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Tag Archives: Activities in summer

STEM Water Play: 8 Fun Activities to try this Summer

With hot summer days around the corner and school out, it is time to start thinking about what you can do to entertain your kids. If at the same time you can keep them cool and help them learn then it is definitely a bonus! In this post, I have gathered some great water play activities your children will enjoy and I have added some observations about how you can add some STEM learning to them. All activities are low prep and lots of fun! So keep reading and check them out. 

8 STEM Water Play Activities:

1. Build a rain gutter river from frugalfun4boys

This activity gets your children transferring water. This on its own is quite entertaining but here are some suggestions so you can sneak in some learning opportunities:

  • What materials can you use to block the water from flowing? Which are better? Try out different materials and see what happens
  • How can you get water to flow faster or slower?

2. Water transfer activity with sponges from livewellplaytogether

Such a great little activity with so much learning potential! This activity aims to teach toddlers about absorbency and again, water transferring. She offers questions and keywords at the end of the post so you’re good to go with this one! 

3. Summer fun idea: How to make tinfoil rivers from 3littlegreenwoods

Another easy water activity that can wake up some STEM thinking. In this post, you will find an activity to build a river using only tinfoil! That’s it! So simple. The good thing about such simple activities is that you can add difficulty or challenges to it and keep the kids entertained. Some added challenges you could include with this activity:

  • Obstacle course: Mark a starting point and ending point and add some obstacles they have to go through. 
  • Build a dam: to collect water at a certain point. What materials will they use to stop the water? Where will you put your water entrance and exit if you want to collect as much water as possible without blocking it?
  • Build a bridge: How can they get water to go over a bridge? Does it need to go fast or slow?
  • Water race: Make different rivers but they all have to have the same elements, for example, 4 curves (should they be close together or far apart?), a bridge that goes over a big stone, a dam with water entrance and exit diagonal from each other. Have a bucket at the end of each river and start pouring! See who is the first to fill up the bucket 

4. Colored water play from messymotherhood

Water and colors! Such a good combination. With this activity, children get to explore mixing colors and finding out about new colors! Here are some color conversations you can have with your children while they are playing (or after as a reminder of the fun they had):

  • What color combinations were you able to make?
  • What happens when you mix colors in the same proportion? In different proportions (for example, 3 cups of red with 1 cup of blue)? 
  • What happens when you mix all colors?
  • How many green/orange… tones can you create?

5. DIY Water wall for summer STEM from littlebinsforlittlehands

Engineering, science and math all in one! Making a water wall is a fun and engaging activity that has a lot of learning potential. Just making it and then playing with it, observing what happens when you pour water is great for learning but if you want to go a step further and challenge your kids to think a bit more you could include things like:

  • Can you add an element to your wall to make water flow faster/slower?
  • Can you exchange two pieces and keep the water flowing?

6. Water displacement experiment from happyhooligans

This great activity teaches kids about water displacement. She does a great job of explaining the concept and how to engage children with this activity. Some additional things you could do with older kids or to see if they grasped the concept:

  • Categorize your stones by size or weight
  • Make a couple of lines on your container and ask children to try and find the stone that will displace the water until that line
  • Ask them to use the least possible number of stones to get the water out of the container

7. STEM experiment: float or sink from astemfulmind

A classic float or sink experiment. You can use it for all different ages. Just start collecting objects to see if they float or sink. If you want to dig a bit deeper this post will guide you on how to use the scientific method (with a free printable) to find out an answer to the question: Why do things float or sink? Let your little scientists discover how the world of water works!

8. Stick raft building STEM project from kidscraftroom

Another classic, build a boat or raft. This post is great and explains how they built a boat following an engineering design process. It also sneaks in some different challenges you could do. Great fun and learning!


That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed this round-up and that you have found some inspiration for some fun STEM water-play this summer! 

For more information about STEM and how to transform your STEM activities at home, check out these posts:

  • 5 tips to transform STEM activities at home
  • What is STEM and why is STEM learning important?

Check out other fun STEM activities to sneak in some STEM learning:

  • STEM activity: Build a pyramid and learn about shapes
  • DIY math game with playdough
  • STEM project: Engineer a house out of natural materials
  • STEM challenge: The Tower of Random Things
STEM water play summer

Happy STEM learning, 

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Hi! We are Anni and Stefan, a mix of engineering with a dash of education and a pinch of social work, blended together and turned into parents who have a passion for creating lightbulb moments. We want to help you bring STEM learning into your home in a way that is fun, educational and challenging enough so that children can develop their thinking skills. ♥

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astemfulmind

Anni | STEM + Nature Learning
Where will the marble roads take you? 🚗🚦🚧 Where will the marble roads take you? 🚗🚦🚧 🧱
One day we set out to make some mazes or marble runs with clay. I thought my kids would each want to do their own but it ended up being a team project and I'm so glad it went that way! Our project turned into Marble city, with roads and many more fun things along the way. 
I drew a road with a start and a finish, a few loops here and there and some intersections so that they could cover it with clay. And then I just let their imagination take the lead. The beauty of open-ended activities and resources is you never know where it will take you. There were trees, mountains, tunnels, bridges and even stop lights! And after it was created there was imaginative play, role play and a lot of marble traffic!
It was fascinating to observe my kids build a world from clay and other resources we had around the house. The process of building it was play and then that play was extended and transformed by actually playing in the world they created 🧡
It is also definitely something that can be done outside. We did it out on our terrace but I'm excited to try it out in nature where there are even more open-ended resources!! 🌿🌰🍂🌸🪨
Learning new things ✨🥰 I have started a new Learning new things ✨🥰
I have started a new journey, training to be a Forest School Leader. I am not exactly sure in which direction it will take me but it was something that felt right. 
The ethos of Forest school and the role of the reflective practitioner just resonates with me, the outdoor, simple and slow child-led playful learning community. It is what I try to do with my own children and it's wonderful to extend and consolidate everything that I have learned over the last years into something that will serve me and my family as well as other families with children. 
I am very excited to show you how I adapt the Forest School practice to my parenting. We have already created some pretty cool indoor shelters, hammocks for dolls with ropes and cloth, and continue to use our natural materials for child-led experiments and activities. I am also learning to observe my children better and reflect on their needs and interests, which is key to their holistic growth and development.
Hope you find this as inspiring as I do and follow along for some reflections and of course for the nature play and wonder 💚🧡
The wonder of simple experimentation ✨ When you The wonder of simple experimentation ✨
When you let the child lead you never know what will happen. Sometimes nothing really happens, and that's ok too. But then there are times when you bring out some materials and "tools", add a bit of water and you suddenly have a full on experiment station on your hands!
I saved some pumpkin seeds from a pumpkin I had baked, thinking they might come in handy some time. I didn't have anything in mind, but when my 5-year-old said she wanted to do an experiment I offered them to her. 
She directly asked for water to check if pumpkin seeds sink or float. So we gathered water, some containers and a few extra tools (just some kitchen utensils). Turns out some actually sink and others float! We discussed why this might be happening and then I asked her if she thought she could find a way to separate them with the tools we had… this led to some critical thinking, some trial and error and a lot of experimentation and conversations. She was engaged, on a mission, and she had initiated the experiment herself. 
💜 I love watching these moments unfold and they just further convince me that experiments don't need to come with flashy reactions, or bright colors. They can be simple, like this one. Experiments should make us think, tickle our minds with questions about what we see and drive us to test possibilities that will reveal answers, solutions or rethink our questions. And childhood is full of moments like these if you look close enough.
The art of noticing the small details 🐚✨ A s The art of noticing the small details 🐚✨
A simple activity with natural materials and a magnifying glass. I just set this up on the table and we started looking at each material and paying attention to what we could see. It made us think and wonder about patterns, irregularities and just other things we might not notice otherwise. 
We learned to pay attention to details and that things might look different depending on how close you look. And these observations lead to questions and these questions lead to a search for answers, discovery, learning. 
And all it takes is a magnifying glass and some nature 🤎🧡
DIY OOBLECK BLOCKS 🧱🌽💧 These Oobleck blo DIY OOBLECK BLOCKS 🧱🌽💧
These Oobleck blocks are so easy to make and were a perfect addition to our dry Oobleck play as it gave us the chance to build structures and create small worlds. 
Materials you'll need:
🌽Cornstarch
💧Water
🧊Ice trays
🧘‍♀️Patience
To prepare the Oobleck you mix 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. If you have never tried Oobleck you are in for a fun treat! It is a great sensory experience for kids and really engaging as it behaves both like a solid or fluid depending on the pressure it's under. 
Once you are done experimenting with Oobleck try filling some ice cube trays with it and then let it dry (it can take some days, which can be tricky for little kids but is also a great opportunity to practice patience).
❗A lot of ours cracked and broke so make sure you prepare enough. We made 3 trays.
🧱 That's it! We crushed some of the broken blocks and used the other ones to create, nurturing some STEM skills through play. 
For more ideas for STEM and nature play follow along!
"If children are to keep alive their inborn sense "If children are to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder… they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." Rachel Carson
These words truly resonate with me.
Sharing the path of learning and discovery with our children is so beneficial and not only for our kids. It is so positive for us too! It reawakens our inner child, our own sense of wonder. It allows us to slow down, to play. 
We explore together, we seek out the answers to our questions, we experiment and play, we struggle to find solutions, we persevere and through these experiences we learn. About the world, about each other, about ourselves, giving us the chance to bond over something beautiful.
👉 Follow along for inspiration on family activities that nurture curiosity and drive learning
Have you ever let Oobleck dry? ☀️ Letting Oob Have you ever let Oobleck dry? ☀️
Letting Oobleck dry is the best way to clean it up but it also gives you the chance to use it again in a different way. 
I like to leave it in a tray or cooking pan so it spreads out and dries faster. Once it's dry you can just poke it and scrape it out.
It crumbles and cracks nicely between your fingers and has a lovely texture that my kids (and I) really enjoy.
You can keep it dry or combine it again with water to get the gooey, slimy, and fascinating Oobleck back.
👉 I'm also testing a different way to use dry Oobleck so make sure you stay tuned!
DIY STONE STACKING GAME 🌈🪨 Stone stacking h DIY STONE STACKING GAME 🌈🪨
Stone stacking has many benefits, for both kids and adults. It encourages patience, creative processing, concentration, focus, and hand-eye coordination. We love doing this when we are outdoors and in nature, it gives us a moment to stop and relax. 
This simple DIY is inspired by all those stone stacking moments and adds a bit of a challenge to nurture those skills even more. 
👉 This is how we prepared it:
We collected stones and selected 6 of them for the game, we painted them using acrylic paints, and borrowed a color dice from one of our board games. If you don’t have a color dice just add stickers to a normal one.
👉 How we played:
Players take turns to roll the dice, find the stone that matches the color and place it on the stack. 
🌈 It’s pretty simple, but it adds a new layer to simple stacking, as you navigate having to put bigger and heavier stones on top. It also encourages problem solving, conversations and observations which are key drivers of learning. 
💫 For more simple nature and STEM play you can take outdoors and that nurtures learning make sure to follow along
Motherhood is definitely reawakening my childlike Motherhood is definitely reawakening my childlike curiosity and wonder 💫🌱🦴 
As we were on one of our nature walks one day we found some animal bones in the forest and our reaction was… wow!! Let’s take them home! After packing them in a bag, we decided it would be a good idea to clean them before examining them.
A quick google research revealed that we could use hydrogen peroxide to clean and whiten the bones. Gloves on and to work!
With great care we handled the bones and the hydrogen peroxide, saw the fizzy bubbles come out and observed the reaction (a bit of chemistry at play here!) We talked about what was happening and about the bones themselves, how they are different from ours, what type of animal they could be from according to their teeth (herbivore?) and a lot more.
This process of curiosity, hands-on exploration and discovery is a key part of childhood. Children are naturals at this, and if we follow along and support this process who knows what amazing things we might discover together. What is certain is that by exploring together like this we are nurturing their natural curiosity, cultivating a love for discovering new things and giving them the tools to drive their own learning. 
Never would I have thought that cleaning bones would turn into a great hands-on learning experience. But I have learned that following my children usually leads to moments of discovery like this.
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