8 STEM Night Activities For Home and Classroom
Movie night, pizza night, and parent-teacher night aren’t the only evening events you need to fill out your calendar. Nurture budding builders and creative thinkers with family-friendly STEM night activities.
After all, it’s never too early to start exploring the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, a.k.a. STEM. Tomorrow’s innovative architects and programmers may be just one puzzle, pattern, or project away from discovering their passion.
Still, STEM night isn’t just about getting a head start on career goals. Future PhDs aside, it’s really about joining friends and family for fun, hands-on learning experiences, collaborative problem-solving, and—most importantly—play.
Thinking about hosting your own school or family STEM night? We’ll unpack top STEM-inspired activities, toys, and tips to help get your gears turning.
What is a STEM night?
STEM night is an event that brings kids and families together to engage in playful, educational, and collaborative activities rooted in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM night can be held at home, school, or your local community center—anywhere people can gather to tinker with STEM-inspired toys and materials and work together to explore new ideas.
Create your own family STEM night
Why not leave the gaming consoles and streaming series behind for a night? Gather your kids for a couple of hours of exploration and imaginative problem-solving—together. Clear the kitchen table or living room carpet, spread out your materials, and provide playful prompts that kickstart creativity. You can even set up a go-to stash of STEM toys for the occasion or get inventive with basic household objects and art supplies.
Host a STEM night at your school or community center
Invite students and their families to engage in some after-school learning with STEM-inspired play. Set up dedicated stations for each STEM project and let kids choose which ones they want to tackle. You can even offer prizes for certain problem-solving challenges or creative designs, and let each proud little engineer show off their builds.
You might also host holiday-themed STEM nights at your school or community center to get in the spirit of each season. Pumpkin puzzles and Christmas-colored block patterns, anyone?
8 STEM night activities to fuel creative learning
For the adults and “kidults” in the room, selecting STEM night activities is half the fun! From clever catapults to color-coded binary builds, there are so many ways to build STEM skills and unleash creativity.
Want a helpful rule of thumb? When picking your STEM-inspired supplies, remember to opt for materials that are: easy to set up and clean, simple to explain, and friendly for all ages.
You also don’t have to start from scratch! Choose from our go-to menu of STEM night activities to inspire curious minds and boost brain development:
1. Binary coding
You don’t need a keyboard to code! Get kids started with simple programming by inviting them to make little binary code structures, using different colors to represent 1s and 0s. Maybe they try spelling out their name or even just “Hello” a.k.a. “01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00100001.”
What you need: A chart that shows the binary code for each uppercase and/or letter (“A” is “01000001”); materials of at least two colors, like building blocks, beads, or crayons.
What kids will learn: How to code in binary! This basic and fundamental coding system is widely used to translate data for computers and other electronic devices.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Pop open our 1,200-Piece Open Play Mix of 9 colors to power these early programming projects and nurture future developers.
2. Bridge construction
Need to get a toy car from point A to point B or support a special object like a stuffed animal? Challenge kids to blueprint strong and stable bridges, and start building their own little architect portfolio!
What you need: Building block toys—or everyday materials like cardboard or popsicle sticks—that can be assembled into sturdy bridges.
What kids will learn: How to use different geometric shapes to create structures that stand and bear weight, exploring concepts like gravity, balance, and structural integrity.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Lay a strong foundation for your bridges with our bundle of 240 pieces and 2 baseplates—in your choice of basic, neon, and pastel colors.
3. Custom robots
Inspire emerging engineers to design wild and wacky droids straight out of a sci-fi movie. They can follow along with ready-made instructions or dream up their own totally unique automatons.
What you need: Kid-friendly robot-building kits or interlocking blocks for open-ended play.
What kids will learn: How to harness those problem-solving and critical thinking skills to bring their creative ideas to life.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Gear up for an android adventure with our Robot Workshop Bundle, featuring an action-packed Learn to Build set and two tubes of futuristic friends just waiting to be built.
4. Multiplication and counting stacks
You know what’s more fun than counting on your fingers? Counting with tidy stacks of colorful puzzle pieces and blocks! Help kids visualize their numbers and times tables with hands-on play.
What you need: Any objects of different colors that can be easily stacked and sorted.
What kids will learn: How to add, subtract, multiply, and divide—while developing those fine motor skills.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Perfect for helping small hands bring large ideas to life, our BIG 200-Piece Tub comes complete with 2 baseplates and a kid-friendly guide booklet of ideas.
5. Catapults
Heave-ho! Give STEM night attendees the tools to manufacture miniature catapults and safely launch little projectiles.
What you need: Interlocking building blocks or everyday materials like popsicle sticks and rubber bands.
What kids will learn: How to use levers and fulcrums to move objects of a certain weight over a specific distance.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Engineer almost any mechanism you can imagine with our Ultimate Classroom Activity Tub, chock full of 4,000 Plus-Plus pieces and a mix of baseplates, wheels, and hubs.
6. Spinning tops
Who knew spinning tops could come in so many different shapes and sizes? Add this challenge to your rotation of activities by asking STEM enthusiasts to whip up their own twirling toys.
What you need: Building blocks or everyday materials like pencils, paper, foil, and cardboard.
What kids will learn: How to create an object that balances on a vertical axis using rotational energy—and ultimately falls down thanks to friction and gravity.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Take our 240-Piece Glow Tube for a whirl and create a whole batch of glow-in-the-dark spinning tops with different geometric structures and designs.
7. Name- and number-building
No need to simply write your ABCs on paper when you can build them in 2D or 3D! Bring some tactile fun to your reading, writing, and arithmetic lessons with this STEM night activity.
What you need: Any objects that can be assembled into 2D or 3D configurations.
What kids will learn: How to practice their ABCs and 123s, and create balanced 3D structures that stand on their own.
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: Our Learn To Build - ABC & 123 set is the perfect companion for this STEM night project. Inside, you’ll find 40 letter and number cards to get kids started with simple math, counting, learning letters, and more.
8. Design your own activity!
STEM is all about pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. So don’t be afraid to devise your own clever challenge that brings kids and families together! Maybe your little ones are captivated by coding, or your students are gravitating towards physics. Put on your thinking cap, play around with STEM-inspired materials, and brainstorm a brilliant project that will
What you need: Any supplies that are safe and relatively easy to use. Just make sure you have enough for all participants, of course.
What kids will learn: From Newton’s laws of physics to the wonders of light waves, the opportunities are endless!
Make it happen with Plus-Plus: We put the power of STEM-inspired play in your hands. Choose from a range of Plus-Plus tubs and accessories or browse our bulk bags of 50+ colors to build the perfect STEM activity set for all of your big ideas.
Engineer an unforgettable STEM night with Plus-Plus
A lifetime of STEM learning starts with Plus-Plus. Designed for kids and “kidults” alike, Plus-Plus is the essential STEM toy to spark inspiration and fuel open-ended play. One simple shape unlocks a world of creative possibilities—whether you’re building blocks of binary code or scaling structures no one’s seen before.
Perfect for packing to school or playing at home, Plus-Plus is the key to unlocking creativity, innovation, and imagination.
Ready to host your own STEM night? Discover top Plus-Plus STEM toys →
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