STEM during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: COVID-19

The United States along with the rest of the world has been battling the COVID-19 Pandemic for months now. It has changed the way we educate our children, receive an education, interact with others, and how we live our day-to-day lives overall.

For children, this presents a unique set of challenges we have not experienced in modern history. They are:

Missing out on social interaction with classmates that helps them develop soft skills that are important to success in daily life.
Due to many school’s having to go online for the beginning of the year, they are missing the hands-on aspect to learning.
They are not being properly exposed to all of the 21st century learning skills that have been proven to be effective in the workforce.

Education during the Pandemic

School districts across the country have been announcing they will begin their Fall 2020 classes via zoom and other online learning tools. This, as stated above, is going to change the way students learn the curricula. More is being put on parents, guardians and older siblings to keep children engaged in their schoolwork and up to grade-level standards! But, how can this be done?

This can be a daunting task. With that in mind, STEM Sports® has compiled a list of at home STEM activities to keep students engaged in science, technology, engineering and math throughout these unprecedented times! (Hint: some of these STEM activities even have a COVID-19 theme to them.)

STEM Activities:

How well do you wash your hands?

This at-home STEM experiment follows a pandemic theme. Students learn about the science behind washing their hands while learning about how to wash their own hands better.

Cloud in a Jar

With only 4 simple materials, your child can make a cloud in a jar. This is a great way to introduce science in a fun and engaging way.

Build a Balance Scale

This STEM activity is perfect for preschool aged children! Using common household items, you can teach your child about balance and weight.

100 Cup Tower Challenge

The 100 cup tower challenge is suitable for 1 child or even more! This gives you a variety of different “tasks” that your child can complete using the cups, all with the common theme of turning them into an engineer!

Think Like the Three Little Pigs (Architectural Challenge)

Think like the three little pigs is a fun, themed activity that introduces building and engineering in an engaging way.

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

Another Covid-19 friendly STEM activity! This science focused activity can improve STEM literacy and ends with your child’s own home-made hand sanitizer.

Cat in the Hat Cup Stacking Challenge

A great way to introduce the Engineering Design Process (EDP) and Scientific Method (SM) to kids! Using a Cat in the Hat theme, your child will have the opportunity to work on their problem solving and engineering skills.

Build and Launch a Foam Rocket

This NASA STEM activity turns your child into a rocket scientist for the day! Building and launching a rocket is both educational and fun. This is a great way to use hands-on learning to make STEM exciting!

Water Filtration Challenge

The water filtration challenge introduces environmental lessons as well as STEM. This is easy to implement at home and is suitable for all age levels.

Make a Lunar Volcano

Everyone hears about the stereotypical science fair where the winning project was a volcano. Now this can be your kid doing it during their time at home! This gives you a step-by-step guide on how to make a lunar volcano that actually erupts!

Junior Handyman’s Toolkit: Classroom Projects, Essentials and Checklists

Most kids spend a lot of time learning things like math and reading in school. As important as these subjects are, it’s also a good idea for kids to know how to work with their hands to build and create things. Even if you don’t have a workbench at home with tools and equipment, you can still learn how to build and fix all sorts of things. Your creative skills might even help you design and build new inventions that can solve problems or make life easier.

Engineering Games and Projects

Engineering is a field that focuses on creating and using scientific and technological solutions to problems, such as machines, programs, or structures. It’s crucial for kids to learn about engineering because this knowledge can set them up for a good career. There are many types of engineers, so kids with a wide variety of interests may find that a future in engineering appeals to them. But even kids who don’t plan on becoming engineers can benefit from honing their research and problem-solving skills through study in this area.

These are just some of the many STEM activities that are possible for you to implement with your child at home! Below are some great resources to find more STEM activities that range in difficulty, concept and supplies needed:

These activities make it possible to turn these difficult, unprecedented times into something that is beneficial for your child’s STEM education. These will continue to help them improve their STEM literacy skills while engaging with parents, siblings and friends.

Lauren Chiangpradit