Building Vehicle STEM Activities for Kids STEM Challenges

Things That Go! Week 5 of the 10o Days of Summer is all about things that go, move, fly, bounce, spin, and more. You use the materials you have on hand to invent your own simple machines designed to move in some way, shape, or form. Get ready to design, engineer, test, and re-test your own things that go with a week of building vehicle STEM activities for homemade science and STEM.

BUILDING VEHICLE STEM ACTIVITIES

RECYCLED VEHICLE ACTIVITIES

Get ready to raid your recycling bin, check out the junk drawers, and break out the LEGO stash if you haven’t already from week 1 of the summer challenge!

Do you have a kid that loves to make things go! Whether it’s with a balloon, a rubber band, gravity, or with a push, these building vehicle STEM activities will be tons of fun for any number of age groups or even group sizes!

Lets’ get started. Click on the links in blue to learn more about each separate activity.

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges?

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Click below to get your quick and easy STEM challenges.

12 AMAZING BUILDING VEHICLES STEM ACTIVITIES

There are I am sure many ways for you to come up with a balloon car of your very own. I have two suggestions to get the creative juices flowing! You can make a LEGO balloon car or you can make a recycled materials balloon car. Both work off of a similar principle and really go!

How about a rubber band? Can a rubber band make something go? Find out how with this fun rubber band car STEM challenge!

Solar power? Now how about building a solar powered car like this one! Great idea for the older kids too.

We could also harness the power of wind to make something move. Check out this idea for a wind-powered car. You could also have a wind-powered boat too!

Can you drive a car with a magnet? Give it a try! We had great fun building simple cars that we could drive around with magnets while figuring out how magnets work! All you need is a car design and bar magnets.

Rockets! Do you have kids who love things that go pop, fizz, and bang? Our little pop rockets take a simple chemical reaction and turn it into something that goes!

This ribbon rocket is another fun idea perfect for a couple of kids to do together!

Set up a fun zip line and create a vehicle for a minifigure to ride along it in!

Combine art with things that go! Another one great for older kids that turns a small car into a bot with a marker!

Our favorite is this baking soda powered boat! This is one of our all-time favorite chemical reactions to explore.

How about designing and building your own propeller airplane! Get ready for take off!

MORE VEHICLE STEM ACTIVITIES

You can think even simpler with challenging your kids to make a boat that floats, a car that moves when pushed, or a plane that flies the farthest. Things that go don’t have to be complicated! Set a challenge for the day and you will have the perfect STEM activities to keep your kids busy!

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Make ramps from cardboard, planks of wood, or plastic rain gutters!

Use painters tape to create a road way on a floor, table, or driveway!

Sketching designs is a great way to encourage kids to get started with ideas. Provide paper and pencils!

Spend a week or more testing out these cool vehicle activities with young engineers!