STEM Activities for 10-Year-Olds: Hands-On Adventures to Nurture Inquisitive Minds

September 13, 2024 / Heather Reyes

A young boy with short, light brown hair wearing a navy blue shirt sits at a table, deeply absorbed in examining a mechanical wooden toy. The toy, resembling a small crane or catapult with yellow accents, appears to be a construction kit that he has built. These types of STEM activities for 10 year old children are an important part of their educational journey.

Right before your eyes, your 10-year-old seems to be growing from a child into a bigger kid. Their critical thinking skills are gradually strengthening, they're making huge strides in academics, and they crave independence. This is also the age when STEM activities for 10-year-olds become essential, as their social lives are increasingly rich and they are in a period of rapid cognitive and creative development, capable of understanding more complex concepts while being full of curiosity about the world around them.

During this significant period of transition, STEM activities for 10-year-olds play a vital role in their education. STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—not only supports better academic achievement but also contributes to your child's overall development, including social skills, emotional growth, and the cultivation of creativity.

“STEM covers the crucial 4Cs of 21st Century Education: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication.” – Steam Powered Family. Integrating STEM activities for 10-year-olds into their learning routine helps reinforce these essential skills, making education more engaging and effective.

STEM activities for 10-year-olds encourage independent exploration, experimentation, and discovery. They can satisfy a child's curiosity and need to explore. Through hands-on learning, these activities help children gain a deeper understanding of scientific principles while fostering critical thinking, analytical skills, and scientific reasoning. This approach will help children think calmly when faced with complex problems and persevere in finding solutions.

STEM activities also help 10-year-olds develop teamwork and communication skills, which will satisfy their growing social needs. STEM activities encourage openness and real-world problems and challenges, which encourage children to constantly come up with new ideas, stimulate creativity and innovation, and promote the application of STEM concepts in practical scenarios, linking what they have learned to the real world.

Designing STEM Activities for 10-Year-Olds

A young boy with curly hair sits on a couch, playfully holding a small, colourful toy resembling a target or launcher. With a mischievous grin, he balances a small white ball on his tongue, suggesting a moment of fun and playfulness.

When choosing STEM activities for children at this stage, the complexity and challenge of the projects can be appropriately increased, providing opportunities for children to explore more advanced scientific concepts and work with more interesting materials.

No matter how mature your 10-year-old may seem and act, remember that they are still children, and don't forget to provide support when necessary. Parents can choose STEM activities with clear step-by-step instructions and, on this basis, provide children with opportunities for customization and open-ended expression. This will ensure that children can complete tasks independently without losing the fun of independent exploration.

Stories still work at this stage. Activities can start from real historical stories and guide children to make some interdisciplinary projects, such as famous inventions, weapons, or even magic in history! The premise is that they are directions that children are interested in.

Want some specific ideas for STEM activities? Let's take a look at the STEM activities we've selected for 10-year-olds!

For the 10-Year-Old Engineering and Machinery Enthusiast

1. DIY Tower Crane

Tower cranes, often seen on large construction sites, are capable of lifting very heavy loads. If your child is interested in engineering machinery, they must be curious about how cranes work. By building this amazing cardboard crane, kids will learn about the science and engineering principles behind them and how to precisely move and place heavy objects.

This is a project that requires patience, and as a busy mom, it's not always easy to find ways to spend time with your kids. When you don't want to add "another thing" to your schedule, a STEM subscription box will help you avoid getting too stressed.

The Crane STEAM Box comes with all the materials needed to build a crane, along with detailed illustrated instructions that kids can follow independently. The box also comes with a science magazine to help kids understand the working principle behind the crane, the science of pulleys, and how pulleys help improve people's work efficiency through hands-on experiments.

A small crane model, assembled on top of a cardboard box, repeatedly lifts and lowers a miniature cargo container. This stop-motion animation showcases a STEM toy or educational kit designed to teach children about simple machines and engineering principles.

A small, functional wooden crane model, painted yellow and blue, continuously lifts and lowers a miniature cargo container. The crane is built atop a cardboard box labeled Tinkerer, suggesting it's a DIY construction kit designed for children's STEM learning.

You can choose one day a week to explore STEM projects with your 10-year-old and try to keep it within a timeframe that works for you. This means that one subscription box can provide a family with a month of activities.

Here are more affordable subscription-based STEM activities that can solve most of the problems of doing STEM activities at home. Parents can bring out food and drinks, sit down with their kids, learn something together, and have fun.

Write down anything that might be fun to add to your family plan or that your kids will enjoy! It will really save you a lot of time, make your job easier, and be more enriching and professional.

2. Hydraulic Arm STEM Activity

Build a hydraulic system using syringes and tubing, and create a super cool hydraulic robotic arm. The hydraulic arm is controlled by three sets of hydraulic systems and can be moved up and down and rotated left and right. Children will explore the power of hydraulics to grip objects. Follow the included science magazine to learn and explore hydraulic knowledge.

3. Coin Sorter STEM Activity

This is an incredibly cool automated sorting device! Children will see coins roll into different slots, neatly stacking them by size right before their eyes!

The coin sorter helps children understand the history and science of coins, master creative scientific classification skills, and learn about leading classification technologies in different industries. The accompanying science magazine explores more fun science about classification.

What Can a 10-Year-Old Action Enthusiast Do?

1.Repeating Crossbow STEM Activity

The repeating crossbow was a groundbreaking innovation that sparked creativity and ingenuity in design. It uses the gravity of the bullet to automatically load the crossbow online and then uses the elasticity of the wood to assist the lever of the drawing arm, allowing the foam bullet to fly out quickly.

In this STEM activity, children will replicate this ingenious invention from history and build a semi-automatic crossbow that can fire continuously. In the process of making it, they will explore the working principle of the repeating crossbow, understand potential and kinetic energy, and learn about levers.

2. Trebuchet STEM Activity

A young girl, comfortably seated on the floor, prepares to launch a small wooden ball using a miniature catapult. This STEM-oriented toy, crafted from wood, demonstrates basic physics principles like trajectory and force as the girl aims for colourful flags positioned a short distance away.

If you’ve ever explored late medieval history, you’ll be captivated by the impressive engineering of trebuchets. In this STEM activity, kids will build a fully functional trebuchet and learn about the history and science behind it.

They will learn about physics and engineering through the operation of the trebuchet. By adjusting the weight of the trebuchet's counterweight, the length of the throwing arm, and the weight of the projectile, they can control the trajectory of the projectile motion and understand how the trebuchet works.

3. Ballista STEM Activity

A hand prepares to load a small yellow ball into a wooden ballista, a miniature model of the ancient missile-throwing weapon. This DIY STEM construction, painted in bright yellow and black, demonstrates historical engineering principles in a fun and engaging way.

Build a torsion ballista and explore the engineering techniques of the Romans and Greeks over two thousand years ago. Explore the source of the ballista's impressive strength and discover the principles of siege engines and torsion. See how the famed Roman legions used them to achieve their goals and become one of the most successful empires the world has ever known.

For the 10-Year-Old Science Artist

1. Infinity Mirror STEM Activity

This activity will take kids on an exploration of the magical world of infinity. Build an infinity mirror with a set of mirrors and lights, and learn about the reflection of different types of light. Learn about the history of the concept of infinity and its many applications in art and science through the science magazine included with every STEAM box.

2. Planetarium STEM Activity

A dark-colored star projector, shaped like a dome, sits on a table and projects constellations onto the wall behind it. The names of the constellations are written on the dome, making it an educational STEM tool for learning about astronomy.

Time to turn off the lights and learn about the wonders of the starry sky! In this activity, children will make a rotating planetarium and learn the science of the starry sky. Children will use pushpins to poke out their own star chart and then fold it into a star lamp. Finally, they can follow the included science magazine to learn how to identify constellations.

3. Synthesizer STEM Activity

Build a synthesizer from scratch, turn the knobs to create combinations of different electronic sounds, and experience the art and science of electronic sound. Children will use engineering and design thinking to test and solve problems, master the working principles of a variety of basic electronic components, and learn about the application of resistors in different circuits through experiments.

STEM Subscription Boxes: A World of Learning Delivered to Your Door

STEM subscription boxes provide content-rich, hands-on projects, each carefully designed to enhance children's creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. They are not only great learning tools but also enhance interaction among family members, helping children learn and grow better in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

Age 10 marks a significant transition for children as they approach adolescence, bringing a mix of both challenges and joys.

The Tinkerer STEAM Box is the gift of knowledge, prepared for children with everything they need to carry out STEM activities at home and delivered to your door. Tinkerer hopes to reduce the difficulty for parents to carry out STEM activities at home, support children's development through rich and creative activities, help children learn through play, stimulate their lifelong love of STEM, and help more people bring STEM education into family life.

The Tinkerer STEAM Box will be the best gift your 10-year-old. Celebrate the first 10 years of their lives with the Tinkerer STEAM Box and explore the infinite possibilities of life!