Fun STEAM DIY Kids Activities to Try at Home

Fun STEAM activities, arts & crafts and sporty ideas to keep the kids entertained while they are staying at home 

We’ve rounded up some great STEAM activities and arts and crafts from our fave bloggers all around the world. The best activities for kids are those that keep them engaged with supplies you already have at home. Many of these hands-on activities can pass as “home schooling’ efforts for younger kids, too, as there’s always an element of learning through play – score! We’ve thrown in some of our own ideas plus some activities to get physical as kids won’t want to sit still too long. The big word here is FUN — these ideas are all about having fun with your little ones so that even in these challenging times you can all find something to smile about.

Read more: Best Free Online Resources & Educational Apps for Kids of All Ages

Make Oobleck or try out a STEAM experiment

Ana from Babble Dabble Do is one of our all-time fave blogs for kids activities. Her STEAM experiments and craft ideas are full of colour and are guaranteed to keep parents and kiddos entertained. The oobleck creation is one that is mesmerizing to watch and play with. Science is really taken up a notch here — there are plenty of different chemistry and physics projects with explanations of what is happening so this blog is perfect for older kids. Think explosions, reactions, flying, launching, floating, as well as magnets, motors and electrical circuits, heat, light, and sound. And lots of art, too. We love that Ana has put together a free printable activity guide of cheap and easy crafts and activities for kids. The guide is divided into weeks with themed days and each day has 3 different activity options with an accompanying video.

Make a “Boredom Jar”

There’s a huge amount of parenting advice out there saying how important it is for kids to experience boredom. Being bored can spark creativity, problem solving, and even better mental health. But sometimes little kids need a little help problem solving their way out of boredom. Why not create your own “Boredom Jar” where kids can write notes with different ideas they can do on their own like “play lego”, “read a book”, “write a shopping list of treats” “call the grandparents”and put them in the jar. We think this idea by Vicky Barone is super. Next time your kid says “Mum I’m bored!” you can get them to pick out an idea from the jar. Or just let them be bored – who knows what creativity will enfold!

Make kindness cards

There’s probably never been a better time to be kind to others! We love the random acts of kindness printable cards on the kidsactivitiesblog. The printable cards can be printed (or you can make your own using the blog’s ideas). The cards include simple acts like send a neighbour a thank you note, give someone a hug, donate food to a shelter. It’s the perfect bonding activity for the whole family! There’s plenty of other ideas on the blog – on our list to try is the crayon and watercolour resist art project as pictured above!

Read more: How to support and thank medical workers, drivers & others on the frontlines in SG

Do PE with the Body Coach for free

Tune into YouTube for free daily “PE lessons” with fitness trainer Joe Wicks aka The Body Coach. These 30-minute sessions are amazing to get kids active (us parents love joining these great physical workouts, too!). If you want to take the kids completely off screens, check out our round up 17 physical activity ideas to improve gross motor skills!

Make slime!

If you aren’t afraid of mess or have older kids, this cheap and easy slime making recipe is for you. Get the kids to make their own slime with simple ingredients easily found in Singapore.

Make Moon Sand

Anna, mother to four, is behind The Imagination Tree blog. Here you’ll find lots of ideas for kids of all ages – from sensory play for babies to a maths and physical exercise games and a recipe for moon sand — it’s sparkly and colourful and makes the best sandcastles ever!

Do kids’ yoga

Get active indoors with a free yoga session for kids. Cosmic Yoga presenter Jaimie teaches kids yoga through storytelling with her hugely successful Cosmic Yoga online videos. Some schools actually use these videos as a brain break for indoor yoga or to help kids calm down and teach them mindfulness practises.

Get arty

There are so many great art projects you can do but you can also just freestyle it with some basic art materials. Check out The Artful Parent for loads more arty (and other) ideas to help you – from raised salt paintings to body tracing art.

Create a homemade marble run

For a fun STEAM activity create a homemade marble run. Buggy and Buddy has a whole bunch of crafts and STEAM activities for kids to get them to think critically about the world around them.

Get outdoorsy with free printables

Tree Tools for Schools has been set up by the UK’s Woodlands Trust to help schools take an interest in outdoor learning durnig these challenging times. A lot of the material is relevant to UK flora and fauna, but there are some great outdoorsy activities and downloadable activity sheets to explore for everyone. We love the sounds of the tree bark rubbing and the numerous “working with wood” activity sheets.

Have a sponge race

If you have a balcony or a little patch of outdoors space try these fun water and bubble games. One of the easiest games with minimal resources is the sponge race. Give each kid a sponge and two buckets ­– one filled with water and one empty. Explain that they need to transfer the water from one bucket to another using only the sponge. Have a prize ready for whoever does it the fastest. Increase the difficulty for older kids and place the buckets far apart so they have to run between the two. For more bubble and water actives, read this!

Make your own playdough

Show us a little kid who doesn’t love sensory play with playdough! Make your own with our no-fail playdough recipe. This homemade no-cook playdough recipe is simple, quick and makes a fun activity to do with your kids. Plus once you’ve made it, it will keep in the fridge and keep the kids entertained for hours.

And calm down

Let the kids calm down after lots of exhilarating play with the Calm App (FREE trial, then $64.98 for the year). The Calm App offers a whole section of meditation and bedtime stories just for kids (helpfully put into age groups, too).

If you manage to do one or some of these activities with the kids – tag us on Instagram why don’t you?