A collection of over __ hands on and fun Math STEM Activities. Something fun for all ages and all skills. Make learning fun!
Learning through STEM Math pretty much means helping your students problem solve and learn in everyday life settings. Including – science, technology or engineering…and when you can incorporate one of those three within a math activity you are creating a great learning tool for extending the idea and concepts of STEM Math.
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Math STEM Activities for Preschool
Are you looking for activities centered around numbers and number recognition, basic math skills for Preschoolers? When teaching preschoolers hands on math – make math and numbers fun…teaching not only numbers by rote but rational counting through different Math STEM activities.
Here are a few basic Preschool Math concepts you want to try and teach your students in their preschool years before entering Kindergarten!
- Number Sense- These skills include counting to 20; ordering number cards; identifying without counting how many items are in a small set; and understanding that quantity does not change regardless of how a set of items is arranged.
- Representation. Making mathematical ideas “real” by using words, pictures, symbols, and objects (like blocks).
- Spatial sense- introducing the ideas of shape, size, space, position, direction and movement.
Hands on Math Activities
Paperclip Math – This activity incorporates math in with science and art – creating a very engaging, hands on activity – that I can guarantee your preschoolers will love. Ever since we created this activity together we’ve done it multiple times within days. There are so so soooo many great ways to actually engage with this activity, which is nice to change it up a bit each time you pull it out!
Pumpkin Math – As we enter the fall season, when we are all looking for easy and fun hands on math for our preschoolers – let me introduce to you this simple pumpkin math game which involves so much around numbers and math.
Building Shapes with Crayons – this activity is by JDaniels4Mom – using a free printable your preschooler will design different shapes using crayons to learn and engage with.
Fish Crackers Counting Game – Setup is really simple – place fish crackers in a bowl and then set aside on a plastic tray along with printable sheet. Food and Math, just can’t be beat!
Simple Play dough Shapes Building – Knowledge of shapes is one of the earliest educational processes that young kids are exposed to. Preschoolers use visual information about shapes to discriminate between objects and to learn about the world around them.
Preschool Geometry + Building Shapes – What better way to teach preschoolers about shapes then by letting them make them?! Explore 2D and 3D shapes with this hands-on activity using play- dough! It’s a playful way to teach your preschooler or Kindergarten kiddo about geometric shapes such as triangles, squares, and rhombuses!
Buggy Math Building Patterns – First create pattern strips using four basic colors, so that they could be used with many different themes. Print the strips, cut them out, laminated them on only on one side using packaging tape, and then glued them to a giant wood popsicle stick with a glue stick. Once they’re all made, that can be stored in a zip top bag, and the preschooler can chose which pattern they want to build.
Counting Kites – The idea of this math activity is to attach the correct amount of mini clothes pins onto the ribbon. As the pins are so small this involves lots of concentration, perseverance and strengthens fine motor skills. You have to press hard in order for the miniature pins to open.
Kindergarten STEM Math
Tallest Tower Game – With 3 paper towel tubes I wanted to incorporate into some kind of stacking or learning game. I ended up turning them into 2 different DIY Math Games– tallest tower and toss-n-tally. The math games involved counting, measuring, and adding.
Math in the Garden– You can use these exact challenges if you’re setting up a garden, or just use them to inspire you with ways you can integrate your own outside work and math!
Math in Nature Scavenger Hunt- Math in Nature scavenger hunt for kids sends the players on an outdoor chase for nature treasures. While looking for items to check off their lists, the players learn interesting facts about nature, while practicing basic math.
Pumpkin Weighing I decided a pumpkin weighing activity would be fun! Before we went to weigh the pumpkin we all decided to guess the weight to see who was the closest. Each member of the family made a guess before we weighed the pumpkin.
Weighing and Measuring Apples– I came up with a very simple STEM activity which includes weighing and measuring apples and recording our results on a Apple STEM Measurement printable.
Insect Skip Counting – I’m always looking for new and creative ways to teach students number sense and counting because it helps them retain and understand what we teach them. So we find interesting ways to connect what they’re learning to things that matter to them.
Lego Seek & Graph – Combining sensory play and math activity we came up with this super simple Lego seek and graph by color sensory play idea. You can download printable chart we used in this activity and let your toddlers try this easy math activity.
Middle School STEM Math Activities
Learn Symmetry – Draw the missing half of an insect to make the picture complete! These drawing prompts are good for children learning the concept of symmetry and, of course, for all young insect enthusiasts.
Measuring Nature Activity – Trees were measured. Leaves were measured. Even rocks were measured!
Rotational Symmetry Art Project- A math art project is a great way to encourage kids who love numbers to get creative and artistic kids to think about how mathematics and art work together. This rotational symmetry art project is just the ticket.
Math Art Activity: Tessellations – If you’re looking for a math art activity I highly recommend teaching your kids about Tessellations! Tessellations are repetitive patterns of shapes that fit perfectly together across a 2-dimensional plane of space (think of how floor tiles fit together).
Human Body Math– Use this super fun & easy outdoor science activity to show kids just how long their small intestines are and learn a little about the human body too!
Bean Math Grid Graph– Two very simple to set up bean math grid games. We have prepared for you blank math grid templates for counting from 1 – 10 for toddlers and preschoolers, and 1 – 20 for pre-K and older kids.
Cootie Catcher Symmetry Fun – To make your Cootie Catcher, you will need a square piece of paper. We generally cut it from an A4 sheet of paper, so measures approximately 20 x 20 cm.
H is for Heart Rate – Well, you have to have a heart beat to stay alive. Your heart beat can tell you many things and this is what makes exploring heart rate and pulse a great activity.
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