A surprising number of ordinary items make great for preschool STEM projects. That may seem unusual, but the fact is that science, technology, engineering, and math are critical aspects of our society that sometimes get overlooked. These 5 exciting activities use common ingredients and will provide hours of educational entertainment.
1. Lego Marble Maze
On a thin sheet of wood or heavy cardboard, arrange Legos into parallel walls that can be traversed by tilting the base and rolling a marble. Encourage preschoolers to make the maze as tricky as they want, including dead ends, and areas where the marble has to be carefully guided in order to enter an opening or accomplish other game goals. Not only is this Labyrinth-style game a lot of fun but it can also be rebuilt in countless ways.
2. Basic States of Matter
Water is probably the best element for demonstrating the states of matter because water has a relatively narrow temperature spectrum. In addition to demonstrating the types of matter, you can do simple experiments like guessing what effect colored ice cubes will have when put into a warm glass of water.
3. Salt Crystal Sun Catcher
Epsom salts and water are all you need to create fun dream catchers in preschool. The mixture is one part salt to one part water and the project can be completed in 2 days. You can also add some variation to the original idea by adding food coloring when mixing the salts, or placing drops on the solution while waiting on the water to evaporate.
4. Balancing Bags
A coathanger, two identical clothespins, resealable bags, and various small items will teach children to compare things by volume and weight. Simply hang the items you want to compare on exactly opposite sides of the coathanger. You can use bags containing a variety of measured weights to get (approximate) weight measures.
5. Candy Construction
Toothpicks and soft candy are easy to transform into a miniature erection set. Small minds can learn about the importance of bracing, corner foundations, and other aspects of building design.
In addition to science, technology, engineering, and math, these activities promote critical thinking and help develop fine motor skills. You will come up with your own variations for these ideas, or you can sit down with your preschooler and come up with some things to try on your own.