activity for Kids - Happy Strong Home

STEAM Challenge: Invitation to Create a Recycled Toy Bot - Artsy Momma

Learning Letters with a Rope Pulley Alphabet Activity - Mom Inspired Life

Nature Scavenger Hunt (with Free Printable) - Crystal & Co.

The Itsy Bitsy Rhyming Spider - Growing Book by Book

Building 2D & 3D Shapes with Craft Sticks - In the Playroom

Snowball Catapult Alphabet Activity - Mom Inspired Life

Fun Science Experiments for Preschool Kids - Northern Cheapskate

Oil & Water Science for Kids - Happiness is Homemade

Learning Letters with a Fall STEM Ramp Activity - Mom Inspired Life

Preschool Science: Hands-On Dinosaur Study - Raising Lifelong Learners

Simple Science Fun with Kids - Northern Cheapskate

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25 Creative STEM Projects For Homeschoolers

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My children are in love with doing STEM activities (science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) these days! One moment you may find my daughter making magic potions in the bathtub, while another minute she is begging me to help her with her Magic School Bus Engineering Lab Kit.

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Coding website for kids by kids

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We make learning Computer Science fast, fun, and easy. Made by kids, for kids, around the globe.

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My preschoolers have been asking a lot of questions about electricity, lights, and batteries lately, so I wanted to start an electronics and electricity unit with all the kiddos. It seemed like a perfect subject for some fun science experiments. After a little research, I discovered Squishy Circuits. They make the perfect science project for undestanding electricity.

The concept behind squishy circuits is brilliant: children use child-friendly components to experiment and learn about electricity. The best part: the components are "plugged in" to play dough! The kits are wonderfully safe!

Our first lab was building a simple circuit to "light up" an LED. Before we started we talked about one simple rule in simple preschool-language: do not touch any metal pieces together. This was to prevent shorting out any components.

The kids got right to work:

I showed them how to make the simplest circuit: each end of the battery pack is plugged into a pile of conductive play dough and an LED component bridges the two piles of play dough. The LED lights up! The preschoolers quickly set about to build their own circuits and discovered their first electricity principle: electricity is directional. It flows in one direction. If the preschoolers set the LED in backwards, it would not light up. But, if they turned it around, it lit up. I used my finger to show them the path it took from the battery pack, down the red wire, across the LED, and back via the black wire.

They continued to experiment. Most popular second experiment: adding more lights!

Older children might appreciate that these lights are connected in a parallel circuit and can all be as bright as just one light. Our preschoolers tried adding every light possible!

They also started getting curious about how the circuit worked... "What happens if I unplug the battery pack?" Well...

...the lights went out! This was a great chance to talk about a complete "closed" circuit. We also heard a few stories from kiddos who had the lights go out in their homes during a recent storm!

Another "broken" circuit:

(And, yes, we had some dinosaurs join in the experiments!)

When the preschoolers wanted to make some "fancy circuits," I asked them what supplies they wanted. They told me they could get them by themselves. Pretty soon, toothpicks, Strawberry Shortcake, the dinosaurs, and a fairy, had joined the experiment table:

When the kids realized they could add a buzzer or a motor in with their lights, they had even more fun! (Imagine about nine 3-7 year olds bouncing up and down and clapping their hands as home-made sirens go on and off, over and over...)

You could certainly go to a store and buy these components, but it would be so much easier to let someone else assemble them for you. Imagine a battery pack with child-safe wires, a motor, a piezoelectric buzzer, a mechanical buzzer, 25 LEDs in red, yellow, blue, green, and white, and a recipe card for conducting and insulating play dough...and you will have the Squishy Circuits Hardware Kit. Squishy Circuits was kind enough to provide a few of these kits for review purposes and I am absolutely thrilled to tell you how much we loved them!

For only $25, you can get the following, all packaged up in a convenient box with instructions for making your own conducting and insulating doughs:

* 25 LEDs (in red, yellow, blue, green, and white)

* 1 battery pack (you will need 4 AA's to put in the pack)

If you are working with several children you may want to order extra battery packs, but our experience was that the 25 LEDs in one kit were more than enough for groups of three children to share.

After our preschoolers were done, my 7-year old spent some more time designing more complicated circuits. You can see specific instructions for building circuits (and fun projects like a glowing animal!) at the University of St. Thomas website. The squishy circuits concept originally began as a research project at the University of St. Thomas, and their website has loads of great resources to use with it. In fact, if you want to purchase your own supplies there are instructions to make the play doughs on the website too! It provides a lot of background information so that if you are not particularly comfortable with electricity, circuits, batteries, and buzzers, you will be in no time! My daughter's next plan is to use the same components in one of the kits to make a clothespin car that actually moves!

Our preschoolers thought that our Squishy Circuits labs have been some of the best they've ever done! At their request, we have repeated them several times...and they learn new things every time!

Here are a few of my tips for learning about electricity with preschoolers :

* Keep it simple!! You don't need to front-load a ton of information. Let them discover as they explore.

* Keep it safe. The battery packs from Squishy Circuits will hold four AA batteries...that's a total of 6 volts. Nobody will get hurt using that much electricity. Do not ever let your kiddos experiment with things plugged into your wall.

* Keep it fun! Your kids will learn so much more when they are having fun. I love the Squishy Circuits kit because I could hand it to them and, with very little instruction, let them enjoy the learning process.

Bonus Tips if you use Squishy Circuits:

If you order a Squishy Circuit kit (and I totally recommend that you do!), here are a few notes to make your life easier!

* Order enough battery packs that each child can have one...or at the very least use one battery pack per three children. They can definitely take turns, but it's nice to have one to yourself.

* If your children are too young to understand that the lights will only work in one direction, consider purchasing the special bipolar LEDs that work in a different color in each direction.

* When you are done, wipe all metal surfaces off with a moist towel. Salt residue from the conducting play dough will corrode the metal. Eventually, the pieces will need replacing, but this will make them last longer.

* Particularly aggressive preschoolers may break the "legs" off the LEDs. We only had one LED broken, but consider your children's abilities before you expect too much from them.

I am happily recommending Squishy Circuits to everybody! They are a new small business, and I would love to see them grow!

AND...you can help them grow without even purchasing a kit! If you want to help a small business that is making a difference in science education for children across the world, please click here to help them apply for a Mission Main Street Grant. They need to get over 250 votes to begin the process. I have already voted and would love to have you join me!

Have you studied electricity using science experiments with your preschoolers? Would you like to do more science projects on this subject? I'd love to hear from you!! Definitely let me know if you have any questions!

Never miss another post again! Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox! Sign up here!!

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Electricity With Preschoolers & Squishy Circuits Science Experiment

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My preschoolers have been asking a lot of questions about electricity, lights, and batteries lately, so I wanted to start an electronics and electricity unit with all the kiddos. It seemed like a perfect subject for some fun science experiments. After a little research, I discovered Squishy Circuits.

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45 mins lessons

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Camp Invention | STEM Summer Programs | National Inventors Hall of Fame

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Register your child for Camp Invention - an exciting STEM summer program that builds innovative thinking and creative problem solving skills.

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In Wisconsin, the goal of the Digital Learning and Technology team is to help our state's educators leverage digital tools to increase student engagement and outcomes, rather than to develop educators' capacities to use any one specific device or piece of hardware.

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Join. Engage. Empower.

TCEA is a member-based organization devoted to advancing technology in education. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-16 environment and providing our members with state-of-the-art information through conferences, workshops, newsletters, the internet, and collaborations with businesses and institutions of higher learning.

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TCEA | Advancing Teaching and Learning with Technology in Education

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TCEA is a member-based organization devoted to advancing technology in education. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-16 environment and providing our members with state-of-the-art information through conferences, workshops, newsletters, the internet, and collaborations with businesses and institutions of higher learning.

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Are you looking for professional development opportunities specific to STEM education? Below is a list of conferences I have attended plus ones that come recommended from colleagues. This list includes both national conferences that change location each year and ones specific to the Texas area.

National STEM Education Conferences

ASEE K-12 STEM Workshop: Each year, the American Society of Engineering Education hosts a teacher workshop prior to their annual conference. Sessions are led by STEM educators and include research-based STEM education practices, a curriculum exchange, and training on a wide array of STEM topics. I loved this workshop last year, and I look forward to to attending again!

NSTA STEM Forum & Expo: A 3-day conference of interactive sessions that include strands ranging from K-12 education to administration of STEM programs. This conference includes the latest research and practices of STEM education in the classroom.

ISTE Conference: The International Society of Technology Education hosts an annual conference with over 16,000 educators and 1,000 sessions. Sessions focus on using technology effectively in the classroom.

STEMCon: This conference includes teacher training, effective STEM leadership, collaborating with local organizations, and promoting access to minorities and women.

STEM Solutions Conference: US News organizes this conference to foster a discussion on the best strategies and ideas to advance STEM education. Teachers will get a big picture of the advantages of aligning curriculum with STEM opportunities.

Texas STEM Conferences

Texas STEM Conference: Organized by the Texas STEM Coalition, this conference brings together teachers and STEM organizations around Texas to collaborate and share ideas on successful STEM curriculum, programs, and policies.

UT Dallas STEM Conference: The University of Texas at Dallas hosts an intensive workshop to prepare beginner teachers to lead robotics programs along with general STEM sessions. I attended last summer, and I gathered the most useful and ready to implement resources from this workshop than any other training.

Space Exploration Educators Conference: NASA hosts an annual conference at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to show teachers how to integrate space across the curriculum. Sessions are lead by teachers and NASA engineers and include exciting topics such as the Journey to Mars and the International Space Station. Teachers can also sign up for underwater astronaut training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab!

Please comment below if you have any STEM conferences or training sessions you recommend!

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Are you looking for professional development opportunities specific to STEM education? Below is a list of conferences I have attended plus ones that come recommended from colleagues. This list includes both national conferences that change location each year and ones specific to the Texas a

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Activity Plans and Ideas

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Welcome to the Future Engineers, which invites K-12 students to create 3D designs for space!

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how.

By Amy Cowen on April 10, 2017 8:00 AM
Encourage students to explore robotics with a guided, hands-on project or activity. Science Buddies has projects, activities, Lesson Plans, and convenient kits that make it easy to do robotics with students.
Student Robotics Projects and Activities

Science Buddies has projects at all levels for student robotics. See our Bring Robotics to the Classroom for National Robotics Week post for more information about moving from introductory explorations to more advanced projects.

The following Science Buddies projects and activities are highlighted in the robotics projects collection image above:

Additional Resources for K-12 Robotics Exploration
Have your students done one of these robotics projects in class? We would love to hear about your experience teaching and leading robotics activities with students. If you are interested in sharing your story, contact us at blog@sciencebuddies.org.
Pin this collection:

You Might Also Enjoy these Previous Entries:

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Build Fun Robots with Students | Science Buddies Blog

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. By Amy Cowen on April 10, 2017 8:00 AM Encourage students to explore robotics with a guided, hands-on project or activity.

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STEM Engagement Starts Here

our low prep resources are:

Hi there, I'm Brooke Brown!

I'm the teacher, mom and curriculum designer behind Teach Outside the Box.

If you're looking for low prep, top quality resources tor STEM, Makerspace, Robotics, and hands-on literacy, you've come to the right place!

I'm a NBCT educator with nearly two decades of classroom experience, and I love designing resources that maximize engagement for my students.

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Simple STEM for elementary students Subscribe for Exclusive STEM Freebies STEM Engagement Starts Here our low prep resources are: Best Sellers Latest on the blog Hi there, I'm Brooke Brown! I'm the teacher, mom and curriculum designer behind Teach Outside the Box. If you're looking for low prep, top quality resources tor STEM, Makerspace, Robotics,...

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HAVE YOU BEEN...

Left to fend for yourself?

And border-line panicking over the growing complexity of your young readers' learning needs?

Without the right training or tools to actually help every student?

Well, take a big balloon breath and relax those shoulders.

You're about to step into a 360° world of support for your reading instruction like you've never known before.

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Excellence-driven Pre-K, Kindergarten, & First Grade Teachers Your search for ALL the training & tools for playful Science of Reading instruction stops here. Ready to fill your teacher bag with everything you need to help EVERY student learn to read? HAVE YOU BEEN... Left to fend for yourself?

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Awesome STEM projects don't have to be expensive! Your imagination and the ability to create is the best free thing out there. With a few simple supplies that you can pick up at your local dollar store, you can put those imaginations and creative juices to work. Put together a Dollar Store Engineering Kit for anytime. It makes an awesome screen free activity for rainy days, school vacations, or weekends. Simple science and STEM activities can't be beat!

The dollar store can be an amazing place for great STEM materials for tinker trays and engineering kits plus simple science experiments. Combine all of these loose materials in one place by grabbing a bin at the store too! This dollar store engineering kit is a great way to keep kids engaged this summer so we are including it in Week 3 of our 100 Days of Summer STEM for kids with Easy Engineering Projects.
GREAT SUPPLIES FOR YOUR DOLLAR STORE ENGINEERING KIT
Click on the link or photo below to download a supply checklist to take with your o the dollar store or pull up on your smartphone once you get there! You can often find some of these items for a dollar or so at the grocery store just in case!

AWESOME PROJECTS TO GO WITH YOUR DOLLAR STORE ENGINEERING KIT

Now what are you going to do with all your great new supplies? Engineer something. Check out our list of ideas. All links in blue can be clicked. Check out all the details! These are all great engineering projects that multiple age kids can work on together or individual kids can work at their own level. Some adult participation may be required depending on the kid!

SIMPLE ENGINEERING PROJECTS

Make sure to check out our SUMMER ENGINEERING PROJECTS too!

Pool Noodle Structures

Straw structures can be built a few ways including straws and pipe cleaners, straws and tape, or straws and play dough}

Popsicle Stick Catapult

This one shows an egg attached but you don't ned to do that! All you need is string, straw, balloon, and tape}

Make car ramps out of cardboard boxes and test out angles, force, motion and race cars.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:
Paper Bag STEM Challenges

Structure Building Ideas

YOU CAN FIND EVEN MORE COOL AND INEXPENSIVE IDEAS HERE!

GREAT OUTDOOR ENGINEERING PROJECTS TOO!

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Dollar Store Engineering Kit for Kids STEM Activities

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Awesome STEM projects don't have to be expensive! Your imagination and the ability to create is the best free thing out there. With a few simple supplies that you can pick up at your local dollar store, you can put those imaginations and creative juices to work.

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STEAM powered Art Bot!

STEM activities for kids is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math but we propose the inclusion of "A" for Art to turn STEM into STEAM. By encouraging creative thinking and problem solving in your child you are helping prepare for your child's future success by developing their divergent thinking skills.

Combine drawing and engineering with your own DIY art drawing machine. This art project for kids is easy enough that even my preschoolers were able to create their own art bot (with a bit of adult help).

The best part of this project is you only need materials from the Dollar Store, no special motor or tools required!

There are many different ways to create an art bot, like this tutorial that uses a plastic cup or with legos to build a "drawbot" from Planet Smarty Pants (which would also be a great extension of the activity for the older child). However, once I saw this tutorial from the Keen on Library blog, I knew we had to try the pool noodle to create our own art bot.

We had previously cut up a noodle to use as an unconventional building material, so I knew that it cuts easily (for adults) and would be easier for a younger artist to decorate.

Read below for our we made our very own Art Bot!
Materials:
Battery-Operated Electric Toothbrush (We found ours at the dollar store)

Pool Noodle

Scissors or Knife (adult use)

Tape

Markers

White Paper
Optional Supplies:
Googley Eyes

Pipe cleaners

Pom Poms

Yarn
Tutorial
Step 1: Insert the battery in your toothbrush and turn it on to make sure it works. Cut the pool noodle slightly larger than the length of the toothbrush.

Step 2: Push the toothbrush through the center of the pool noodle. If you wish, use the optional supplies to decorate and design your pool noodle to give your art bot personality.

Step 3: Tape 3 markers along the bottom of the pool noodle with the marker tips pointing down.

Step 4: Turn on the toothbrush and let the art-bot go!
Art Bot Maker Tips:
- Use thin markers.

- Play around for the best position of the markers on the pool noodle. It takes some trial and error.

-Buy extra electric toothbrushes and batteries. While the toothbrush is a bargain price at the dollar store the batteries don't last all that long.

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DIY Art Bot: Easy Art Project for Kids - Kids STEAM Lab

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STEAM powered Art Bot! STEM activities for kids is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math but we propose the inclusion of "A" for Art to turn STEM into STEAM. By encouraging creative thinking and problem solving in your child you are helping prepare for your child's future success by developing their divergent thinking skills.

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Learn coding

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Learn computer science. Change the world.

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Every student in every school deserves the opportunity to study computer science.

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The Future Engineering Workforce

Drones. Autonomous cars. Robots. Apps that monitor and improve our lives. Engineering and Computer Science are advancing at staggering speeds and changing the way we think, work, communicate and interact. The pace of innovation is so rapid that new technologies of today may be obsolete in just a few years. In fact, experts predict that 65 percent of the jobs that today's K-6 children will hold haven't even been invented yet.

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EIE Museum of Science| Engineering is Elementary | STEM Education

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EiE, the curricula division of the Museum of Science, Boston, offers curricula, training, and materials you need to implement STEM across your school.

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STEM lesson plans may seem complex and complicated to develop, but once you start applying STEM principles to lessons it becomes second nature to bring in those pillars of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and even Arts! Here at STEAM Powered Family we do love incorporating arts in our lessons as much as possible and STEAMing up our activities. For simplicity I will use STEM as the term throughout this article, but everything here applies to STEAM as well.

STEM Lesson Planning

In other articles we've discussed the benefits of STEM lessons and activities and the value of inquiry based teaching strategies. Now we know the value of STEM but how can you create STEM lesson plans? For many it can seem immensely complicated, but it is not that complicated, especially if you follow these five simple steps.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty, what does STEM education look like? In previous articles we established that to be considered a STEM activity or lesson it needs to include at least 2 pillars, preferably more. Once you start looking for ways to enhance your lessons with STEM you will realize how easy it is to create interdisciplinary activities that really engage your students.

When getting started with STEM the first thing that needs to happen is developing the lessons and activities. A history lesson quickly becomes a STEM lesson with a few changes to the focus. A study in Ancient Egypt becomes an engineering, science (physics) and math challenge as the students design catapults, perhaps they then create a video (bringing in technology and arts) to share what they learned about history, ancient warfare and the engineering of their own model catapults. Suddenly your one lesson is a full STEAM activity using all the pillars of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. Congratulations, you have the perfect STEAM activity!

STEM and STEAM is about integration and bringing all the pillars together to work as a whole, rather than as independent subjects.

How can this be applied in a practical, easy way?

Applying STEM to a lesson can be done with 5 steps.

Brainstorm the starting subject matter, such as our example of Ancient Egypt. Either alone as the teacher or as a group with your students, brainstorm the many ideas, topics and areas you could focus on within that umbrella topic. Create a big list. Nothing is too big or too small at this point. Although it can be tempting to do this alone as the teacher, this is the perfect opportunity to involve the students so they gain some ownership their learning and become invested in the lesson.

Investigate the individual ideas as they relate to the main topic and see what connections you can draw. What areas overlap? How can you bring the individual ideas together in a way that makes sense?

Apply the 4 pillars of STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and consider adding the fifth pillar of Arts. Which ones can you bring into the lesson in a meaningful and relevant way? Not all lessons are going to incorporate all 5 pillars, but you should try to have strong discovery within at least 2.

Create and conduct your lesson. Be prepared for mistakes. Be prepared for exploration. Be prepared for the trials of discovery. STEM is inquiry and process driven. Submersing students in the subject matter from multiple angles. It may get messy, but that doesn't mean learning is not happening. Sometimes the messiest lessons provide the most powerful learning opportunities. Be prepared to guide and assist the learning as required. Don't forget the 4 stages of Inquiry Based Teaching Strategies.

Reflect on what worked and what didn't work after each lesson. Over time you will become better at judging:
- What techniques are best for yourself and your students.
- Predicting what you can accomplish in your allotted time.
- Understanding what really engages your students and captures their interest, making them motivated learners.

Finally do it all over again on your next lesson! Creating STEM lessons is highly rewarding. It engages students, motivates them, and, more often than not, it makes learning a lot of fun. And when learning is fun, it's not work, and kids learn to love learning!
Need help creating STEM lesson plans? Get a free STEM lesson planner by joining the STEAM Powered Family mailing list. Members get access to many additional resources and materials. All free!

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How To Create STEM Lesson Plans & STEM Activities

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STEM lesson plans may seem complex and complicated to develop, but once you start applying STEM principles to lessons it becomes second nature to bring in those pillars of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and even Arts! Here at STEAM Powered Family we do love incorporating arts in our lessons as much as possible and STEAMing up our activities.

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STEM activities, science experiments, and hands-on activities for kids!

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Are you ready to jump into the world of Super Mario....I mean the classroom of Super Mario? Come along for a super engaging lesson that will be sure to captivate your students' complete attention as they work to save Princess Peach!

Just a little note before we get started. I am posting a full video below - It's a long one...I am a talker! If you know me...you know THAT! The essentials are in this post, but if you'd rather see it live, scroll down to the bottom. But first...grab a cup of coffee or an entire bag of Oreos. Heck, maybe even grab a gallon of ice cream and a pizza as well. Now let's get rolling...

I always get two main questions when I post any type of room transformation that I do in the classroom. I am going to devote an entire post to that next week, but for now I will address the top two questions that I always receive in response to this type of instruction:

1) How do you come up with the ideas?

Truthfully, I don't. These are not my ideas. What's a teachers motto? Beg, borrow, steal? Yep! That's my philosophy, too! Toy companies, game designers, musicians, and popular food brands make this happen for me. How? They are the brilliant minds creating all of the many things that kids are interested in these days. They are the ones spending hours upon hours upon hours designing things that kids enjoy. They are spending the hours that I don't, and won't ever have. I figure if the kids already love it in the real world - I will piggy back, steal their concept, and morph it into the academic world. It's as simple as it sounds. I spend a lot of time with my kids at lunch, in the hallways, and during carpool finding out what they enjoy. Then I make a note of those things in my mind. Whenever I have boring or difficult content that I know is essential to my academic goals, or I want to spice up my instruction a bit, I will use one of those concepts to drive my transformation. Because let's be honest - we can tie content to just about anything. ANY.THING! So I decide the concept first, and then I add whatever content we are working on.

2) The million dollar question - Where do you get the money?

I will link some of the materials down below if you would like to purchase the Mario products that I found and loved. Now, let's get to the nitty gritty. It's all about planning ahead. People often use money as a road block to not being able to do these types of lessons. Now call me crazy, but I refuse to let something like money determine how I am going to teach. Here are a few ways to take a little detour and not stop the journey of a room transformation altogether.

Don't take the toll road - find a cheaper route!

We all like a good toll road. Generally it's faster. But this isn't always the cheapest way to reach our final destination. I will find beautiful decorations for birthday parties (here I searched Mario Birthday Parties on Pinterest). They were gorgeous but would cost a fortune. Rather than purchasing everything on the spot, I will think of places that I can find or recreate the decor super cheap. Enter the Dollar Tree, thrift stores, IKEA, etc. I call this concept...making it happen. I will ask around, find a way to raise the funds, borrow materials, etc. until I get the job done.

Only make essential stops to reach your final destination...

Of course there are things that I purchase, but if I am going to purchase something expensive, I ensure that I will be able to use it for other transformations. Example: The turf for the floor is expensive. However, I use it for 4-5 other transformations throughout the year, so the investment is worth it.

Let's bring my honesty out to play for a second: Half of the stuff that you see in pictures (mine included) is not even needed. Turf - not needed. Mario hats - have them make paper hats instead. Wall decals - use a projector and trace/color your own wall decals. Or better yet, find an artist friend and ask them to do that for you! You'll be surprised that many will be all in for helping you create magic for kids.

I assure you the kids do not notice the imperfections nor do they deem anything as lacking. You will never hear a kid say, "This room would be so much better if...." My beginning room transformations sure didn't start out like this at all. You'll hear about that in the next concept. The decor only enhances the instruction. It makes the lesson unpredictable. It doesn't have to be perfect. Perfection is the thief of joy. Don't let the idea of the perfect decor steal your excitement. Do what you can. Do something different. THAT'S what kids will notice.

Don't try to conquer the journey over night! It's a marathon not a sprint!

Another point to note is that I have been doing these transformations for 10 years. I have built up resources over the years. Start small. I run. The hardest part of each run is getting started. So just rip the bandaid off. Get started. Start somewhere. Do something! It will get easier and even better with time.

Here's a peek at a few of my beginning transformations. Not nearly as detailed, but the excitement of my students was equally matched.

Folks, it's green table cloths and a hand painted sign. I am super proud of it! The kids could not have been more excited for this lesson. Why? It was different. Be different!

How about when I recreated the Land of Chewandswallow for our weather unit? My mom and I used butcher paper to create gigantic foods. Nowadays, people use those great giant blow up foods. Are they awesome? 100% Are they essential to get the same excitement out of your students? Not hardly!

I get this whole money question often, and honestly this is the only way that I know to answer it! No, my school does not fund my materials for room transformations. Actually, I don't even ask them to do so. Don't limit yourself. Accept the challenge. Keep an open mind. Find a way to make the impossible...possible! I promise you will be so happy you did!

The decor looks complicated, but it was actually pretty simple. I hung blue painter's drop cloths around my room (it was $15 to cover my entire room) and added some decals to give the "being stuck inside the game" feel. Then for coins I used gold plates from the Dollar Tree that I glued to fishing wire. Then I suspended them from the ceiling. Finally, I wrapped large boxes with yellow poster board and painted white question marks on them. Below is a broader look into the room.

Once I decide the concept and the decor, finally I figure out how I am going to break down the content that I want the kids to learn or practice during the lesson. During the Super Mario Challenge, the kids were reviewing all of our reading skills that were taught during a nonfiction unit of study. I thought Mario would be perfect for this because I had taught close reading, and it's just like the levels of the game - each level gets a little harder...each read goes a little deeper. I used this lesson for reading. It could easily be adjusted to math skills, science concepts, social studies themes, etc. Just choose a different skill that you want them to practice for each level.

Here's a look at some of the different levels:

Level one: The students were given a passage. They had to complete the first read and interpret each sentence to identify the key idea.

Level two: The students were practicing identifying the key idea in shorter passages. Here's a fun little twist: the students selected their tunnel (1, 2, or 3). Each tunnel had a different number of passages. If they were lucky, they chose the tunnel that only had three passages. However, they could have selected the tunnel with 8 causing the level to take a little longer to complete.

Here the students were practicing identifying text structures in a passage to help them organize the most important details. The students would roll their partner down to the end of the path, collect a short passage (there were 6), roll them back, decide the text structure, and repeat until the level was complete.

Level four: All the prize boxes

The first team to the level busted the large box. There were mini question boxes inside. They would collect one mini box that contained 10 different short passages that had them identifying the meaning of unknown words. Once they identified the meaning of each word, they would move on to the next level.

Level 5: The students had to summarize passages. They would race down to a tunnel which they had to crawl through to collect a short passage. Then they would race back, summarize, and repeat.

The students worked through each level at their own pace. Once the challenge of a level was complete, they moved on. They had to complete all six levels to rescue the princess and capture the flag. I created the flag with poster board and PVC pipe.

Thankfully, Princess Peach was successfully rescued by her teams of Mario and Luigi!

This was so much fun and the kids absolutely loved every second. But you better believe when I say each level was a challenge - it was just that! I made sure that the content was super challenging because we all know rescuing the Princess isn't a walk in the park! (Don't act like you didn't play the game...and throw the controller as a kid! lol!)

Well, I guess that's that! I hope that you will challenge yourself to do something different in your classroom. It may not be a room transformation. That may not be your style. But do the unexpected. Give your kids a reason to anticipate school the same way that they anticipate the newest release of their favorite toy or game. Standards won't make that happen. Worksheets won't make that happen. WE make that happen!

Here is the promised (LONG) video of the details:

FYI: The video is upside down for the first minute. Then it corrects. Sorry about that!

Check out these resources online:

I will be back with a Room Transformations 101 post to answer your questions about room transformations. Post your questions below, and I will be happy to break them down in my next post!

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Are you ready to jump into the world of Super Mario....I mean the classroom of Super Mario? Come along for a super engaging lesson that will be sure to captivate your students' complete attention as they work to save Princess Peach! Just a little note before we get started.

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Opening up the Tongass National Forest to additional logging and development could have serious implications for both the environment and the Alaska Native communities that depend on it.

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Opening up the Tongass National Forest to additional logging and development could have serious implications for both the environment and the Alaska Native communities that depend on it.

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Science Fair Project Ideas, Answers, & Tools

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Free Topic Selection Wizard, science fair project ideas, step by step how to do a science fair project, Ask an Expert discussion board, and science fair tips for success.

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Engineering Apps for Kids

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My son loves to learn how things work. Whether it's cars, computers, or a wristwatch, he enjoys reading about how things are made and eventually what causes them to work. He spends hours building with Legos

and Magna-Tiles

, drawing what he thinks the inside of boat or airplane engines look like, he's fascinated with tanks and building ramps for Hot Wheels

cars. It's difficult to carry a few hundred blocks around in my purse but I've found that a few well designed apps will satisfy his need to tinker while we're on the go!

These Engineering Apps For Kids are a fabulous way to introduce basic mechanics and physics to kids from preschool to high school, all while playing fun games!

Engineering Apps For Kids

Cat Physics- Cat lover or not, this fun app lets you work your way through various challenges to help move a ball around a neighborhood while all the humans are fast asleep at night iTunes or Android

Build And Play HD- Kids design their own custom 3-D airplanes and then fly them through various challenges in this exciting game. Redesign planes for better outcomes, great introduction to engineering for any age! iTunes

Robots- The best app out there for anyone interested in robotics. Featuring over 158 robots from 19 countries, users take an in-depth look at technical data and 360 degree views and can interact with the robots. iTunes

Simple Physics- Design everything from bridges to ferris wheels and create blueprints to help you judge strain and repair your creation, if necessary. iTunes or Android

Truss Me!- Utilizing simulation techniques used by real engineers across the globe, this app allows you to earn coins by building sound structures. iTunesor Android

Go Car Go- Design and develop a car and see what happens in various environments, make tweaks to your designs and race for success! iTunes

Touch Physics HD- Work through 89 levels helping the professor with challenges to defy physics and work on wheel mechanics. Inclines, levers & more give a hands on approach to practical physics. iTunes

Crazy Gears- Manipulate gears, chains, rods and more to form pulleys and work your way through each level. Excellent, award winning app, no rules, an explorative experience with open ended solutions. iTunes

TinkerBox- Build outrageous machines or take apart real life inventions in this app that is guided by the user's creativity. Great for all ages! iTunes

Sound Uncovered- For the future sound engineer, this app is a playground of fun waiting to be explored! From playing messages backwards to making a saxophone growl, learn about sound manipulation in this activity filled experience. iTunes

These Engineering Apps For Kids are a wonderful fit for any STEM or STEAM curriculum or adults encouraging the exploration of physics and mechanics in children. If you have a kiddo interested in science or engineering, these apps could be a great alternative to your curious teen dismantling the family car! We've also got The Best Science Apps For Kids, and Apps For Spelling, and just about every other subject area on our Apps For Kids page!
Follow Sunshine and Hurricanes 's board Apps For Kids on Pinterest.

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My son loves to learn how things work. Whether it's cars, computers, or a wristwatch, he enjoys reading about how things are made and eventually what causes them to work. He spends hours building with Legos and Magna-Tiles , drawing what he thinks the inside of boat or airplane engines look like, he's fascinated with tanks and building ramps for Hot Wheels cars.

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A collection of helpful STEAM resources.

STEAM Intro

2019 Why STEAM? Presentation
Written for educators, administrators, business leaders and community members to explain why STEAM Education has developed, is implemented and the reasoning for its use and successes for program adding this framework. Download the PDF
2015 STEAM Program Description
Our three page document with an overview of the core elements of STEAM programs. Sections included for: Programs, Classrooms, Educators, Students, Communities, Themes, Courses, Staff Educator Professional Development
Download the PDF

STEAM 10 Year Anniversary Info-graphic!
10 Years of STEAM Education Around the World
2008 The Original Research Paper on STEAM
STEAM research-based paper for PATT Download the PDF
2006-2010 What is STEAM?
Short overview paper Download the PDF
2017 STEAM Education Professional Development Practicum & Research
PATT: Our first published research results on our PD on 5 years of data! Download the Paper (PDF)
Download the Presentation

STEAM Most Relevant Papers Info-graphic
Download the PDF
2010 Exploring the Exemplary STEAM Education in the U.S. as a Practical Educational Framework for Korea INTRODUCTION
By Yakman, Georgette & Lee, Hyonyong Download the PDF
Lesson Examples
Please contact us for assistance and consultation adapting your lesson plans to reflect the STEAM framework or to have custom STEAM curriculum created for your needs.
2017 STEAM Booklet PDF Download
Our student-friendly booklet that helps define integrative STEAM! Download the PDF File
Sample outline for a STEAM Lesson Plan- Global Food
Download the PDF
STEAM Project for PK-12 on Global Education & Foods
This worksheet goes with the STEAM Up Bodies & Minds Presentation Download the PDF
Teaching STEAM with Go/Baduk/WeiQui
Download the updated presentation. Download the original presentation for the American Go Association .
STEAM Graphics

ONLY STEAM Certified Educators & Programs have authorization to use STEAM Education images publicly, they are trademarked! All other applications should receive written permission first. For more details on the use of our site and materials please see our Terms of Service.

STEAM Pyramid!
JPG PDF

La Piramide del
STEAM en ESPANOL
JPG

STEAM Logo
JPG

STEAM Origami Sailboat Activity to Promote Life-Long Learning & FUNctional Literacy
Instructions: Download the two graphics below. Print 2 per page back to back, give 1/2 sheet and a writing device to each person. Scissors are optional. All other instructions are on the print.

Helpful Extras

Recommended Education Conferences
The 2019 Most Influential US Educational Conferences Download the PDF
Newsletter
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Enter our contest to be a part of the Geo STEAM club & win cool prizes.
Georgette Yakman's Resume / CV & Bio are available on the "More Info" & FAQ pages. To purchase access to one of our professional development courses visit our sales page.

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Written for educators, administrators, business leaders and community members to explain why STEAM Education has developed, is implemented and the reasoning for its use and successes for program adding this framework.

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Grade level projects

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Engineering Projects For Kids | Made for STEAM

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Fun and original STEM projects! Over 25 detailed science and engineering activities created by experts in project-based education, including lesson plans & science fair exhibition guides. Create cool inventions like catapults or more complex contraptions like hydraulic bridges. Explore Made for STEAM!