5 Minute Puddle You will need Chalk A bowl of water A timer How to do it Create a puddle on a sunny outdoor surface by gently spilling water on it. Draw around the perimeter (outside) of the puddle using chalk. Start the timer and watch! Stop the timer after 5 minutes. How much of your puddle is left? What are we learning Evaporation is a process that occurs when a liquid changes into a gas. On a warm, sunny day, air molecules move quickly with energy from sunlight, and water molecules in the puddle are warmed by the sun’s heat. When energetic air molecules collide with water molecu ..read more

Natural Colours You will need Paint charts An outdoor space A camera/ipad (optional) How to do it Simply grab a paint chart and see how many colours you an match up with natural objects! Are there any colours that you struggle to find in the natural environment? Why do you think this is? What are we learning This activity encourages children to really look at the natural environment around them and the colours within it. It introduces them to the important role that botanists and naturalists play in studying the plants and flowers around us. You could use it as an opportunity to talk ..read more

Daffodil Dissection You will need A daffodil Scissors Tweezers (optional) Magnifying glass (optional) How to do it Take a daffodil and carefully begin the dissection. Start with the outer parts of the daffodil: sepal, petals etc. Use a pair of scissors to cut the corona. You may also want to use tweezers to assist with the dissection. Continue to dissect the remaining parts of the daffodil, laying them out on a flat surface. Use a magnifying glass to take a closer look at each part of the daffodil. What are we learning A flower dissection is a great way to get children to really en ..read more

Drain Disaster You will need A shoebox Scissors Blue fabric/paper String Lolly sticks Keys, card, coins, receipt etc A magnet Paperclips Chopsticks How to do it Turn a shoebox into a drain by cutting slits in the lid. Add blue fabric or paper for ‘water’. Drop in items to rescue (keys, credit card, coins, receipt etc). Time to get rescuing! You could use paperclips, magnets or chopsticks. Or try out other ways to rescue each item. What are we learning  This activity helps to develop soft skills such as creative thinking, communication and problem solving. Encourage children to ..read more

Welcome to the Spring 2022 edition of our seasonal STEM guides! It contains: STEM related Spring events and themed days/weeks Quick, easy website and activity suggestions for how to get involved (click on the pictures to find out more) Spring STEM resource recommendations Diaries at the ready! The events listed below are a really good way to help theme your STEM activities and help children to make real-world links. Spring is full of new life; from tree buds and colourful bulbs emerging from the ground to lambs, frogspawn and early butterflies. Spring is a hopeful time when we can spend l ..read more

Ice Fishing You will need ice cubes A bowl of cold water Food colouring String Salt How to do it Fill a bowl with cold water. Add a drop of food colouring to the water to create a colour contrast. Mix well. Drop in the ice cubes. Position your ‘fishing rod’ (string) across the ice. Sprinkle salt on the areas where the string and ice meet. Then leave for one minute. Lift up the string to see how much ice your fishing rod has caught! What are we learning Salt lowers the freezing point of water, helping to dissolve it faster. As it melts, the string sinks into the ice cube. The water ..read more

Flower Chemistry You will need A flower A pestle and mortar A jug of water and a teaspoon Vinegar Bicarbonate of Soda A paint/baking tray How to do it Drop two petals into a pestle and mortar. Add two teaspoons of water and mix until the water changes colour. Use a syringe to collect up the mixture. Then add it into three different tray wells. Add a teaspoon full of vinegar to the first tray well and mix. This is your acid indicator. Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda mixed with water to the second tray well and mix. This is your base indicator. Compare the colours in each tray wel ..read more

Every young person should see similar people to themselves succeeding in STEM. “You can’t be what you can’t see” Marian Wright Edelman (American activist for children’s rights) However… Women are underrepresented in STEM fields, making up just 24% of the overall UK STEM workforce Black, minority ethnic and disadvantaged young people are also consistently underrepresented within STEM. Disabled and neurodivergent people experience barriers to success in STEM. A powerful way to address this and challenge stereotypes is by exposing students to a diverse range of STEM role models from a young ..read more

The idea for HowToSTEM was first planted in my mind back in 2018 when I decided to organise a STEM week at my primary school. Full of enthusiasm, I turned to the internet for inspiration, only to find… well, not a lot! I wanted to share with my colleagues a selection of activities that were: Quick Easy-to-resource Low budget Suitable for both KS1 and KS2 Clearly explained the learning Everything I found seemed to be entirely the opposite of that. With so much out there for the well-trodden maths or science weeks, surely someone must have organised a STEM week in their school? With th ..read more

These seasonal STEM books are a great starting point for STEM learning. Use them to find out more about real-world STEM and perhaps even inspire an activity! Simply scroll down to the Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter sections to find out more about each book. Click on the image to find the book on Amazon. SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER ..read more