30+ Fun Stem Activities for Middle School

Are you homeschooling a child who doesn’t love science? If so, consider one or more of these 30 fun STEM activities for middle school students. Smart homeschool families use them to enhance learning and take a break from textbooks. If you haven’t added STEM to your homeschool lesson plans yet, this post will help you do just that. You’ll find more than thirty STEM activities that accommodate just about every subject for middle schoolers.

This post is part of my Help for Homeschool Mompreneurs Series of 10 posts full of
valuable resources and tips for working homeschool moms.

What is STEM?

If you’re new to using STEM, you may not know the term. In short, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. You’ll also find STEAM activities, which simply add the Arts.

Overall, STEM was created as an educational policy to intentionally address subjects and concepts often overlooked in the classroom. 

It also allows teachers and parents to uniquely add these homeschool science and math subjects in a fun way through hands-on activities, projects, experiments, and the like. It’s a great way to enhance critical thinking for younger and high school students.

Using STEM activities is also an excellent opportunity to practice problem-solving skills, math concepts, the scientific method for kids, the engineering design process, and also tap into student creativity. 

Fun STEM Activities for Middle School Students

I’ve grouped the activities according to popular STEM topics to make it easier for you to navigate. Be sure to save this post so you can easily access it at any time.

Also, it’s easy to adapt each science experiment or STEM activity to a different grade level. So if you’re homeschooling older students this school year, adding a STEM activity is a perfect way to include the whole family.

Science Experiments

These science experiments use various materials to teach science in different ways.

• Soda Bottle Rockets (Hess Unacademy)
• Sedimentary Rocks Model (Preschool POWOL Packets)
• Law of Inertia with a Fidget Spinner (From Engineer to Stay at Home Mom)
• Layers of the Earth Bowls (Red Ted Art)
• Solar Ovens (Teachers Are Terrific) OR How to Make the Best Solar Oven (An Off Grid Life) – so much fun!
• Make a Switch with a Banana (Texas Instruments)
• Ocean Science Experiments (Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls)

Technology Activities

The education world is changing fast. Students learn about coding earlier than their older siblings did. Choose one of these as a way to use simple materials to introduce technology to your elementary and middle school students.

• Computer Coding Color Mixing (iGame Mom)
• Smart Phone Projector (The STEM Laboratory)
• Message Coding Bracelets (STEAMsational)
• Minecraft Chessboard (STEAMsational)

Engineering Projects

• Design a Bridge (Adventures in a Messy Life)
• Ancient Greece Architecture Challenge (Preschool POWOL Packets)
• Egg Drop Challenge (Buggy and Buddy)
• Build a Toothpick Bridge (Look! We’re Learning!)
• Spaghetti Tower (Mama Smiles)
• Simple Machine Bird (From Engineer to Stay at Home Mom)
• Stick Raft Building (Kids Craft Room)
• Craft Stick Ferris Wheel (Teachers are Terrific)
• Egg Car Project (Kimberly Repking)

Math Challenges

• Geometric Heart (Teach Beside Me)
• Skittles Math (Teach Beside Me)
• One Finger Balance Structure (Gift of Curiosity)
• 100 Cup Tower (Little Bins for Little Hands)
• Surface, Area, and Volume Castles (Taylor J’s Math Materials)
• Future Architect Project (Lindsay Bowden)

Middle School STEM Challenges

Do your kids love hands-on activities? Mine do. That’s why I always search for the best science kits for homeschool families. Sometimes, we create our own, especially when it comes to STEM. These easy STEM challenges are fun activities meant to challenge your middle schooler.

Catapult Challenge (Vivify STEM)

This unique challenge involves giving your students a variety of materials to work with. You can make them all available or limit the amount they can choose. Then, once they’ve made their choice, please give them time to use what they picked to make a catapult. Have them test their catapult accuracy and power.

Hurricane STEM Challenge (Carly & Adam)

What better way to see how hurricanes work than to challenge your middle schooler to make their own hurricane? This project will teach your students how to build a hurricane-proof home and to test their project for durability.

STEM Challenges for Kids Who Love Games (Student Savvy)

If you have a student who loves games, they will love these ideas from Student Savvy. There are many choices: Code a Video Game, Make a Pinball Machine, Make a Foosball Table Challenge, and more. You’ll find a fun STEM challenge for older kids and younger kids, too!

A Week of STEM Challenges (The Ardent Teacher)

Easily add STEM learning to your lesson plans with this week’s worth of STEM challenges. You’ll find a stem activity for each day.

Middle school children will learn how to build a tower with newspapers, make an army man launcher, and more. The best part is that you’ll most likely have many of the supplies necessary to complete the challenges. (Think craft sticks, ice cream, and pipe cleaners.)

So, no need to worry about spending any extra money. Use what you have at home.

Final Thoughts

You can do many other things with your middle schooler that can make hands-on learning a lot of fun. From paper airplanes to balloon-powered cars, incorporate simple STEM projects into your day.

STEM education suits kids of all ages, it’s fun, and it helps them have a great time while learning. Which STEM projects are you most excited about doing with your middle schooler? Let me know in the comments.

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