STEM Activities for Kids Using Household Items

A collection of STEM activities for kids using household items. Easy experiments using household items. Great activity ideas for homeschool and continuing to learn outside of school. All you need are a few household supplies.

Young children are fascinated by science, and there are all sorts of fascinating experiments you can do using items you already have in your home! Today I am sharing a list of STEM activities for kids using household items. There are plenty of science, technology, engineering, and mathematical tools that you use every day without even realizing it! The goal of this post is to increase awareness of how much learning your children can get by exploring their home environment.

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STEM Activities for Kids Using Household Items

I’m dividing this post into activities you can do in different rooms of the house: the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, your child’s bedroom, and outside in your yard.

STEM Activities Using Items Found in the Kitchen

Cooking is a wonderful STEM activity for children! Here are some great STEM activities you can do with your kids while cooking:

• Weigh common household items.
• Learn about weights and measures while cooking.
• Use silverware to measure items. How many forks wide is the fridge? How many spoons wide is the doorway? Have your child make predictions before measuring.
• Build aluminum foil boats.
• Explore why fruits and vegetables get soft when cooked.
• Try this birthday cake candle experiment.

STEM Activities Using Items Found in the Bathroom

• Weigh heavier items on the bathroom scale.
• Learn about measurements by transferring water between different size containers in the bath.
• If your first aid kit includes iodine (in liquid form or as tablets or wipes), take one in the kitchen and try this neat visual iodine starch experiment!

STEM Activities Using Items Found in the Laundry Room

• Test different detergents to see which ones remove stains the best.
• Dry clothing at high and low heat and compare drying times.
• Compare the weight of wet and dry laundry.
• Compare the weight of dirty and clean laundry.

STEM Activities Using Items Found in the Living Room

• Measure furniture – using a ruler and tape measure.
• Measure items using your own body. How many of YOUR feet long is the couch? How many hands tall is the dining room table?
• Estimate how many books are on the bookcase. Check your answer.
• Track shadows as the sun moves across the sky.

STEM Activities Using Items Found in Your Child’s Bedroom

• Build a tall tower using LEGO DUPLO blocks or other blocks. Magna-Tiles add a great stability challenge.
• Measure furniture – using a ruler and tape measure.
• Measure furniture using stuffed animals. How many teddy bears long is your bed?
• Measure furniture using clothes. How many socks wide is the doorway?

STEM Activities Using Items Found Outside

• Make a nature collection
• Learn about different kinds of leaves. Collect, sort, graph, and count leaves.
• Look for camouflaged creatures.

More Hands On Learning Activities for Kids

Today’s post is Day 5 in a 10 day series. Click on the image below to find more hands on learning activities for kids!

Do you have any STEM activities for kids using household items that I should add to my list? Please share in the comments! Links to relevant blog posts are welcome!

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MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.