12 Best Valentine’s Day STEM Activities For Kids

What could be more fun than enjoying some STEM Valentine fun during the month of love! Add some pink, a generous dose of creativity, and turn simple STEM activities for kids into STEM ideas for Valentine’s Day.

With all the hype and the markets going crazy for Valentine’s Day decorations, it’s only fitting to get involved in some fun STEM activities for kids. Simple and fun, these 10 easy STEM activities for kids will spark their creativity as well as develop their science and math skills.

Our latest video on Valentine’s Day crafts for kids

Valentine’s STEM activities for children

These fun and easy STEM activities are perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and older kids. They combine various skills and help children learn in a fun, hands-on way, making learning better and more effective.

1. STEM Jenga Hearts

Use the classic game tiles to structure a STEM-inspired engineering challenge for your kids. Ask them to make hearts out of tiles.

No matter how simple it sounds, it is quite difficult for young children to make a heart out of rectangular tiles. Take the challenge up a notch by creating a standing heart and try the domino effect.

2. Valentine Heart Tower

This is a cool STEM challenge for little architects in the making. Inspired by Valentine’s Day, the challenge is to make the tallest paper heart tower! It may sound simple, but it is much more complicated than what it seems at first glance.

Step 1: Print out the heart template and cut out the hearts on red and pink craft paper.

Tower of hearts template

Step 2: Then, using scissors, make a neat cut in all the hearts. These slots will help you connect hearts.

Now ask your children to make the tallest tower using hearts. They will need to figure out how to connect the hearts to create a strong foundation. After establishing a stable base, the challenge is to build the tallest tower in 10 minutes.

Quick tip: Give your mind a break with Valentine Inspired Would You Rather Questions.

3. A heart made of Mobius strips

The Mobius Strip Heart is a fun STEM Valentine for Kindergarten and up. Sure to help kids see math in a new light, these fun Valentine’s Day activities are a great addition to math class in February!

4. Valentine Slime

Make this delicious, hearty slime for Valentine’s Day! This borax-free slime recipe is perfect for little kids and a lot of fun to play with.

5. STEM Lego Challenge

This is another cool STEM activity for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Ask your child to make a heart out of Legos.

There are so many iterations waiting to be discovered. From the simplest ways to the more complex, they are sure to spark your child’s creativity and insight into STEM.

6. Secret codes

Brainstorm with your child how you can send coded messages to each other so that no one else knows the message. The answer is simple… have your own code language!!

Create a simple code language by writing alphabets corresponding to numbers up to 26. And instead of using alphabets, code your message with numbers!! Just like a digital system, you have your own secret code based on numbers.

We’re sure your kids will love this Valentine’s-inspired STEM activity, and they’ll soon be coming up with their own new secret code ideas.

Related: Got a Little Sleuth in Your Home? Read about crime scene investigation for kids to help them learn trade secrets!

7. Blooming Notes

This simple STEM activity relies on capillary action to open the valentines. Cut out heart shapes of different colors, write a love note in the center and fold them neatly.

Give these folded hearts to your child and ask them to put them in a bowl of water to see the hidden love note inside. Like flowers, these hearts will bloom if you add them to a bowl of water.

8. String art

Use your old geo board and twine to create heart shaped string art. You can also use thermal ink and pins if you don’t have geo board to try this string art project. This can also be turned into a challenging symmetry project for older children.

A great STEM activity for the classroom for Valentine’s Day, it will keep the kids busy!

9. STEM Scavenger Hunt

Go on a STEM scavenger hunt at a nearby park and find trees and plants with heart-shaped leaves. You will be amazed at the number of different heart-shaped leaves.

Compare their sizes, colors and textures. Adhere these leaves to black card stock to create a nature-themed STEM Valentine.

10. Heart Thaumatrope

Thaumatrope is a great STEAM project for kids. Easy to make and simply gorgeous, thaumatropes are a great way to introduce children to the wonderful world of optical illusions.

Optical illusions are nothing more than patterns or images that can trick the mind. An optical illusion occurs when information gathered by the eyes is processed by the brain to create an image that differs from reality. Sound confusing? good! This is exactly what optical illusions are!

• Paper
• Sketch pens
• Straw/pencil
• Glue
• Scissors

Step 1: Draw two circles about 8 cm in diameter on the paper. Cut them out with scissors.

Step 2: Use a sketch pen to draw a heart on one circle and write “Love U” on the other circle.

A quick tip here: to make the optical illusion almost perfect, place a second blank circle on top of the first heart circle and try writing “Love U” in the center of the heart. This will help to accurately match the two images.

Step 3: Glue the circles together on the straw/pencil.

That’s it! Your Valentine thaumatrope is ready! Now just sit back and twist it with both hands to see the perfectly created optical illusion.

11. Origami Hearts

Origami is a fun, messy activity to practice math and science skills. Research indicates a strong link between this art of paper folding and math and science abilities.

It’s a great way to practice visualization skills and model building…something most engineers and scientists do.

This easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorial allows you to make an adorable origami heart for your loved ones in just a few minutes. What better way to spread the love!

12. A secret message for Valentine’s Day

Surprise your kids with invisible ink messages for them. Take a white sheet of paper and write a message for your child with a white oil pencil.

Have them color this sheet with water colors to reveal your secret message. Help them make secret notes for the rest of the family and spread the joy.

More Valentine’s Day activities

1. Fun events for Valentine’s Day

There are so many fun and crafty activities to do on Valentine’s Day! Start the countdown to Valentine’s Day with these fun and exciting activities for kids and the family.

2. Products for St. Valentine’s Day

Be sure to create beautiful crafts for Valentine’s Day with your children. This list has everything for kids to enjoy crafting.

3. Valentine Would You Rather

Treat yourself to a fun session of Valentine Would You Rather. It’s a fun way to get everyone talking and makes a perfect game for both the classroom and home!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Source: 12 Best Valentine’s Day STEM Activities For Kids