A simple STEM play setup with natural materials that you can leave out and come back to throughout the day. This activity is a lovely way to create something with your kids. Something they can later on use to explore and understand the world a bit better. Keep reading to find out how you can make your own DIY scale for STEM and use it to explore scientific and mathematical concepts through play.

Materials
These are the materials we used to create or simple DIY scale for STEM and nature play:
- Hanger
- Baskets
- String
- A place to hang it (we just attached a stick to our railing and hung it on there)
- Natural materials
- Optional: Clothespins with numbers on them
We tied the string to the baskets and found a place to put our hanger. We love involving our kids in this part of the process too. By modelling this DIY attitude, we are cultivating a their own “can do” attitude. They are problem solving, they are creating things they can play with. It doesn’t just magically appear, or is bought from a store. We use the resources we have at home and make something with it, developing resourcefulness. Somethink key in STEM and life in general.
STEM skills
Once the set up is complete, you can explore the scale togethere. Here are some examples of what you can talk about while you play:
- Scientific concepts: weight, materials
- Categorizing: find out what objects are heavier/lighter, use different combinations and compare
- Observation: what happens when objects are heavier?
- Math: how many shells do we need to balance a stone? What is heavier 4 shells or 2 pinecones?
- Conversations: Talk and wonder about what you see and the materials you are using






Play around with it together, maybe you just end up piling everything into the baskets like we did, trying to fill all the spaces.
Check Out These Other STEM Activities With Natural Materials:
- Simple Science Project For Kids: Float or Sink
- Nature Puzzles: A Wonderful Way To Explore Shapes
- STEM Project: Engineer a House out of Natural Materials
- Gardening With Kids: Beautiful Math And Art Activity
- STEM Nature Box: Sort, Categorize, And Learn

