Are you a new STEM teacher? Looking for a STEM activity in music or art? Are you introducing 3D printing? Our list of 10 must have STEM tools covers everything from robotics to unplugged learning, free resources, and some brand new products that just hit the market! We hope you enjoy this list of back to school STEM tools!

It has been almost 50 years since the last human set foot on the Moon. Have you ever wondered what that dusty surface is like? Now you can learn about it and play with Moon dust that you can make right in your kitchen. Read on to learn how!

Moon STEM activities, books, videos and more are in store in this post! Whether you remember the Apollo 11 mission or have only seen past pictures, the feat remains awe-inspiring. This can be especially true for kids who desire to dream big. Join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing as we engage kids with history and strengthen their STEM skills for the future. Read on for our list of related STEM activities and resources for your home, classroom, or program.

Six steps to designing a colony on Mars! Students learn about Mars, brainstorm and research design solutions for food, water, energy, and other critical systems, and build a colony model from recycled materials. This is the perfect way to take your STEM or STEAM program to the next level with a project-based STEM challenge!

Need a fun, easy team-building challenge for back to school? We have you covered with our favorite three back to school STEM icebreakers! Whether preschool or high school, read on for STEM activities and modifications to get your students moving and working together as a team! 

Do you want to launch a rocket with your students or kids? Are you afraid or unsure where to start? Keep reading for a beginners guide to model rockets based on my years of experience launching hundreds of model rockets with all ages. I also linked to a Google Drive with tons of valuable resources to get you started! 

This post is part one of a three part series on model rocketry in the classroom. 

As you prepare yourself for the upcoming year, we wanted to share Vivify's top 10 back to school STEM tools!

STEM education is sweeping the nation. From robotics competitions to coding games, school districts are scrambling to provide STEM programs while teachers sift through thousands of Pinterest pins in search of quality activities. We need further clarification to distinguish these levels in STEM education. To help guide educators and administrators, we propose the following 3 stages of STEM Education. 

Exciting videos are a great hook for engaging students into a STEM lesson. Videos can allow students to meet STEM professionals, tour a STEM facility, learn about exciting STEM real-world applications, and really help bring STEM to life. Below are the top 10 more useful STEM video resources for your classroom or after school program. Most include videos with short duration of 1 - 3 minutes to fit easily into a classroom lesson. 

Last year, I started a new Space Club program at four middle schools. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched the web for ideas and curriculum to implement. I soon became excited to find great resources like NASA and TeachEngineering, but I was also overwhelmed as a simple Google search for "Space STEM activities" gives you a mere 89 million hits. Wading through a lot of junk eventually brought some gems that I could implement, and I leave it to another post to rant about the lack of quality in many activities that claim to be "STEM."