Making Individual STEM Kits for Remote Learning

What should I include in a Maker Ed or STEM kit for remote instruction for learning at home?

 

Want to create individual kits for students for remote instruction or hybrid learning, so that students can have hands-on projects throughout Covid-19? Below you will learn about some of reasons why this is a good idea and the see some of the best deals and most affordable products for personalized learning kits.

 

Would you love to receive a Maker Ed Kit as an adult learner? Then check out The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Maker Education online course. As part of the course you can receive a Maker Ed Supply Kit and do hands-on online professional development at home! We look forward to seeing you inside the course.

 

There are a lot of reasons why you would want to create STEM kits for each student. Creating individualize learning kits helps create equal access for all students. To continue their learning without being restricted by the materials they have. STEM kits will get students off the computer screen with unplugged activities to design and build, hands-on projects. Individual kits can also help with in person instruction by reducing the risk of cross contaminating germs from lots of students using the same materials.

 

There are a lot of things to consider when making Maker Ed kits. Creating a kit for each student could get expensive. How do you include products that can serve multiple purposes and are safe for students to use. Below are some inexpensive and helpful products that should go into every personal STEM kit for students to use.

 

There are 3 things to think about whenever creating individualized learning Maker Ed or STEM kits for students kit:

1. The first thing to determine are the learning objectives. What do you want these kits to help students accomplish? How do these materials help students meet the objectives?
2. The second thing to remember to do when implementing STEM kits is to communicate with students families. Speak with families about how they will receive the kit, how they will ensure supplies are used for learning projects, the purpose of the materials in the kit and MOST IMPORTANTLY SAFETY features of each product in the kit.
3. Then think about distribution of the student kits. Some schools mail them to students homes, others have families come to the school to pick them up and other schools have them be dropped off with lunches using school buses.

 

Here are some of things that would be great to include in a STEM kit for Remote Learning:

Pipe Cleaners - You can create anything you can imagine with pipe cleaners. You can use them as structures or sculptures. They are incredible affordable and reuse-able. One of our favorite projects uses only pipe cleaners. That is our first project in our online, self-guided, hands-on professional development course: The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Maker Ed. Head there to learn more!

 

Color Masking Tape - Good quality tape is hard to come by, colored tape can add excitement to the project and be a functional and important element to a STEM kit. This pack can be divided up into one or two per student.

 

Brass Fasteners - These small but mighty office supplies can take a project from stationary to moving in minutes. They can help teach many concepts like levers to linkages and build great moving creatures.

 

Cardstock - Good quality paper makes for such a better project. Make sure to equip your students with good heavy weight paper for their Maker Ed Kit

 

Bendy Straws - These straws that bend at one end can be used as structures, ramps, or rails. They can be placed inside one another and bent into shapes. They are a cheap and easy to put in a STEM kit.

 

Paper Clips - Another office supply that can be very versatile in Maker Ed projects. The paper engineering challenges use paper clips as a way to connect tubes of paper together to make structures.

 

Cotton Twine - Simple cotton twine makes for great building materials. Students can use this to connect components together or make pulleys or hanging projects

 

White computer paper - When not used for photocopying worksheets, this can be very effective as a simple STEM project. It can be used as everything from sketch paper, to backgrounds, to 3D shapes and nets. Your school probably gets great deals on this paper, the more you put in students kits the more they can create. For ideas for design projects that use only paper check out Paper Engineering.

 

Crayons and Makers - Everything is a better with color. Give students lots of opportunities to color their projects. Buying a large class pack of crayons and markers, then dividing it up into each kit, makes it affordable for students to decorate their great work.

 

Kids Scissors - Sending home safe scissors might be a good options for students who do not have access to kids scissors at home. This 30 pack is a great deal!

 

For younger students: 3Dux Designs is a great product that can be bought in bulk with the classroom kits and broken down into smaller chunks to give out to students. The best part about 3Dux Design is that the connectors can be cleaned in the dishwasher and the cardboard can be replaced with cardboard packs or any cardboard there is around. 3Dux Designs has lots of great resources on their website for lessons on simple machines, global design challenges and connections to story books.

 

For older students: who are learning about electricity and electronics, consider building subject specific kits. Coin cell batteries are very affordable and easy to use with the right instruction. The LED lights that WhyMaker sells are great for students to use because they are large, produce a lot of light and use little electricity. Also the Maker Tape is awesome! It is so easy to use as an electrical path.  

 

For robotics and electronics classes (including AP Computer Science): This can get expensive, fast. Choosing the right technology will help you. You want high quality and low cost products. The two best options are Edison Robots and Microbit. At $33 each for 30 Edison Robot they can be used with students young as 6 and as old as AP computer science, you can code Edison Robots on any device in multiple language. Microbit Club Pack gets you 10 Microbits at $17 each. Students can learn to code through tutorials on the MakeCode site and can use all of the different onboard sensors.

 

For architect, design and engineering classes: Consider two great products, Paper Engineering Challenges to start with the basics of structure building and design needs. Then upgrade to DazzLinks to build complex structures and architecture marvels.

 

For packing students STEM kits check out these awesome mesh, drawstring bags. Or bubble mailers for shipping the kits home.

Individualize Maker Ed or STEM kits are a great idea for continuing learning in a Makerspace during Covid-19. There are so many opportunities to build simple and affordable kits for students Maker Ed, STEM  and technology classes to allow for learning to happen equitably during this difficult time.

 

Have you built out a kit for your students? Share a picture with us on social media @WhyMaker.

Think of something else we should add to these at home kits? Leave a comment below with you idea.

Would you love to receive a Maker Ed Kit as an adult learner? Then check out The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Maker Education online course. As part of the course you can receive a Maker Ed Supply Kit and do hands-on online professional development at home! We look forward to seeing you inside the course.