A great way to bring STEM into the elementary classroom is to have a regular time for STEM centers or STEM bins. Teachers choose what items they want in their bins and organize them into plastic totes for students to easily use and put away. A STEM center could be part of larger rotation of activities combined with reading, math or science concepts. Through the STEM Action Center Classroom Grant, teachers have been able to acquire supplies for STEM centers or bins in their classroom. Some recipients shared with us how they incorporated STEM into their classroom with the acquired supplies.
Taylor Cooney said:
Choose 4-6 building materials for your students to use. Materials can be items purchased like legos, magnetic tiles, etc. or items you may already have such as popsicle sticks, straws, toothpicks, etc. Every day I set out a bin of items on each table in my classroom. As students come in in the morning, they can choose a table to sit at and start building something. They can work together to create something with the materials or use some of the materials to build something on their own. Some days I leave the building open-ended to foster creativity. Other times, I challenge them to build something together like the tallest building, strongest bridge, etc.
This is a great way to start out morning every day and has become some of my students favorite part of the day. This is a great way to get their creative juices flowing first thing in the morning and we try to keep that momentum throughout the day.
Kathy Palfreyman shared:
As a new Kindergarten teacher I didn’t have any STEM learning toys for my students. I wanted my students to have the opportunity to build and create with STEM toys. I purchased several STEM learning toys that they were able to build with construct, and experiment with. They learned how to put different parts together, what parts fit where, and how they could create different objects with various parts. It exposed them to some basic engineering, math, and art.
Emily White told us:
I curated STEM bins composed of open-ended building materials to allow students opportunities for hands-on learning and exploration. The STEM bins allow students to further explore concepts we’re learning in math and science. STEM bins can be used independently or in groups. As an educator, observing student play and exploration allows me to assess student understanding of concepts, as well as provide opportunities for increased critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.
Here are some ideas for STEM centers or bins:
Building/Engineering Toys – Make task cards for things to create or just allow students to tinker with them.
- Creative Flakes, Snowflakes, Suction Cup Toys
- Goobi Magnets
- Wooden Dominos
- Magna-tiles/Magformers/Picasso Tiles
- Straws and Connectors
- Plus-Plus Interlocking blocks
- Legos
- Keva Planks
- IQ Builder
- Survive the Quake
- Marble Runs – Picasso Tiles Marble Run, Create-A-Path Magnetic Center, Marble Genius
Logic games
- Road Builder
- Games from Think Fun – Rush Hour/My First Rush Hour, Cat Crimes, Laser Maze, Gravity Maze, Roller Coaster Challenge, and more
- STEM explorers Brainometry
- Mastermind / Mastermind for kids
Coding
Science
Math
A Pinterest search for “stem bins” provides seemingly unlimited ideas for ways to incorporate STEM in the elementary classroom.
