Fascinating Facts About Turkey Vultures It’s early spring, and like many other promising signs of winter ending here in Western New York, turkey vultures have begun making their presence known in the cool skies above. This eerie, yet welcome sight is certainly an indication that sunnier days are ahead. The other night as I was out with my 1 year old son enjoying the dying hours of the day we could not help but notice that we were being stalked by close to 50 turkey vultures. Although the sight of these magnificent birds is common, personally not much is known about them. As a result, STEM Valu ..read more

23 Ideas To Reuse and Recycle Old T-Shirts As the long winter days are upon us you might be looking for a good wholesome activity to pass the time. Many people take advantage of this time to clear out some old items they may not want anymore. One thing that people usually have an abundance of is t-shirts! Some t-shirts may be worn out, too tight or small, or simply just an old gag gift you’ll never wear. Mine seem to get tight, but I blame the dryer. Instead of throwing out these old t-shirts, why not try one of these great 23 ideas to reuse and recycle old t-shirts. Old rags (It’s a classic ..read more

Classroom Pets Are Great For STEM! Recently my daughter got a pet hedgehog for her birthday and it got me wondering if classroom pets are great for teaching STEM? Now I’ve had classroom pets before (mostly fish) and it’s clear that animals spark excitement and intrigue for many. It’s ponderous to think about how having a pet in the classroom may impact STEM instruction. This post will explore the pros and cons of having a classroom pet, and the impact that pets have on STEM. But, first STEM Value would like to celebrate our invitation from Feedspot.com as a Top 100 STEM Blog! If you find this ..read more

Top 5 Cheap STEM Baby Toys Under $25 Do you think you have a baby genius or maybe you want to turn your baby into one and get them involved with the STEM fields and expand their rapidly growing minds. I have researched and reviewed what I think are the top 5 cheap STEM baby toys under 25 dollars. Assuming you have a baby you know that they cost a ton of money and finding anything that is cheap, safe, and enriching is hard! In saying so, I made my selections based on durability, storage, ease of cleaning, and price. You can find these items and other reviewed baby STEM toys in the Stem Value St ..read more

With the holidays quickly upon us and the inevitable truth that the world will be covered in piles of gift wrapping waste will soon be a reality. This environmental and financial waste could be a difficult pill for some people to swallow. Fear not as STEM Value offers one way of reusing old wrapping paper. In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll walk away from this post with a lighter conscience and an awesome memory box to remember how great this holiday season was! Why Make A Memory Box? Often times the holidays come and the holidays go. The decorations go away as fast as they come out (unle ..read more

Above Ground Pool Fail About two summers ago it was decided that a housing upgrade was in the cards as our family population was growing yet again. A major benefit of the new house was a pool! Last winter the water level slowly began to drain out of the pool. At the time it was chalked up to a poked hole in the winter cover from a stick. This winter it drained really fast and led to this above ground pool fail. So what happened? STEM Value will investigate this mysterious above ground pool fail and try to reach some conclusion as to the cause.  Various STEM skills will be employed to investig ..read more

Fun Free Family Thanksgiving STEM Activities It’s another Thanksgiving and this means that the kids are most certainly home from school on this fine day! If you are looking to extend STEM learning in a fun and not-so-obvious way with the kids, or maybe you and those you are preparing dinner for are looking to add something different to the prefeast activities, worry not STEM Value has you covered! I have brainstormed a few ways of using STEM activities with your Thanksgiving weekend festivities! Using Math With Thanksgiving Cooking and Baking This sounds fun right? If you aren’t sure, go on an ..read more

Preschoolers are an amazing group of young learners whose minds are like sponges. Their excitement to learn and investigate makes working with this age group very tiring but extremely worthwhile! Preschool STEM projects are probably one of the more preferred projects to do because of the excitement of the kids wanting to help and seeing their reaction to the end result of a completed activity. If you are looking to experience this excitement with you preschooler without going broke I am here to help. I have researched the top 6 cheap STEM toys for preschoolers under $25 for you to explore and ..read more