EASY Summer STEM Challenges for Kids

These summer STEM Challenges are great fun, no matter the weather, and they all use materials you've probably already got around the house.

Make treasure maps, play dough models, fizzy potions, sugar cube towers, and find rainbows in bubbles.

Gather together friends or family and start experimenting. We've got enough ideas to keep you busy all summer long.

We teamed up with the lovely Mrs Mactivity to create the 16 printable STEM challenge cards, which can be downloaded below.

Enjoy your summer of science!

SUMMER STEM CHALLENGE CARDS

Sugar Cube Structures

Make sugar cube towers and place different materials, such as kitchen foil, cling film, etc, between the cubes to investigate which material is the most waterproof.

This is a great activity to turn into a game of who can build the tallest tower before it collapses!

3 sugar cubes sat in a shallow plate of water and red food colouring. Foil sits between the first and second cube. The idea is to test different materials to see which can stop the second sugar cube absorbing water.

Treasure Maps

Use cold coffee or tea to make white paper look old, then draw a map of your garden, house or even a map from a story!

It's an old-school activity ( I remember making treasure maps as a child ), but they are easy, creative, and great fun for the summer holidays.

coffee and tea stained treasure map being held by a child dressed as a pirate

Secret Messages

Write secret messages with lemon or lime juice!

Lemon and lime juice look almost invisible when painted on paper, but react with oxygen, which makes them turn brown when they are exposed to heat.

a heart drawn on paper with lemon juice for an invisible ink activity

Fizzy Potions - Summer STEM Challenge

There's nothing better than a fizzy potion outdoors on a sunny day. Add baking soda, vinegar and dish soap for a super eruption!

To make this extra exciting, add a little red cabbage indicator to make colour changing potions!

Purple and blue potion in a conical flask made with red cabbage indicator, baking soda and vinegar

Ice Painting

Freeze a sheet of ice and paint over the top. Once you've finished, wipe the ice clean and start again! The ice sheet is a lovely surface to paint over, it feels sticky at first and then smooth as it starts to melt.

a sheet of ice and a watercolour paint set for painting on ice.

Flower Dissection

The best way to learn about the different parts of a flower is to take one apart! Can you spot all the different parts?

Once the stem, petals, leaves and roots have been identified, try to spot the male and female parts of the flower.

labelled flower diagram and a dissected flower

Jump Up!

Make jumping frogs, jumping unicorns and anything else you fancy with this easy static electricity experiment.

Blue balloon with a green tissue paper frog attached by static electricity

Build a Raft - Summer STEM Challenge

Make a raft from whatever materials you have around the house and test how much weight it can hold.

A raft made from wooden lolly sticks with a toy wolf sat on top for a summer STEM challenge

Play Dough Models

Make a play dough model of a brain, bone, heart, or anything else you fancy! Play dough brains are a fantastic way for kids to learn about the different hemispheres of the brain and their functions.

Bubble Wands

Build your own bubble wands with pipe cleaners and straws! This is also a fun activity to learn about how rainbows form.

Bean in a Jar - Summer STEM Challenge

Did you know you can grow a bean in a jar? Or use paper or a sheet of card to construct a beanstalk for Jack! This is a great activity for learning about germination.