Check out some of our favorite resources for STEM activities for your family and/or classroom. The audiences served by each resource is noted.
NSTA Annual Book List
Looking to recommend a good STEM book? Check out the titles that made the National Science Teacher’s Association’s (NSTA) annual list of Best STEM Books K-12. NSTA is pleased to unveil the list of Best STEM Books: K-12. This list—selected by volunteer educators and assembled in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council—provides recommendations about the best trade books with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content available for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Free Online Resources
100 Ways to Play (Pre-K, Grades K-5) – Every day, there are a wealth of opportunities for adults and their children to play and grow together. The Boston Children’s Museum has chosen 100 of its favorites, in honor of its 100th anniversary. See how many of these 100 Ways to Play you can try together this year!
At Home Engineering (Grades 3-12, Educators) – At Home Engineering is brought to you by Discover E, which works to ensure people everywhere understand how engineers, technicians, and technologists make the world a better place. At Home Engineering offers activities with just a few materials and videos engage children in engineering.
Cincinnati Zoo (Grades K-8) – The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens Home Safari Resources bring you up close and personal with the animal world. Home Safari Facebook Live each day at 2pm CDT highlights one of the zoo’s amazing animals and includes an activity you can do from home.
CrashCourse (Grades 6-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Tons of awesome courses in one awesome channel! Subjects include physics, philosophy, games, economics, U.S. government and politics, astronomy, anatomy & physiology, world history, biology, literature, ecology, chemistry, psychology, and U.S. history.
DiscoverE (Grades 3-12, Educators) – DiscoverE has collected a series of articles which offer suggestions, activities with just a few materials, and videos you can use to engage your students or child in engineering.
EPSCoR STEM Activities (Grades 1-12, Educators) – North Dakota EPSCoR offers STEM activity videos, complete with supply and shopping lists.
Exploratorium (Grades 3-12, College/Adult) – Located in San Francisco, California, the Exploratorium is a public learning laboratory exploring the world through science, art, and human perception. It online Learning Toolbox allows you to continue science learning wherever you are with activities and videos.
Franklin@Home (Grades K-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Founded in honor of America’s first scientist, Benjamin Franklin, The Franklin Institute is one of the oldest and premier centers of science education and development in the country. Franklin@Home brings you digital science offerings. Take a virtual tour of the Giant Heart, explore NightSkies@Home, and get your daily does of live science, experiments and recipes – because science never stops.
Girls Who Code (Grades 3-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Girls Who Code is making educational activities available for download free of charge, to anyone who wants to access them. Activities will be released weekly — some online, some offline, of varying levels of difficulty—over the course of the next few months. Each activity will include a feature of a woman in tech who pioneered innovative technology.
Hands-On Science (Grades 3-8, Educators) – Hands-On Science from Twin Cities PBS brings real-life science educators performing their best experiments with the help of a young studio audience.
Home Science Tools (Grades 3-12, Educators) – Activities, lessons, and supplies for parents and educators. Also a resource for science enthusiasts or those looking to buy gifts for kids with an interest in science.
Instructables (Pre-K, Grades K-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Instructables is full of amazing step by step instructions to make anything! The Teachers section allows you to sort through activities by age. Instructables is for adults, too. If you are a maker, explore the site. You’re bound to find projects and techniques to try out.
Misssion: Materials Science (Grades 3-12, Educators) – Materials science is the study of stuff — what it’s made of, how it can be used, and even how it can be changed to create new kinds of stuff. Your mission? To learn how materials science and engineering is at work all around you.
Museum of Science and Industry (Grades 3-8, Educators) – Located in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry offers Science at Home activities and topics you can access anytime.
NASA (Grades K-12, College/Adults, Educators) – NASA STEM @ Home is filled with science, technology, engineering, and math activities that are fun for kids, adults, and the whole family.
National Parks Virtual Field Trips (Grades 3-12, College/Adults, Educators)
- Kanai Fjords – Rappel into a crevasse, kayak through icebergs, and watch a glacier recede.
- Hawai’i Volcanos – Fly over an active volcano, explore a lava tube, and look out across volcanic cliffs.
- Carlsbad Caverns – Fly with thousands of bates, explore incredible formations, and trek by headlamp through a cave.
- Bryce Canyon – Gaze up at the night sky, ride horseback through a canyon, and see hoodoos up close.
- Dry Tortugas – Dive a shipwreck, swim through the third-largest coral reef in the world, and tour a Civil War-era fort.
New York Hall of Science (Pre-K, Grades K-12, Educators) – The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) was founded at the 1964–65 World’s Fair and has evolved into New York’s center for interactive science, serving a half million students, teachers, and families each year. NYSCI is bringing at-home games, activities, experiments, and projects to you!
NISEnet (Grades K-12, Educators) – The National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network) and its partners have developed a variety of hands-on STEM activities designed for use in museums and science centers. Most of these hands-on STEM activities can be done with materials you may already have in your home.
North America Scholastic ESports Federation (NASEF) (Grades 9-12, College/Adults) – NASEF’s mission is to provide opportunities for students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life.
ND Geological Survey Paleo (Grades 6-12, College/Adult) – Scientists with the North Dakota Geological Survey Paleontology Division offer presentations on a variety of topics. Follow the NDGS on Facebook for live presentation and more activities.
OLogy (Grades K-5, Educators) – “Ology” means “the study of.” The American Museum of Natural History’s OLogy page offers videos, activities, stories, and fun games to explore a variety of STEM topics. Choose your topic(s) and learn about Anthropology, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biodiversity, Brain, Climate Change, Earth, Genetics, Marine Biology, Microbiology, Paleontology, Physics, Water, and Zoology.
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Grades 3-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Engaging videos and activities to inspire you to experience the wonder of science with crafted and curated activities that can be enjoyed at home by all ages.
PBS Kids (Pre-K, Grades K-5, Educators) – Explore fun and educational activities for the whole family. PBS Kids allows you to filter activities by age, topic, categories, and/or show.
Peep and the Big Wide World Anytime Activities (Pre-K, Grades K-2, Educators) – Written by a preschool teacher who specializes in early childhood science, these easy-to-do ideas are fun ways for you and your kids to learn simple science concepts.
Raspberry Pi Projects (Grades 3-12, College/Adult, Educators) – Raspberry Pi offers some great projects that will help you start writing code and get going with digital making using things like Scratch, CAD, 3D printing, Python, and more.
Science Bob (Grades 3-12, College/Adult, Educators) – “Science Bob” Pflugfelder is a science teacher, author, maker, and presenter that knows how to share the world of science like never before. Most importantly, Bob encourages parents and teachers to practice Random Acts of Science by providing instructions and videos for interactive science experiments on his web site.
Science Buddies (Grades K-12, Educators) – Fun science at home with hands-on activities and videos.
Science Museum of Minnesota (Grades 3-12, Educators) – Founded in 1907 and located on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, the Science Museum of Minnesota offers 370,000 square feet of space. Its “Learn from Home” website page brings science learning and fun to you at home.
Science Sparks (Pre-K, Grades K-8) – If you’re looking for a great science experiment Science Sparks is the place to go. Science Sparks is bursting with easy science experiments for kids of all ages. Discover fun facts, cool science experiments, FREE science printables, awesome science fair projects and super STEM challenges!
SciShow (Grades 6-12, College/Adult, Educators) – A YouTube channel for older kids or adults. At SciShow, we’re endlessly curious about what makes the universe tick. If you’re passionate about quenching your curiosity about… everything, you’re in the right place. Join us ever day to learn about the world around us and beyond.
SciShow Kids (Grades K-5, Educators) – SciShow Kids explores all those curious topics that make us ask “why?” Every Tuesday and Thursday, Jessi and her robot rat Squeaks answer your questions and explain fun, complex science concepts for young, curious minds. Whether conducting experiments, researching new questions, or talking with experts, there’s always something new to discover with SciShow Kids, no matter what your age!
STEM Ecosystem Library (Pre-K, Grades K-12, College/Adult, Educators) – STEM Ecosystems seek to provide all students high-quality experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics related fields. STEM learning opportunities for students and families, recognizing that STEM learning can happen any time, anywhere, at any pace.
TED-Ed (Grades 3-12, College/Adult, Educators) – TED-Ed’s mission is to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world. TED-Ed Animations are short,award-winning animated videos about ideas that spark the curiosity of learners everywhere. Every TED-Ed Animation represents a creative collaboration between experts. These original animated videos, paired with questions and resources, make up TED-Ed Lessons.
We Are Teachers (Grades K-8, Educators) – For teachers and parents. Find fun websites, games, apps, and hands-on activities to assist and extend distance learning for students.
WebCams (Pre-K, Grades K-12, College/Adult, Educators)