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If you have a little scientist, read on to find our top 10 favorite STEM activities for toddlers! Inspire an early love of all things STEM with these hands-on experiments and projects – perfect for little ones!
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Using STEM activities is a great hook to get young kids interested in these subjects early on. STEM projects created for young children have a WOW factor built right in.
The STEM activities you’ll find around the internet and below, are largely process-based and open-ended. That means kids can dig into an experiment or play with a project without having to worry about the end result being perfect.
Your child will be learning through play, experimenting, trying something new, and trying again.
With the focus on the process, your tiny people will learn to be more willing to fail – and then to persevere. Tenacity is an important skill at any age and especially important for little ones acquiring all new knowledge about the world!
10 FUN STEM Activities for Toddlers!
Below are our favorite hands-on STEM activities for toddlers. I hope you enjoy these low-prep, process-based activities and your little ones are encouraged to play, explore, and learn!
1. Watercolor and Salt Snowflakes by Teach Beside Me
2. Crystal Sun Catchers by Babble Dabble Do
3. Chromatography Flowers by Buggy and Buddy
4. Go Fishing with Magnets by Stir the Wonder
5. Weighing and Measuring Water by Little Bins for Little Hands
6. Make a Cloud in a Jar by Gift of Curiosity
7. Build a Balance Scale from Hands On as We Grow
8. Jelly Bean Building by Lemon Lime Adventures
9. Make Ice Cream in a Bag by Buggy and Buddy
10. Make Bread in a Bag by Little Bins for Little Hands
Where to go next?
Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.