☀️ School’s winding down and the weather’s heating up. The end of the school year is the perfect time for some fun, creative, and purposeful summer STEM activities! Whether you’re planning end-of-year activities, summer school, or camp STEM, these ideas will keep kids engaged, thinking critically, and having a blast.
Here are my top 12 favorite summer STEM activities for the end of the year — don’t miss a freebie Summer STEM Activity included below!
Table of Contents
Summer STEM Activity 1: Wicked-Fast Water Slide
Description
Build the fastest, safest, splashiest water slide imaginable! Students design and construct a slide for marbles or beads, using materials like foil and cups.
Why I Love It
Kids get a taste of summer fun while learning serious science. Plus, it’s super adaptable depending on time and materials you have! Along the way, they explore concepts like friction, gravity, and potential/kinetic energy.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Grab the resource here, on TPT, or Etsy, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 2: Keep it Cool / Make it Melt
Description
Build two devices: one to slow the melting process (Keep it Cool) and one to speed it up (Make it Melt).
Why I Love It
It’s a great way to introduce insulators and conductors of heat as well as heat energy & transfer. If you try this challenge once in the winter and again close to summer, it’s really fun to see how students work with the outside temperature changes!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Grab the resource here, on TPT, or Etsy, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 3: Drippin’ Dash
Description
Design a water scoop to maximize the volume carried in a relay race! It’s part engineering, part teamwork, and part field day fun rolled into one awesome challenge.
Why I Love It
Movement + STEM = happiness. This keeps kids moving, collaborating, and solving problems without even realizing how much they’re learning. Perfect for end of the year activities!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
You can skip the relay race and just design water scoops for max volume in a single scoop. But kids LOVE the race if you can swing it!
Grab the resource here, on TPT, or Etsy, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 4: Pick & Pack
Description
Get ready for a road trip! Students must “pack” a virtual trunk, maximizing space and points while prioritizing must-haves and fun extras. It’s all about strategic planning and critical thinking.
Why I Love It
It’s an easy win — all you need is paper and scissors for this 2D challenge. It’s perfect to keep students occupied with a real-world connection to travel and summer fun while you pack up the classroom or work on report cards!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
This one takes awhile because students need to cut out clip art pieces (if you’re using the print version; the digital version has drag & drop pieces). Watch the walk-through video on YouTube for more info, ideas, & extensions.
Grab the resource here, on TPT, or Etsy, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 5: Amphibious Phone
Description
Students engineer a waterproof, retrievable smartphone case! No real phones needed — just paper models and lots of creative thinking about buoyancy, waterproofing, and retrieval.
Why I Love It
Real-world relevance and tons of ways to extend into science, math, and writing make this one a classroom favorite.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Grab the resource here, on TPT, or Etsy, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 6: Boat Building
Description
Students design and build boats that float, hold weight, and/or move with speed. Perfect for a splashy, end-of-year challenge or summer STEM day!
Why I Love It
It’s incredibly versatile — you can keep it light and fun or add loads of data collection, graphing, and speed analysis.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
You don’t need all the materials shown. Use what you have lying around. Kids will make it work!
Grab the resource on TPT, or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Summer STEM Activity 7: Summer STEM Improv
Description
Students mix and match summer-themed objects, materials, and functions to create whimsical designs — no building materials required unless you choose to extend!
The novel design combinations (e.g. design a trampoline made of swimming goggles that makes lemonade) inspire so much thinking and creativity!
Why I Love It
NO MATERIALS NEEED! 🙌 It sharpens creativity, flexibility, and imagination in just 10-15 minutes a day. Plus: 336 possible combinations = endless summer fun. Add this to your end of the year activities arsenal!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Learn more & grab the resource on TPT.
Summer STEM Activity 8: Summer Centers / Bellringers
Description
Use these 5-minute, no-materials-needed prompts as bell ringers, quick centers, or sub plans. Activities like STEM Improv, See-Think-Wonder, and Analyze This vs. That keep kids’ brains buzzing.
Why I Love It
They’re fast, flexible, and focus on critical thinking & creativity — and no materials needed!
Notes / Where to Learn More
Learn more & grab the resource on TPT.
Summer STEM Activity 9: Summer Quick Builds
Description
Three splashy challenges (On the Recline, Dive Right In, Sun Shade) perfect for quick builds! A quick build in STEM is like a quick write in ELA: Students will not go all the way through the engineering design process; instead, they will choose a challenge and quickly “draft” a design to build.
Why I Love It
Uses 5 or fewer simple materials! Super engaging, and great for centers or summer camp-style activities.
Students focus mainly on creating rather than a full EDP cycle, so it can be done in short periods.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Grab the resource on TPT.
Summer STEM Activity 10: Fun & Games Quick Builds
Description
Students design homemade versions of basketball hoops, bowling games, and golf clubs in these quick, creative challenges!
Why I Love It
Uses 5 or fewer simple materials! It feels like summer DIY toy making — super fun, great for choice boards and fast-paced activities. The focus of these activities is primarily on the build, so it doesn’t take as long as a full STEM challenge!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Grab the resource on TPT.
Summer STEM Activity 11:
Wearable Quick Builds
Description
Students create wearable designs like custom kicks (shoes), creative hats, and self-framing accessories! In this quick-build format, they focus mostly on building, encouraging fast, creative thinking without diving into full-length STEM challenges.
Why I Love It
Uses 5 or fewer simple materials! Students love designing wearable creations, and these activities are fast and flexible! Great for a fun twist on STEM centers, early finishers, or makerspaces without needing tons of prep or materials.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More”
You’ll find two build options for each challenge to allow for self-differentiation, plus editable handouts to make it easy to customize.
Grab the resource on TPT.
Summer STEM Activity 12: Beach Ball Boogie STEM Challenge (FREEBIE)
Description
Students design a device to carry or balance a beach ball during a team relay race—with some bonus boogie moves thrown in! This free STEM challenge is a fun and energetic way to sneak in engineering, problem-solving, and collaboration skills as you wind down the year or kick off summer fun.
Why I Love It
First, it’s a FREEBIE! 🎉 Second, it’s hilarious to watch and even better for teamwork, creativity, and getting kids up and moving. Plus, it’s super flexible—you can swap in balloons or other playground balls if needed.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Perfect for end-of-year madness, summer school, or even camp activities!
You can grab this free challenge by subscribing to my newsletter.
Grab the resource free below or watch a full video walk-though on YouTube.
Grab the Beach Ball Boogie Freebie ⬇️
Bonus Ideas for Summer Learning Fun
☀️ In addition to the 12 hands-on STEM activities shared above, here are a few bonus ideas to spark even more creativity and engagement this summer:
Bonus Summer Activity 1: Summer Paper Bag Stories (ELA Activity)
Description
Summer Paper Bag Stories gives students a fun way to mix and match story elements and build narratives inspired by beach days, road trips, summer camp, and more!
Why I Love It
It’s a flexible, low-prep option for May–August that works great for summer school, enrichment, writing sub plans, or even as a back-to-school warm-up!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
Use the resource or have students contribute ideas for characters, settings & events/conflicts/adventures.
Learn more & grab the resource on TPT.
Bonus Summer Activity 2: STEM Design Domino
Description
🎲 If you’re short on time and materials, STEM Design Domino is a game-changer! Students roll a domino (or dice) to select unique animal-based design challenges and think creatively to design custom solutions — like roller skates for a kangaroo or a coffee table for a giraffe.
Why I Love It
It’s a super easy way to get kids thinking critically without needing lots of prep or supplies.
✅ Over 432 possible design combinations!
✅ Great for bell ringers, choice boards, early finishers, or sub plans.
✅ No build required—students focus on planning, criteria, and constraints to customize designs for animals.
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
This can be a quick activity or you can go more in depth with research, prototypes and more!
Learn more & grab the resource here or on TPT.
Bonus Summer Activity 3: Cloud Creativity Activity
Description
☁️ Give students practice thinking outside the box with Creativity Clouds! Students view cloud shapes and transform them into imaginative drawings.
Why I Love It
This activity helps students tap into their creativity and flex their observation skills—an important foundation for innovation in STEM and beyond! No special supplies needed—just pencils, paper, and either head outside to view real clouds or view photos on a digital device!
Notes / Substitutions / Where to Learn More
If you don’t grab this resource with 40 images ready to do, students can take their own photos of clouds – or you can have them skip the drawing and point out what they see to a partner outside.
Learn more & grab the resource on TPT or on Etsy.
🌞 Make Summer STEM-tacular!
Whether you’re sprinting toward the final bell with engaging end of the year activities or gearing up for summer school or camp, these STEM activities are packed with learning and joy.
Related posts:
- 30 STEM Activities in 30 Minutes or Less
- Back-to-School STEM Activities
- 5 Summer STEM Challenges
- Boat Building Summer STEM
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