Ways Celebrate National STEM Day

Why STEM Matters

At its heart, STEM isn’t about memorizing facts or formulas. Instead, it’s about learning how to think like a scientist, question like an engineer, and imagine like an inventor. When kids engage with STEM, they aren’t just learning about the world, they’re learning how to learn.

Here’s why that matters:

• STEM builds critical thinkers. It teaches kids how to analyze information, recognize patterns, and approach challenges logically.
• STEM encourages creativity. Every great scientific breakthrough begins with imagination. STEM shows kids that innovation often means trying, failing, and trying again in new ways.
• STEM connects disciplines. Real-world problems aren’t solved by science alone or math alone. They’re solved when we combine knowledge across fields, like when coding meets design, or when biology meets engineering.
• STEM is everywhere. Whether it’s measuring flour for cookies, designing a birdhouse, or wondering why leaves fall from trees before winter, STEM is woven into daily life.
• STEM builds resilience. It reminds kids (and adults) that mistakes aren’t the end  but rather they’re the next step toward discovery.

STEM Happens Everywhere

Here at Pogona Peak, we believe that STEM isn’t something that happens only in a classroom or a lab with robots and microscopes. It happens every day in kitchens, gardens, playgrounds, and backyards, or whenever a child wonders, tests, builds, or discovers.

In the Kitchen

Cooking is full of chemistry and physics. Melting, dissolving, boiling, and baking all involve heat transfer, chemical reactions, and changes of state. Kids can experiment safely just by observing how ingredients combine and transform. Ask questions like:

• Why does the cookie dough change texture when heated?
• What happens when salt is added to ice?
• Can we make pancakes fluffier by changing one ingredient?
• Why does pasta get soft when you boil it?

In the Garden

Planting seeds is one of the best introductions to biology and environmental science. Kids can observe growth, record data, and test variables like sunlight, soil type, or water levels. Gardening also connects STEM with sustainability and climate awareness, showing kids how their actions affect ecosystems. While November isn’t prime gardening season for my home in Denver, Colorado, we can still sprout seeds (like broccoli, clover, or green lentils) and learn a bit about biology and have a nutritious snack or sandwich topping.

In Play and Construction

When children build with blocks, design forts, or construct LEGO creations, they’re practicing engineering and design thinking. They plan, test, and modify structures. These activities encourage spatial awareness and experimentation which foundational skills for future innovators. My kids love to build forts but between the spark of the idea and the end result, there is often fighting about how to best construct it, or tears when the plan doesn’t work the first time. While I understand the frustration they feel, I also try to not interfere because re-thinking and re-imagining and re-trying make them more resilient. Plus, the pride they feel when they know they figured it out themselves is the best reward.

In the Everyday

Fixing a bike, setting up a new phone, or figuring out why the Wi-Fi isn’t working are all acts of engineering and technology exploration. Every time kids help solve real problems, they’re practicing critical thinking and troubleshooting which are valuable skills in STEM.

Encourage them to talk through their process: “What do you think might be wrong?” or “What could we try next?” This turns a frustrating situation into a hands-on investigation. They’ll begin to see that problems aren’t roadblocks but puzzles waiting to be solved.

Even everyday problem-solving like tightening a loose screw, following an instruction manual, organizing cables, or replacing batteries can help kids develop spatial reasoning, sequencing, and persistence. These are the same cognitive skills engineers use to design bridges or program robots.

When children are invited to take part in real-world repairs or setups, they feel capable and trusted. That sense of ownership builds both confidence and a growth mindset where the belief that effort and experimentation lead to understanding. And once they experience the satisfaction of getting something working again, they’ll start to look at the world not as something that simply is, but as something they have the power to figure out.

Easy Ways to Nurture STEM Learning

STEM learning doesn’t require fancy equipment or hours of preparation. You can spark curiosity with what you already have at home, in your classroom, or outside your door. Here are some simple, meaningful ways to build STEM habits in your child’s daily life.

Kitchen Chemistry
Turn cooking and cleaning into chemistry class! Try simple experiments like:

1. • Making a baking soda and vinegar volcano.
   • Testing household acids and bases with red cabbage indicator (or cabbage powder).
   • Mixing cornstarch and water to create “Oobleck,” a non-Newtonian fluid that’s both solid and liquid.
     Talk about what’s happening — What changes do you see? What might cause them?

 STEM Storytime
Read books that inspire scientific thinking. Stories show kids that inventors come in all forms and that imagination is just as important as data.

• Ada Twist, Scientist Series
• Magic Schoolbus Series
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Design Challenges
Give kids open-ended challenges that encourage experimentation and focus on the process, not perfection.

1. • Build a bridge that can hold a cup.
   • Design a parachute for a toy.
   • Invent a new tool that makes a chore easier.
   • Create the tallest tower using only 100 toothpicks and a jar of play doh (this is my favorite).

STEM in Art
Combine creativity with observation by exploring color mixing, light and shadow, or geometric patterns in art. Even doodling can lead to discussions about symmetry and structure.

• Color Mixing Lab: Experiment with primary colors using water, food coloring, or paint. Predict what new colors will form before mixing. Discuss if they think light would mix in the same ways as paint (spoiler: it doesn’t!).
• Light and Shadow Art: Create shadow drawings with toys or natural objects at different times of day to explore how the sun’s position changes.
• Symmetry and Patterns: Cut folded paper snowflakes or design mandalas to observe mathematical patterns in nature and geometry.
• Recycled Sculpture Challenge: Build art from recycled materials — cardboard, bottle caps, and string — while discussing how engineers upcycle materials.
• Spinning Color Wheels: Create color discs and spin them to explore how the human eye blends colors (a perfect tie-in to physics and perception).

In the Classroom: Curiosity as Curriculum

Teachers can weave STEM thinking across subjects:

• Use a Wonder Wall. Create a classroom board where kids can post curiosities like “Why do leaves change color?” or “How does Wi-Fi travel through walls?” Choose one each week to explore together.
• Make math meaningful. Connect data and measurement to real-world projects: graph plant growth, calculate recipe ratios, or track temperature changes. If you want a ready-to-go math exercise, check out our Pumpkin Lab where students estimate, measure and calculate different aspects of a pumpkin (seed quantity, circumference, density).
• Encourage collaboration. Group challenges build teamwork, communication, and creativity which are all essential STEM skills.

Outdoors: Science in the Wild

Nature is the ultimate laboratory, and it’s free to explore! Here are a few ways to make outdoor time into STEM time:

• STEM Scavenger Hunt
  Create a list of natural wonders to find. For instance, find something symmetrical, something that floats, something with a pattern, something rough and something smooth.
• Mini Experiments in Nature

Test how different surfaces (grass, rock, pavement) absorb heat. Measure rainfall or track weather patterns. Build and test a mini dam, bridge, or windmill. Engineer a shelter out of branches. The possibilities are limitless! Bring a notebook or printable data sheet. Measure, sketch, and compare what you find. Kids can chart changes over days or weeks which is a great introduction to scientific observation and data collection.

• Citizen Science Projects
  Join platforms like iNaturalist, Globe Observer, or HerpMapper to submit observations that contribute to real scientific research. Read our blog post on how kids can be citizen scientists to learn more!

Encouraging Curiosity and Confidence

STEM is not just an activity, but it’s an entire thought process. What matters most is modeling curiosity. Let kids lead the discovery.

 When your child asks a question, resist the urge to jump straight to an explanation. Instead, try:

• “What do you think is happening?”
• “How could we test it?”
• “What do you notice if we change one thing?”

Celebrate effort, not outcomes. In science, there’s rarely a single “right” answer; there are many ways to explore and learn. Kids who are allowed to fail safely learn that failure isn’t final which is fuel for innovation.

Keeping the Momentum All Year Long

National STEM Day is a wonderful reminder to celebrate curiosity, but the real magic happens when it becomes part of your family’s or classroom’s rhythm year-round.

Here are a few ways to make STEM a regular habit:

1. Weekly STEM Challenges:
   Dedicate one afternoon a week to an experiment or design challenge. It could be as simple as “build the tallest tower” or “create a water filter.”
2. STEM Journal or Observation Log:
   Keep a notebook where kids record discoveries, sketches, data, and reflections. Over time, they’ll see how much they’ve learned and grown as young scientists.
3. Connect to Real-World Events:
   Tie STEM activities to current events or observances such as World Environment Day, Perseid Meteor Shower, Earth Day, or local park clean-ups. Discuss STEM as you’re cooking, cleaning, or driving your car. It helps kids see how science connects to real-world issues and solutions.
4. Solve STEM Riddles and Brain Teasers: Keep curiosity sharp all year with quick daily or weekly challenges that stretch critical thinking. Short riddles and puzzles encourage kids to analyze clues, recognize patterns, and think creatively which are core STEM skills. They’re easy to fit into a morning routine, classroom warm-up, or car ride, and they make problem-solving feel like play. (Watch for my upcoming book, STEM Riddles and Brain Games for Curious Kids, filled with fun challenges that tickle your brain and spark discovery!)