Kids Activities
Hands-on STEM activities for kids aged 5-10, built from whatever is already in your kitchen. No robotics kit required. Foil, straws, cardboard, pasta — and the particular satisfaction of making something work from scratch. Every activity takes under thirty minutes and costs almost nothing.
The £5 Robot You Can Build at the Kitchen Table
en minutes, about five quid, and you've got a real robot skittering across the kitchen table. A toothbrush head, a vibration motor, a coin battery. No app, no remote, no screen. It rarely goes in a straight line and that's the whole charm. Plus the backup plan.
Biscuit Dunking Science
Someone has declared that Hobnobs are objectively better than Rich Teas. Someone else disagrees. The kitchen has gone quiet. Good. You've got a science experiment, a mug of warm water, and about thirty minutes of peace once the stopwatch starts and the graphing begins.
Secret Code Breaker
Make your first message something good. Not 'hello how are you.' A secret. A compliment. The location of a hidden treat. The message matters because it's the reason they'll want to write one back.
What Happens When You Let Them Launch Things Across the Kitchen
One makes a light turn on. The other launches marshmallows across the kitchen. These are the ones that get carried to a grandparent's house for a demonstration. A coin battery, some lolly sticks, and twenty minutes.
What Happens When You Give a Kid Some Foil and a Reason to Fail
Two challenges where the testing is better than the building. All you need is foil, straws, and tape. Total cost: almost nothing. Total mess: moderate.
What Happens When You Do Exactly What They Tell You
You follow their instructions exactly. They say "walk forward." You walk into the wall. One challenge needs a willing robot. The other needs a pen you don't want back. Both need about twenty minutes and no tape whatsoever.
STEM Activities for 5–8 Year Olds: No Screen, No Kit
When the tablet limit hits, these three activities keep 5–8 year olds busy and thinking: straw structures that teach engineering through collapse, paper circuits that light up LEDs, and lolly stick catapults. Materials cost under £3. No kit, no screen, no setup.
Free Engineering Projects for 6–10 Year Olds: What You Can Build From Your Recycling Bin
Three engineering projects from your recycling bin: a balloon-powered car, straw rockets, and a rubber band walker. No kit, no cost, no instructions to follow. Just cardboard, tape, and the particular satisfaction of making something work from scratch.
What Happens When You Let Them Wreck the Spaghetti
A bowl of water. A bag of spaghetti. Some marshmallows they'll definitely eat. Two kitchen table challenges that need zero prep, zero supervision, and buy you twenty minutes of peace. The tower will collapse. That's the point.
What Happens When You Give a Kid Some Tape and a Problem
Two STEM challenges that need zero prep and nothing you don't already have. A bridge from cardboard. A marble run from loo rolls. Your only job is to say "interesting" from across the room and provide more tape when asked.