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5 Engaging First Day of School Activities for Your STEM Classroom

Posted by Meredith Back to School, Lower Elementary, Middle School, STEAM, STEM, Teaching Tools, Upper Elementary No Comments
First Day of School activities for kids in STEM class

"Nothing can dim the light which shines from within." - Maya Angelou

Light bulb STEM "All About Me" craftivity

Get ready for your first day of school with STEM! While I recommend starting with a quick introduction of rules and procedures (which you can reiterate for the first several class sessions), don’t miss this opportunity to make a meaningful (and FUN) connection on your first day in STEM class and get students pumped about what’s to come!

1 – Try a Creative All About Me Activity with a STEM Focus!

This is a great way to gauge student interest in different topics and themes for your school year. For instance if you have a class that is very into sports, you may want to incorporate sport-themed STEM activities throughout the year. It might be that all of your students are into a particular video game, space, or robotics. The more you know about your students, the easier it will be to engage them in STEM activities and challenges! You can have students write down their favorite STEM strand (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math), 1-3 topics that interest them, and one area they might want to improve upon (working with tools, find out how things work, sketching, measuring, etc.). I have templates created for this if you want to print and go:

First Day of School for STEM All About Me Activity

Shows gear and light bulb paper designs where students pick things that describe them from a STEM point of view
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2 – Create a “Moving Stained Glass” Back to School STEM Name Tag!

You can use this idea or have students create a static name tag and then decorate it with STEM things they like. For the “stained glass” rotating name tag, you’ll need (for each name tag):

  • one piece of card stock
  • one piece of paper
  • scissors
  • a paper clip or object to poke a hole in paper
  • ruler
  • clear packaging tape

Directions: Students will fold the card stock in roughly thirds (for an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper, they will want to have 11″ of paper to work with for their name). They will then draw their name on the paper in block letters so it can be cut out. This is where measuring will come in handy:

STEAM Name Tag step 1

Next, students will need to poke holes in the letters and then cut them out carefully with scissors (some letters will be missing parts, such as A, R, D, etc.) but that’s okay! It’s still easy to recognize:

STEAM paper name tag with name letters cut out

After the name is carefully cut out, packaging tape should be placed on both the front and the back of the name (this also protects the letters that have pieces sticking out). Now it’s time to make the “stained glass” part! Students should cut the regular piece of paper into 3 2.5″ tall x 11″ wide strips (use a paper cutter if possible), then color on all 3. Tape the three pieces of paper together so you have one really long 2.5″ strip of paper. You could also just use a solid color or create a paper collage for a static window!

STEAM Name tag in process: Add packing tape to front and back of name. Make a colorful strip of paper.

Place behind the “window” and tape into a loop if desired. The paper can then be rotated through to change what the name looks like! Alternately, students can just color one 2.5″ x 11″ strip and place it behind the “window”:

Rotating Stained Glass Name Tag for First Day of School in STEM class

Save all the steps for the name tag in one handy image!

STEAM Name tag visual steps on how to create it

3 – Try a Team Building STEM Challenge on the First Day of School

Team building challenges get students working together right away. I like to keep these simple, short, and fun! One of my favorite team builders is for students to build a cup tower but with a twist. Try stacking cups under the direction of a partner without looking! This can be done either behind the back or with a blindfold on. Find out more about team building and quick STEM challenges for the first day of school in this Back to School STEM post on the Momgineer blog.

First Day of School team building activity. Try stacking cups under the direction of a partner without looking!

After students have done this once, they can swap places and try again. They will work on their speaking and listening skills, and learn to trust their classmates.

Get the Resource

4 – Try a Quick STEM Activity with Simple Materials

The first day of school STEM challenge shown below is simple but fun AND functional. Students need to design and create a pencil holder so that it will stay put on their desk. You can provide paper, cardboard, or Lego® bricks (to be disassembled after completion). This is a fairly straightforward task but it gives students an idea of what to expect in STEM challenges later on! Find out more about quick STEM challenges for the first day of school in this Back to School STEM post on the Momgineer blog.

Quick STEM Activity - Build a pencil holder out of LEGOs, paper, or cardboard.
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5 – Read an Inspiring Picture Book on the First Day of STEM

This is probably my favorite way to “break the ice” with a new group of students. There are SO many great books to choose from. The book doesn’t even have to have a direct STEM focus! Try encouraging growth mindset with “The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes” by Mark Pett and Gery Rubinstein, or inspiring students with “Ish” or “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds, or reading about teamwork in “Up the Creek” by Nicholas Oldland.

You can also find more recommendations in our related post, STEM Read Aloud Books for the First Day of School:

How do you start off your school year with STEM? We would love to hear from you!

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About Meredith

Meredith Anderson is a STEM education advocate and former homeschooling parent. A mechanical engineer by training, her passion is creating STEM educational resources for elementary through secondary students around the world.

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