5 STEM Ideas for the Classroom or at Home

Looking for exciting ways to bring STEM education concepts to life for kids? HR Green has rounded up some fun and engaging civil engineering-themed STEM activities for kids that are perfect for the classroom or at home. These activities are inspired by the real-world challenges engineers face, with a playful twist! To see how HR Green has partnered with schools and communities to make STEM education engaging and fun, check out our previous projects where we brought STEM learning to life for students.

Let’s dive into some hands-on STEM projects to get kids thinking like engineers while having fun.

1. Build a Pasta Tower

Pasta towers are a great way to teach students about structural engineering. Using dry spaghetti and marshmallows (or other binding materials), students can design and build a tower that must support a given weight at the top (like a small ball or egg). This activity teaches about tension, compression, and load distribution—concepts engineers use when designing skyscrapers and bridges.

Ages: 7+
Instructions: Watch a tutorial. Set a height or weight challenge. Can your tower support the weight of a book? See who can build the tallest tower without it toppling over.

2. Create a Popsicle Stick Bridge

Engineers design bridges to handle heavy loads without breaking. With popsicle sticks and glue, students can construct their own bridges, learning about tension, compression, and trusses. The goal is to build the strongest bridge possible, and teams can test its strength by seeing how much weight it can hold using pennies or small weights.

Ages: 8+
Instructions: Have students test different designs to see which shape is the strongest. View a detailed guide on how to build a toothpick bridge.

3. Build a Paper Roller Coaster

Roller coasters are a great way to explore physics concepts like gravity, speed, and motion. With just paper, scissors, and tape, students can design their own roller coaster tracks for a marble. This activity helps kids visualize how energy transforms from potential to kinetic as the marble moves along the track.

Ages: 10+
Instructions: Challenge students to create loops and drops while keeping the marble moving. Check out DIY Paper Roller Coaster for step-by-step guidance.

4. ​​DIY Water Filtration System

Teach kids about the importance of clean water with a hands-on water filtration experiment. Using materials like gravel, sand, activated charcoal, and a coffee filter, students can create their own water filtration system. This activity introduces environmental engineering and water treatment concepts while emphasizing the need for clean, potable water.

Ages: 8+
Instructions: Have students pour dirty water through the filter and observe how the different layers help purify it. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

5. Simulate an Earthquake-Proof Structure

How do engineers design buildings that can survive earthquakes? Students can build a structure using straws, toothpicks, or marshmallows and test it on a Jell-O “earthquake simulator.” This fun activity introduces the concept of stability and resilience in civil engineering while simulating a real-world problem.

Ages: 9+
Instructions: Try building different designs and shake the Jell-O tray to see which structures stay standing. See this Earthquake Simulation Activity for more detailed instructions.

Bonus Activity: HR Green Coloring Pages

Get creative with HR Green’s coloring pages that showcase different engineering roles and infrastructure projects. It’s a great way to introduce engineering concepts to kids while fostering creativity. Download the coloring pages.  

Celebrating STEM Everyday

With these hands-on STEM projects and engineering experiments, kids can engage in STEM learning at home while exploring the exciting world of civil engineering. These DIY engineering projects not only promote problem-solving and critical thinking, but also give children a glimpse into real-world engineering challenges. Whether building a bridge or simulating an earthquake-proof structure, these STEM activities for kids are sure to spark an interest in STEM education and encourage future engineers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.