STEM activities and STEAM for kids are great ways to develop skills kids can use throughout life. These STEAM activities are easy to do and prep-free!
STEM activities are just about our favorite thing to do around here. We love how you can incorporate nearly every subject into a STEM activity similar to homeschool unit studies.
Today, we’re sharing our favorite STEM and STEAM (STEAM is just STEM with an art element added) activites that require just about zero prep. While we love STEM activities that use weird supplies, sometimes we forget to go to the store.
So it’s nice to know that there are no-prep STEAM for kids activities out there. Here are some of our very favorites:
12 No-Prep STEAM for Kids Activity Ideas
Let kids explore density on their own using kitchen ingredients! My kids absolutely love it when we do this one.
Test the mechanical properties of aluminum foil in this super-simple STEM challenge!
Oobleck is always a fun science experiment and you probably have everything you need right now!
Have a water bottle and a ketchup packet? Try this diving fish science experiment!
See if you can make a magnifying glass out of ice.
Gather some things from around the house and make this super-simple magnifying glass discovery tray!
Learn all about dice probability with the help of the Venn Diagram.
Boost engineering skills with the paper airplane building challenge!
The classic egg drop STEM challenge is super-fun for kids of all ages!
With this play store math set-up, your kids will be begging to do math without realizing it!
A cloud in a jar is the easiest thing every to make and is such a fun way to illustrate how clouds work.
More Prep-Free STEAM for Kids Activity Ideas
Sort colors with this fun LEGO dumping color sort activity! I want to get my kids to do this, and then store everything by color!
This super-simple STEM activity challenges children to fill a shape with blocks with no gaps. This is a great way to encourage spacial awareness! Fun fact: Girls are less likely to develop spacial awareness skills as they grow, possibly because we don’t buy toys like LEGOs and blocks as often for them. So buy those blocks for your girls!
I never would have thought to build with play dough and buttons, but they make the perfect ingredients for an engineering challenge!
Learn all about density in this vegetable-themed STEM challenge.
Challenge children to bend a pencil without breaking it in this fun science experiment!
Explore different 3D shapes with this fun ice-cream STEM challenge. All you need is paper!
All it takes is food coloring and water to learn about how ocean currents work. This project is so fascinating!
Build a tower using leftover boxes and kitchen containers. You’ll be amazed at the creations your kids come up with!
These paper helicopters are so easy to make and will inspire STEM thinking in your kids.
The classic marshmallow tower engineering activity is the perfect way to use up those stale marshmallows.
Your kids will not believe that these contraptions made from paper and straws can really fly.
Boat-building challenges are always a good choice for STEM activities!
Use Duplo blocks to show preschoolers the value of money!
If you have Hexbugs, make a little LEGO maze for a quick STEM challenge!
