9 Awesome STEM Activities for Valentine’s Day

Are you looking for some great STEM activities or challenges for your child or your class? These STEM activities for Valentine’s Day are perfect for parents and teachers to use with their kids!

What is STEM/STEAM?

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Both teachers and parents have been incorporating STEM activities into their daily activities for years. In the past few years, an emphasis on experimentation and experiential learning has changed the focus of STEM activities to a child-led activity.

STEAM is simply an extension of STEM, adding on A for Art. Activities that involve children creating art have been incorporated into STEAM. There is a difference between Art involved in STEAM activities and traditional crafts. Your child should be focused on creating their own art using their creativity and design, rather than following careful and strict instructions to make a craft. Creating the art independently, not replicating an adult’s art project, is key.

STEM is popular in elementary school classrooms, but you can introduce STEM activities to your toddler or preschooler as well. If you look closely, you’ll notice your child already practicing fundamental STEM skills if their play. This includes estimation, experimentation, systematic trial and error and exploring the properties of new materials. If you picture your toddler trying to build increasingly complicated towers with blocks, his STEM skills are in action!

Many STEM activities rely on collaboration and teamwork. They make great activities to encourage collaboration in classrooms. You can also act as your child’s partner if you are working from home.

STEM Activities for Valentine’s Day

I’ve rounded up some super fun and creative STEM activities for Valentine’s Day that your kids will love to try out. From chemistry to engineering to coding, your kids will have a ball with these Valentine’s Day-themed STEAM activities (although I’m calling it STEM for simplicity’s sake, many of the activities below include an art element).

These activities will be great to sprinkle in throughout the month of February. Or have a STEM challenge week leading up to Valentine’s Day.

In my school, we often do STEM challenges in mixed age groups. Students are split into groups of mixed ages and abilities. Each teacher creates one STEM challenge. Each group of students rotates to each teacher every day for a week. The teacher repeats their STEM challenge with each new group. This make a fun-filled and very educational week for the students without overloading the teachers with prep work.

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Awesome STEM Activities for Valentine’s Day

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Conversation Heart Tower Building Challenge from Math Geek Mama

This is a great challenge for your little engineers. Learn about construction, balance, estimating, counting and measuring. Try this out with your littlest ones by simply estimating and counting hearts. Older children can learn to measure with a ruler.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/607704543447068367/

Candy Heart Structures from Schooling a Monkey

This is similar to the previous activity as it uses candy hearts to build, but takes it a step further and encourages children to build structures rather than just towers. You can introduce architecture and famous structures with this great STEM activity.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/607704543447068358/

Cupid’s Bow STEM Activity from Teaching with Jennifer Findley

This STEM activity has a reading component suitable for upper elementary students. Its easy to adapt this activity for younger kids by reading the passage to them or skipping this part of the activity all together. Creating the bow is lots of fun, whether you have your big kids design a solution independently, or guide little ones gently toward a solution.

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Marshmallow Heart Structures from Buggy and Buddy

This classic marshmallow and toothpick challenge is made fresh with a Valentine’s Day theme using adorable heart marshmallows. You can let your toddler or preschoolers experiment with creating 2D shapes, while older kids can create 3D shapes. You can turn this activity into a contest by challenging your kids to make the biggest or tallest structure that will stay upright.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/607704543447068360/

Fizzing Hearts from Lessons for Little Ones

This is a fun chemistry experiment using baking soda and vinegar. There is a printable recording sheet that allows your child to record their predictions before experimenting.

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Create a Heart Maze from The Inspired Treehouse

This is a sweet twist on the create-a-maze activity using hot glue and string. Little ones will get lots of practice using fine and visual motor skills when playing with their maze. Bonus: once they are done creating the maze, the kids will have a new toy to use!

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/607704543447235734/

Valentine’s Day Tinker Tray from U Ready, Teddy?

A tinker tray is a great starter STEM activity for little ones. This activity is very open ended and children can create whatever they like. This is a great way to let creativity flow and you may be impressed with the engineering that goes on, as well as experimentation. It may seem like simple play from the outside, but there’s a lot going on if you watch closely.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/607704543447235770/

Melting Hearts Science Experiment from The Gingerbread House

This experiment is a great intro to chemistry and will definitely engage your children!

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/607704543447235854

Valentine’s Day Conversation Hearts Experiment from Sixth Bloom

Another experiment that highlights chemistry. You can ask your children to make hypotheses to guess which liquid will melt the candy hearts the fastest and the slowest. With older kids, you can begin a discussion on the acidity of different liquids.

I hope you and your kiddos have a lovely time doing these awesome Valentine’s Day STEM activities. From my family to yours, Happy Valentine’s Day!

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