Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths : Learning by Doing

Author: paul

Open post

Science Week 2026

British Science Week 2026 Curiosity - What’s Your Question?

British Science Week is a national 10-day festival celebrating science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) right across the UK. It runs this year from 6–15 March 2026, giving families and schools a wonderful chance to explore the world together through curiosity, creativity and hands-on fun.

This Year’s Theme is “Curiosity: what’s your question?”
The  why the sky is blue, how birds fly, how video games are made, or what makes trees grow tall type questions. British Science Week organisers want young learners to frame their own questions, explore possible answers, and see that science is about asking why, how, and what if?

You don’t need a lab or special equipment to take part — just imagination and a willingness to explore!

The British Science Week website will have activity packs that are full of ideas you can use at home or in the classroom. There’s a taster pack available now covering fun ways to think about curiosity, and full activity packs will be released in January 2026 - suitable for ages from under 5s up to early teens.
Hands-on experiments and investigations
Question prompts to help children think like scientists
Links to competitions and certificates to celebrate participation
Find out more at www.britishscienceweek.org

 

Open post
Finding Harry a Home book cover

Finding Harry a Home

Storybook: Finding Harry a Home

Meet Harry. He’s a small crab with a big problem!

Harry lives happily on the shoreline - a magical world of sandy beaches, secret coves and busy rock pools. However right now he  needs to find a new home. But he can’t do it alone... he needs help!

With a gentle storyline, vivid illustrations and lovable characters the book blends storytelling and STEM topics to show that different animals have adapted to live in different habitats and how changes in the environment can affect them.

It is also a story about friendship and how, particularly working together, people can make a difference.

The storybook is available to purchase at Amazon.

It also comes with additional learning resources which you can download using the button below.

Open post
Bookshelf of STEM books

Bookshelf

Taking advantage of new publishing technology, StemForStarters is creating it's own range of storybooks and guides for children. Each one of which incorporates a STEM topic taken from the Primary/Elementary school Science syllabus.

Together with additional online resources, they will be great learning adventures!

Perfect for story-time with a parent, independent reading or the classroom.

Watch this space (or should that be bookshelf)!

Finding Harry a Home book cover

BookshelfLatest Projects

Finding Harry a Home

A Storybook about a small crab looking for a new home. With a gentle storyline, vivid illustrations and lovable characters ...

Go to book

Open post
digital art with scratch

Coding with Scratch: Digital Art


Age 7 to 14
Easy

Create three separate apps to automatically draw some crazy artwork. Every drawing will be a unique masterpiece!

Write the code to make the sprite move around the stage and use the pen blocks to draw lines as it moves. We’ll hide the sprite so that the drawings appear like magic.

Then experiment with the code to try out different ideas.

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
drawing squares in scratch

Coding with Scratch: Loopy Squares


Age 7 to 14
Easy

In this project you will use Scratch to draw squares. Lots of squares!

Starting with just one square and building up to complex artistic patterns.

Key coding points to look out for:

  • Write a sequence of code to draw a square
  • Use the Pen blocks to draw
  • Change the code to make it much simpler by using a Loop
  • Make small changes the code to create complex patterns

Loops are really important in coding and you will come across them in many programs.

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
scratch animation

Coding with Scratch: Animations


Age 7 to 14
Easy

In this project you will find out how to create simple animated cartoons.

Key coding points to look out for:

  • Changing the costumes of sprites to make them animated – walking, running, flying or changing direction. (Changing ‘costume’ does not always mean changing what the sprite is wearing, it can also mean a change to the position of its arms, legs or wings which lets us create animations)
  • Using Thought Bubbles just like cartoons and comics
  • Adding a background to our cartoon

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
Coding with Scratch: Telling Jokes

Coding with Scratch: Telling Jokes


Age 7 to 14
Easy

Knock Knock …..

In this simple project you will have two sprites telling a joke. You can also use this idea in lots of other ways to have all sorts of conversations between sprites – for example to tell a story or to ask questions.

Key coding points to look out for are:

  • Adding new sprites
  • Writing the code for each sprite, making sure you select the right sprite
  • Using the Green Flag block to start two scripts (programs) at the same time
  • Use the wait block to co-ordinate the two sprites
  • Change the backdrop

 

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
Coding with Scratch: Ghost catcher

Coding with Scratch: Ghost Catcher


Age 7 to 14
Easy

In this spooky game players score points by trying to click on ghosts as they appear and disappear around the grounds of the old castle.

Key coding points to look out for are

  • random numbers
  • using variables to keep the score
  • adding sounds

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
coding with scratch: dancing

Coding with Scratch: Disco Dancing


Age 7 to 14
Easy

In this project our Sprite will be showing off her dance routine with a dance-floor as the background and disco music playing.

Some of the things to look out for in this project are:

  • Using sprite costumes 
  • Adding sound to projects

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Open post
Coding with scratch: the maths quiz

Coding with Scratch: Maths Quiz

Coding with Scratch
Age 7 to 14
Moderate

In this App you'll build an interactive quiz to help players revise their Times Tables.

Some of the things to look out for in this project are:

  • Asking questions and then using the answer given by the player
  • Using variables to store numbers.
  • Using random numbers
  • Using the Operator blocks to do maths calculations
  • Joining pieces of text together in speech bubbles

Scratch is a great way for you to learn how to code. Its fun and easy to use ... but also very powerful! It's the programming language used in most schools around the world.

It's completely free to use and runs on most computers.

 

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4
Scroll to top