Easy STEAM Station Ideas for Preschoolers

Do you need quick and easy ideas to set up STEAM stations in your preschool?

Check out these STEAM station ideas which require no more than five easy-to-find items.

These stations will make you and your children want to give each other a high-five because they are easy for you to set up and extremely engaging and educational for your children!

To begin, you will need to gather some supplies. In the “high five” model, you will use this formula for gathering:

1. Container
2. Main sensory material
3. Loose part 1
4. Loose part 2
5. Tool

Try it: Weed the Garden

All you need is: 

1. Container: Pot
2. Main sensory material: Sand, water, clay or playdough
3. Loose part 1: Flowers
4. Loose part 2: Sticks
5. Tool: Tweezers

With this setup, children can play with the materials and role-play planting flowers and pulling out the weeds. Children can use the tweezers for an extra fine motor challenge. This is a great activity to link to a garden theme like the one found in Experience Curriculum’s Growing Gardens sample lesson.

Try It: Dig and Sort

All you need is:

1. Container: Baking tray
2. Main sensory material: Sand
3. Loose part 1: Beans
4. Loose part 2: Beads
5. Tool: Sifter  

You could set this activity up inside or outside in a sandbox. Add both beans and beads to a tray of sand. Children can pretend many different things as they dig and sort out the beads from the beans. Children can pretend that someone buried a treasure of hidden jewels or that they have to clean up the garden so that the beans have room to grow.

Use these ideas to inspire your imagination and then have fun inventing your own STEAM stations indoors and outdoors.

More STEAM Stations

• Winter STEAM IDEAS
• Safari STEAM Play Ideas

Try Experience Curriculum for a month and receive 20 STEAM station ideas that you can quickly set up with materials you find outside or around your home.