9 Portable STEM Learning Play Ideas for Kids

It’s always a challenge to find fun stuff for kids to do while on the go.  Summer road trips, at grandma’s, waiting at restaurants, on an airplane, so many places where you need something fun and portable to keep the kids busy.  I love to incorporate learning wherever I can into my girl’s activities, so here are some of my go-to portable STEM (science, technology, engineering, & math) learning ideas that we take on the road.

Take STEM learning fun on the go with these 9 portable play ideas for kids.

Portable STEM Learning Play Ideas for Kids

Here’s the list!!

  1. Portable Tinkering Kit for Preschoolers || Left Brain Craft Brain

Encourage design thinking in your littles with this open-ended tinkering kit that’s easy to take places.  It’s one of our favorite restaurant activities. We name an engineering challenge and say go!  Some fun challenges are to build a rabbit a hat or test high can you build a tower.

Portable Tinkering Kit for Preschoolers Left Brain Craft Brain FB

  1. Magnetic Field Sensory Bottle || Left Brain Craft Brain

Wait times slip away as you play with this mesmerizing magnetic sensory bottle.  Be sure to make one for the grown-ups too (I can’t stop playing with mine!).

Side Magnet LBCB

  1. Rainbow Prism Busy Bag || Left Brain Craft Brain

Learn about the science of light through the car window with this fun and colorful prism busy bag.

Rainbow Prism Busy Bag Left Brain Craft Brain FB

  1. DIY Travel Tangrams || Delia Creates

We’re big fans of tangrams, those geometric shape creating puzzles.  Delia Creates has a fun and easy way to take them on the road.

magnetic tangrams-9716

  1. Travel Sized Cup Stacking Kit || Lemon Lime Adventure

Kids can practice their design skills with this fun and portable cup stacking kit.  Design, build, destroy, repeat.

Travel-Kit-for-Little-Engineers

  1. 15 Physics Apps for Kids || iGameMom

iGameMom is THE resource for safe, fun and educational ways to play online for kids.  This is a fun list for kids to learn their physics.

physics apps cropped

  1. Number Chart Math Art || Pink Stripey Socks

This activity has it all.  Stickers, math, bright colors and super compact and light to take with you.  Kids follow numerical color rules to fill in the boxes with stickers.  It’s color by number amped up.

Number Chart Art Pink Stripey Socks

  1. DIY Travel Geoboard || Left Brain Craft Brain

Geoboards are fun and open-ended ways to practice making shapes and following plans.  This clear DIY version is made from an old CD case.

Clear Travel Geoboard Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. LEGO® Juniors

Saving the best for last :)  My daughter’s surprise favorite of all of these activities.  LEGO is definitely the ultimate STEM learning toy available today because it inspires creativity while helping build math, fine motor and problem solving skills.

LEGO Assemble LBCB

But I’ll be honest, my daughter hadn’t really caught the LEGO® bug yet.  DUPLO® were too easy.  Other sets too hard for her currently short attention span.  Until I gave her a set of LEGO® JUNIORS blocks.  LEGO® JUNIORS is designed to give children age 4-7 a great first building experience with the LEGO brick through iconic, fun and easy to build models. And she ran with it.

We sent the fun little suitcase to an overnight at her aunt and uncles. We took it out to eat at a restaurant, too.  And were so thankful for it when the food took forever!!

LEGO table Left Brain Craft Brain

Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Math Fun for Kids

Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that use can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Kids: 50+ Hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math Hands-On Projects for Kids ebook! It’s packed full of a year’s worth fun learning activities that will wow the boredom right out of your kids.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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