STEM Kits for Middle School Students (2024)

  • Lauren Chiangpradit
  • February 7, 2023
  • 7:00 am
  • Reviewed by Sean Barton
  • Reviewed by Haley MacLean

Table of Contents

  • Why Use STEM Kits
    • Home Science Tools Basic Introduction to Chemistry Kit
    • Strawbees STEAM Starter Robotics Kit
    • Horizon Educational Wind Energy Science Kit
    • STEM Sports® All Star Kit
    • Carolina Cross-Sectional Human Eye Model
    • GoCube STEM Puzzle
    • Kitables DIY Mini Drone Quadcopter Kit
    • Elevate Prep Math Game
  • STEM with STEM Sports®

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning is essential to a student’s core curriculum. Educators around the world are putting an emphasis on STEM learning in the classroom to improve STEM literacy and prepare students for the rapidly growing STEM workforce. One way parents can aid their child’s education is by implementing STEM lessons at home during the school year and summer months.

Why Use STEM Kits

Regardless of parent skillset, there are easy, effective ways to get students engaged at home. STEM kits offer parents and children all the tools they need to engage in STEM at home without the need to purchase additional materials. In this article, STEM Sports® has compiled a list of the best STEM kits for middle school-aged students. With step-by-step instructions, these STEM kits allow students to take control of their education, explore new interests, and improve their STEM literacy skills at their own pace in a comfortable environment.


*Pricing in this blog is based on website pricing as of February 5, 2023. These are subject to change at the discretion of each vendor.

Home Science Tools Basic Introduction to Chemistry Kit

Why You Should Buy It: The Basic Introduction to Chemistry Kit comes with 30 introductory chemistry lessons children can do over a period of time at home. Each lesson introduces new chemical reactions that can be directly applied to chemistry concepts they are learning about in the classroom. This kit is a great resource for children who need additional help in chemistry or chemistry fanatics who want to expand their knowledge in this area. An additional benefit of this kit is there are extension kits available for purchase as children complete lessons and are ready to move on to more complex, challenging lessons.

Focus Skills: This STEM kit introduces students to science, specifically chemistry.

Price: $79.95

Link to Product

Strawbees STEAM Starter Robotics Kit

Why You Should Buy It: The Strawbee Robotics Kit is a great way to introduce children to engineering and technology at home. Using detailed instructions, children will use their imagination and critical thinking skills to build and code a fully functional robot. Coding jobs are in high demand, which is making the need for qualified, passionate coders increasingly important in the STEM workforce. By instilling this skill in middle school-aged students, parents can help set their children up for success in their future careers.

Focus Skills: This STEM kit teaches students key engineering and technology skills.

Price: $75.00

Link to Product

Horizon Educational Wind Energy Science Kit

Why You Should Buy It: The Wind Energy Science Kit introduces students to science and engineering concepts through real world, hands on examples. During this lesson, children build their own wind turbine, spending time to perfect angles, weight, and resistance,creating a functional windmill used to generate electricity. This provides parents with the opportunity to talk to their child about earth science, physics and engineering careers that use these skills to better society and the future of the planet.

Focus Skills: This STEM kit teaches children key science and engineering skills.

Price: $199.00

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STEM Sports® All Star Kit

Why You Should Buy It: The STEM Sports® All Star Kit is a recurring monthly subscription STEM education program that uses sports as a way to facilitate hands-on learning. The STEM kit is offered for grades 3-5 and grades 6-8 to ensure alignment with skillset, classroom curriculum, and educational standards. Each month, children will receive a turnkey box that uses a different sport as the application of how STEM concepts can be applied to the real world. This benefits children in understanding why what they are learning is important and what jobs utilize these skills.

Focus Skills: This subscription kit highlights all areas of STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Price: $24.99 / month

Link to Product

Carolina Cross-Sectional Human Eye Model

Why You Should Buy It: The Carolina Cross-Sectional Human Eye Model is a foam model showing the inner anatomy of the human eye. This model is five times larger than the average human eye and comes with a full guide and diagram for the lesson. Children use the guide to fill out their diagram and learn more about the different parts of the eye and how they work together to allow full vision and function. This is a great and cost effective STEM kit for a child who is currently learning about biology and anatomy and/or has an interest in the medical field.

Focus Skills: The human eye model introduces students to science, more specifically, biology and anatomy.

Price: $22.10

Link to Product

GoCube STEM Puzzle

Why You Should Buy It: The GoCube is similar to a traditional Rubix Cube. However, this cube utilizes Bluetooth technology and an IOS/Android application. Once purchased, children have access to hundreds of STEM lessons, games, and puzzles meant to be done at home or on the go. Outside of the direct STEM benefits this product provides, it also helps strengthen memory, problem solving skills, and other 21st century skills linked to success in the workforce and classroom.

Focus Skills: The GoCube teaches STEM skills and 21st century learning skills through interactive app puzzles and games.

Price: $99.95

Link to Product

Kitables DIY Mini Drone Quadcopter Kit

Why You Should Buy It: The Kitables Mini Drone is an at home STEM kit that transforms middle school children into robotics engineers. Using step-by-step online instructions, children use their imagination and engineering skills to construct a working drone from scratch. Once the drone is properly built, children will go outsid,play with their drone, and witness how their building and electrical skills are applicable to real world activities and technology.

Focus Skills: The Kitables DIY Mini Drone Quadcopter Kit highlights core science, technology, and engineering lessons for children.

Price: $59.99

Link to Product

Elevate Prep Math Game

Why You Should Buy It: The Elevate Prep Math Game is the perfect addition to family game night or after school activities with friends! The interactive math game helps children strengthen their subtraction, multiplication, and division skills in a fun, fast paced environment. The game promotes the use of math literacy and allows children to practice in a safe environment where getting the answer wrong and trying again is okay. As these skills are strengthened, children will see improved scores on exams/standardized tests and will be more comfortable using these skills in day to day life.

Focus Skills: The Elevate Prep Math Game promotes math learning through play.

Price: $18.99

Link to Product

STEM with STEM Sports®

Are you interested in learning more about the benefits of STEM learning and how it can be implemented with K-12 students? Read these comprehensive blogs about STEM education for kids:

  • 6 Effective At Home STEM Activities for High School Students
  • 9 Hidden Benefits of STEM Curriculum
  • Why is STEM Learning Important in the World
  • How to Get Kids Interested in Technology

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STEM Kits for Middle School Students (2024)

FAQs

What do middle schoolers learn in STEM? ›

Common STEM courses for middle schools include intermediate math, introductory life sciences, computational thinking, digital literacy, coding, and more. A robust middle school STEM program should include many different topics and approaches: A strong math and science foundation.

How do you use a STEM kit? ›

How is a STEM Kit used in a classroom? A classroom set is composed of 15 identical kits designed to be student-centered, guided inquiry explorations. Each kit is meant to be used by 2 students, for a total of 30 students at a time.

What are STEM learning kits? ›

You don't often hear the words “STEM” and “fun” together but, when you are talking about STEM educational kits, that's exactly what they are about! STEM kits allow the learner to engage with science, technology, engineering, and maths subjects in a fun way.

What should every STEM lab have? ›

Science & Math Tools - A STEM lab can support core curriculum by incorporating science tools and math manipulatives during lessons. Common tools such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, rulers, scales, and calipers are useful for in-depth exploration and testing. You can explore more STEM tools at STEMfinity.

What is STEM in 7th grade? ›

Welcome to 7th Grade STEM!

In S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) we focus on 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.

What is STEM in 8th grade? ›

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs are important in schools because they can help prepare students for these types of jobs when they enter the workforce.

Are STEM toys worth it? ›

According to Ken Seiter, an educational psychologist, some kids appreciate chemistry sets, and others are more fond of the box it comes in. Either way, both kids try to play and explore the world in their own little ways. STEM toys can be part of healthy childhood development, but these toys should only be a part.

Why are science kits important? ›

Science experiment kits help students to learn the practical aspect of science in everyday life. Students generally enjoy doing things practically because theoretical learning sometimes becomes very boring.

When should I start STEM? ›

So why should we wait until students are 5 years old and entering kindergarten to begin engaging in STEM activities? Students are incredibly active learners at 1, 2 and 3 years old, and we can start building their foundation in STEM as soon as they enter this world.

What does a STEM curriculum look like? ›

A STEM class in your school can be any class that focuses on STEM-related subjects, i.e. a lesson that has a science, technology, engineering or math element. This includes life sciences like genetics, botany, zoology, and ecology. It can also include physical sciences like analytical chemistry and physics.

What does a STEM lesson look like? ›

STEM lessons immerse students in hands-on inquiry and open-ended exploration. In STEM lessons, the path to learning is open-ended, within constraints. (Constraints generally involve things like available materials.) The students' work is hands-on and collaborative, and decisions about solutions are student-generated.

How do you create a STEM curriculum? ›

RECOMMENDATIONS
  1. Relate science to students' daily lives.
  2. Employ hands-on tasks and group activities.
  3. Use authentic learning activities.
  4. Incorporate novelty and student decision-making into classroom lessons.
  5. Ensure that STEM curricula focus on the most important topics in each discipline.

What does STEM not include? ›

Despite having “science” in its name, social sciences — like sociology, psychology, and anthropology — are not typically considered STEM fields, as they mainly deal with human behavior and society.

What are the five components of STEM? ›

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math comprise STEAM learning. However, there is more to a true STEM mindset than just the content.

What is STEM 6th grade? ›

(Taken one semester, every other day)

Why teach STEM in middle school? ›

STEM education is crucial for getting kids ready for their future careers. Younger learners in middle schools and older kids alike benefit from STEM education, as they get to develop their critical thinking and technological literacy, which are essential in today's job market.

Why is STEM education important in middle school? ›

STEM learning also promotes critical thinking, curiosity, persistence, decision-making, leadership, entrepreneurship, acceptance of failure and more. Regardless of your child's career aspirations, these skill sets will go a long way in preparing them for their future.

What do students do in STEM class? ›

STEM teams take responsibility for developing their own solutions for their engineering challenge. Kids are up and doing things - brainstorming, designing, creating, experimenting, and redoing. This is an action-packed class. Adults are wandering around in STEM class.

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