Blog Educator Insights

Put STEM and Fun on Your Calendar

Educator Insights

Is planning one of your teacher superpowers? As you map out your academic calendar, select from an easy-to-implement list of monthly STEM activities from the National Inventors Hall of Fame® to support your students’ goals. Whether you incorporate these activities into monthly lesson plans or file away a few of your favorites for a substitute teacher, these immersive activities guarantee fun memories and transformative learning moments powered by STEM!

Handpick from the list below and keep innovative learning opportunities in rotation throughout the year.

 

September

Kick off a fresh school year with confidence and curiosity! Encourage students to start a STEM club, learn about osmosis with a fun gummy bear experiment and find new ways to express their creativity.

STEM Activity: Back-to-School Name Creations

STEM Activity: How to Start a STEM Club

STEM Activity: Shape-Shifting Gummy Bears

A hand holds a yellow gummy bear between thumb and forefinger in front of a small pile of multicolored gummy bears

October

Costumes, spooky stories and fall fun await! Make math a little sweeter with a candy-powered fraction activity, weave in crafty DIY textiles and try out classroom-safe potato carving as students count down to Halloween.

STEM Activity: Loom Lab

STEM Activity: Fall Fun With Fractions

STEM Activity: Poking Potatoes

Candy corn spills out of a dark gray measuring cup onto a marble surface next to colorful fall leaves

November

National STEM Day is Nov. 8. As temperatures start to drop and students see the first signs of winter, encourage STEM exploration with a fascinating ice excavation experiment or create festive centerpieces.

STEM Activity: Celebrate National STEM/STEAM Day

STEM Activity: Ice Excavation

STEM Activity: Create a Festive Circuit Centerpiece

A child sitting at a kitchen table glues leaves to a piece of craft paper

December

Invite students to explore hands-on engineering with gingerbread structures, craft a festive poinsettia and uncover fun facts about animal hibernation during the winter season.

STEM Activity: Homegrown Holiday Gift

STEM Activity: Gingerbread Workshop

STEM Activity: Brilliant Bat Hibernation

 A child  bends over a gingerbread house they are decorating at their kitchen table

January

Ease back into classroom routines after winter break with fun activities that spark student engagement. Uncover the science of slime, create snowball launchers and explore STEAM through inventive fashion.

STEM Activity: Discovering the Science of Slime

STEM Activity: Make Your Own Snowball Launcher

STEM Activity: Fashion Invention

A smiling child holds up bright pink slime with small white spheres mixed into it

February

Combine science and fun with frozen STEM! Your students can make ice jewels, design a polar vortex blaster and keep the energy going by building their own battery.

STEM Activity: Design a Polar Vortex Blaster

STEM Activity: Creating Colorful Ice Jewels

STEM Activity: Build Your Own Battery

Colorful bowls, a bottle of water, an ice cube tray, water balloons, a stopwatch, food coloring, sugar, salt and a spoon

March

Celebrate World Water Day with a hands-on activity and explore the ways everyday STEM impacts our world, from sailing boats to innovative duct tape creations!

STEM Activity: World Water Day

STEM Activity: Land Ahoy

STEM Activity: Duct Tape Millionaire

A child stands in an outdoor baseball field and uses a toy fish to squirt a stream of water at another child

April

Invite students to dive into history on National Telephone Day and learn how sound is transmitted in a hands-on communication game. Next, make a lasting impression with an immersive scavenger hunt and a “magic” milk experiment that leaves students in awe of STEM phenomena.

STEM Activity: Crafting Conversations

STEM Activity: Tree-rific Scavenger Hunt

STEM Activity: Magic Milk-y Way

The trunk and canopy of a tree viewed from the ground

May

Pollination, marbles and solar-powered homes are on the agenda. As the weather begins to warm, May the power of STEM be with you!

STEM Activity: The Buzz on Pollination

STEM Activity: Solar-Powered Mini House

STEM Activity: The Great Marble Pass

Two elementary students work together to connect clear plastic pipes in a circuit around a rectangular tower of cardboard

June

Count down to summer with creativity, conservation and spinning STEM! You might also consider including take‑home STEM activities to encourage students to stay curious and explore over the summer.

STEM Activity: Crafting Corals for Reef Awareness

STEM Activity: Paint With Berry Pigments

STEM Activity: Spin Your Way to Summer Fun

Bonus Take-Home Activity: STEM Activity: Summer Solstice Shadow Watch

A child’s cupped hands holding blueberries

Stay Connected

With enriching learning experiences that help students explore their ideas, unleash their creativity and make new connections with STEM, we hope this school year is your best yet! Continue exploring our blog for more resources and strategies to bring to your classroom.

Related Articles