7 STEM/STEAM Activities For Little Kids
- Dancing Gummy Worms
- Glue & Salt Watercolor Crystal Art
- DIY Glitter Jar
- Rainbow M and M (or Skittles) Science Experiment
- Alka Seltzer Lava Lamp
- Magic Balloon
- Lemon Art Volcano
What Is STEM/STEAM Education?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math so what does STEAM stand for? Well, in recent years, an “A” was added to include Art in the mix (Yay!). So whether you are searching for STEM or STEAM activities for your 3-5 year-olds to do, I have some quick and easy little experiments you can do at home with common household items.
Why Is STEM So Important In Early Childhood Education?
The benefits of STEM and STEAM education in early childhood, preschool, and kindergarten are invaluable!
- STEM/STEAM is a wonderful hands-on learning method.
- It ignites curiosity in little ones!
- It provides an opportunity to turn on kids’ brains and start exploring how things work in the world around them.
- These activities stimulate kids’ natural creativity and can even encourage independent play and prompt them to try little “pretend experiments” on their own.
- STEM and STEAM science experiments will delight and amaze your child but at the same time, you are literally teaching them about chemical reactions.
- It provides an opportunity for a great bonding experience. Not only is it fun for your kids but it can also be fun for parents and caregivers. Go ahead, embrace your inner child for a minute!
A fun little science lab set complete with a lab coat can be the icing on the cake. We like this lab set that includes: 3 test tubes with tops and stands, goggles, a beaker with stopper, pitcher, eye dropper, magnifying glass, funnel, tweezers/pinchers, and 10 activity cards. All the pieces are oversized, durable, and perfect for little scientist hands! We have a blast when we dress up like “mad” scientists to make our potions and concoctions!
Yes, some of these experiments are a tad messy but for me, fun, learning, and spending time together is well worth the clean-up. So get messy!
Have your kids help clean up and there’s another teaching moment. As in…, “we make a mess, we clean it up together ok?”. This might not always work but it’s worth a try.
NOTE: These are all safe and easy STEM activities for grown-ups to do with 3-5-year-olds. These don’t include any that involve hazardous materials such as bleach or ammonia or any that use matches, candles, or any type of flame. For the purpose of this article, I’m keeping the science experiments simple and safe.
Naturally, these should still all be done with the help of a grown-up, especially to keep the mess under some kind of control!
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7 Fun Easy STEM/STEAM For 3, 4, And 5-Year Olds
Whether your child is at home with you, in preschool, or in kindergarten, these STEM/STEAM projects are a great way to get them curious about how things work and are a super fun way of learning!
Dancing Gummy Worms
- Gummy worms
- Water
- Salt
- Clear drinking glass
This one is fun, weird to watch, and super easy!
Cut a gummy worm into quarters and place them in a glass of salt water. Leave the worm pieces to soak for around 15 minutes or so and then take them out and drop them in a glass of vinegar. The gummy worms will start to spin and dance around as if they are alive!
Glue & Salt Watercolor Crystal Art
- Canvas, canvas board, or construction paper
- White Glue
- Salt
- Watercolor paints or food coloring
- Eyedropper or small paintbrush
Start with a blank canvas or canvas board. You can pick these up at your local dollar store or online. You can even use good-quality construction paper or card stock. Using white glue (clear drying), drizzle a design on the canvas. It can be anything you want, a flower, an animal, or simply a bunch of squiggly lines! Then while the glue is still wet, sprinkle table salt over the glue. Shake off the excess salt.
To color your masterpiece, there are a couple of options. You can take a simple watercolor tray and add a fair amount of water to the colors or you can mix food coloring with water. Use an eyedropper or a small paintbrush to drop your colors onto the design. As the paint dries on the salt it will form crystals and you will be left with a very cool crystal art painting!
It actually looks really cool as an abstract so you don’t have to have an artistic bone in your body for this STEAM activity! Anyone of any age can do squiggly lines, right?
DIY Glitter Jar
- Mason Jar
- Clear Elmer’s Glue
- Glitter
Pour the glue into your Mason jar about 1/4 full. The more glue you add the slower the glitter will fall so it’s a personal preference. Next, add the glitter. Get creative with your colors. There’s really no specific measurement for this part, add as much or as little as you think will look pretty.
Finally, slowly pour in hot (not boiling) water to fill the jar almost to the top. With a stir stick or spoon mix ingredients together, making sure to scrape any glue or glitter off the sides of the jar. Once the mixing is complete, add more hot water to fill to the top, and screw the top of the jar on tightly.
Not only do these look neat, but they also can act as a sensory/calm-down jar for little ones (or grown-ups!) when emotions run high. Watching the glitter slowly swirl and sink to the bottom can be very calming to watch. It can also act as a cool-down timer when a child is upset or angry.
Rainbow M and M (or Skittles) Science Experiment
- Plain M and M’s or Skittles
- White Plate
- Water
Take a small white side plate or dinner plate and form a large circle of M and M’s. Use plain M and M’s, not peanut. Or you could use Skittles. Put them in order to teach your child the prism order of color: Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet (ROYGBIV) although I don’t think they don’t come in indigo so you can stick with purple at the end.
Then simply pour a little water onto the center of the plate so it spreads to the edges. As the candy shells begin to break down, the rainbow-colored water will trickle down to the center of the plate. When they all meet in the middle you can make a cool little swirl with a toothpick.
Alka Seltzer Lava Lamp
- Tall clear glass or Mason jar
- Cooking Oil
- Water
- Food coloring
- Alka Seltzer tablets
Fill a tall clear drinking glass 2/3rds full with cooking oil. Add water to the top third. The oil and water won’t mix so your child will be able to see the very definite line formed between the two liquids. The littlest scientists will probably think this is cool enough but wait until they see the rest of this experiment! Drop in about 10 drops of any color food coloring and let it settle. Finally drop in the Alka Seltzer tablet and Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, there it is! Their very own little lava lamp!
Magic Balloon
- Empty water bottle
- White vinegar
- Food coloring (optional)
- Small funnel and spoon
- Baking soda
- Balloon
For this one choose a water bottle that has a bit of a wider neck like a refillable one. Fill up about 1/4-1/3 of the way with vinegar and add a few drops of food coloring. Using the funnel, spoon a couple of teaspoons of baking soda into the balloon and shake to the bottom. Finally, attach the balloon to the top of the bottle. The chemical reaction in the bottle will blow up the balloon!
The food coloring isn’t necessary to make the experiment work but it does make it look pretty! You could even line up 3 bottles in a row with different colors. Don’t put too much baking soda in or your balloon may pop, but even if it does, that’s ok. It’s all a part of experimenting and learning.
Lemon Art Volcano
- 1 Lemon cut in half (cut the knobby ends cut off too)
- Baking soda
- Food Coloring (we used liquid)
- Large paper plate, tray, or cookie sheet
- Canvas, canvas board, heavy white paper, or card stock
Place your canvas or paper on a cookie sheet/tray and place each lemon half face up on the canvas. Squeeze a few drops of food coloring on top, then sprinkle on about a 1/2 Tbsp of baking soda. Next, stab the lemon with a fork! The acid from the lemon juice will react with the baking soda (similar to vinegar). It will bubble up like a little volcano and the colors will run all over your canvas. Tilt and tip the canvas around and watch your painting come to life.
STEM vs STEAM
This one is a perfect example of how a STEM activity can turn into a STEAM activity. If you simply do the lemon, baking soda, and food coloring, it shows the chemical reaction as a bright, colorful “lemon volcano”. If you perform the experiment over a canvas it turns into an amazing work of art!
Use a variety of colors for your artwork! It’s a fun way to introduce your child to the concept of color theory and show them how the primary colors combine to make secondary colors. It’s color magic…a bit messy but very cool!
You may also like: Low-Tech STEM And STEAM Toys For Toddlers (Brainy Gift Ideas!)
Wrapping Up
Go ahead and get your science on! These quick, safe, and easy STEM/STEAM activities to do with 3-5-year-olds will bring a lot of joy and sneak in a little learning at the same time. When your little one starts school you can be sure they will be doing some fun kindergarten STEM projects and activities but you can get a head start with these at home.
These all use common household items and no harsh chemicals so they are perfect little science experiments for older toddlers and preschoolers. And of course, fun for moms and dads too!
Until next time, K.
Kelly Blakely is the founder and creative force behind Just Our View From Here. As a first-time mom over 40, she brings a fresh perspective to parenting and family life on her blog. Kelly also explores a wide range of lifestyle topics in her writing, including fashion, beauty, self-care, and well-being.
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