Best Structure Building STEM Ideas for Kids

Children are born builders. Give them play dough and they will surprise you with their imagination. Developing these innate skills helps them understand and explore some fundamental engineering principles.

What’s even more inspiring is that you don’t necessarily need any construction kits or boxes for these Structure Building STEM ideas. Maybe you already have them! So, if you have play dough, markers, pencils, jenga tiles, erasers on hand, then you’re ready for some engineering fun with your kids.

Ideas for creating structures, STEM

1. Stack some pencils and see if you can create a pencil structure. Switch the triangular pencils with regular round ones at the base to create moving structures.

2. Check the stability of the pencil structure made up of Jenga tiles or index cards.

3. You can also stack Jenga headers to create miniature versions of well-known structures.

4. Use putty (such as cement) between the Jenga tiles to see if this increases the stability of the structures.

5. Combine pencils, jenga, pointers to create a one-of-a-kind building.

6. Make a building with a parking lot by placing the index cards above the base. See if it can handle the load by building a structure over the card.

These are just a few ideas, but your child’s imagination is limitless. Encourage your child to explore more loose materials around the house for engineering and construction games.

Skills acquired and improved:

• Fine motor skills
• Concentration and observation
• Hand-eye coordination
• Critical thinking skills
• Mathematics and problem solving skills
• Imagination and Creativity
• Weight and balance skills

These interesting and challenging ideas for building STEM structures lay the foundation for science and math. These open-ended STEM building ideas also help young children go beyond instructions, explore their own thoughts, solve problems, and better observe their environment.

Learn more:

Skills children need for the future and how to raise them

16 ways to develop your child’s spatial thinking skills

Pom-Pom Shooter STEM Engineering Challenge

Positive affirmations for children

How children benefit from math arts

Source: Best Structure Building STEM Ideas for Kids