STEM Games and Lessons for Preschool, Kindergarten, and Early Elementary

Simple robot ideal for introducing programming to young learners

Bottom Line: Students will develop logical and sequential thinking with Blue-Bot, creating a foundation for future coding activities.

Variety and creativity come together to get early learners coding

Bottom Line: Early coders will enjoy the colorful interface and variety of activities as they progress through different worlds and develop foundational programming skills.

Drag-and-drop programming is an effective intro for budding coders

Bottom Line: With a little adult help, this is a rich platform for getting kids into programming and digital creation.

Animate stories with accessible drawing tools and coding blocks

Bottom Line: Kids get a simple peek at computer programming principles by animating stories using their own creations.

Fun programming logic for kids, great resources for teachers

Bottom Line: A fun way for young students to understand coding, and an impressive resource for teachers to support their progress along the way.

Popular games, big names get kids and teachers pumped to program

Bottom Line: A thoughtfully planned, produced, and curated set of free resources bound to get kids hooked on learning to code.

Simple coding mystery fueled by fashion, friendship, and STEM

Bottom Line: This girl-targeted STEM game is ambitious but shallow.

Open-ended collage maker teaches symbolism and revs up creativity

Bottom Line: Faces iMake - Right Brain Creativity is a don't-miss art app that encourages creativity at the same time as modeling it.

Students not quite ready for Minecraft get a creative, fun alternative

Bottom Line: Fun, engaging, open-ended play can work in a variety of content areas.

STEM lessons creatively build off of NASA data and real space missions

Bottom Line: These hands-on lessons approximate the work of NASA scientists, engineers, and astronauts and make use of actual NASA satellite data.

Stellar collaboration tools, controls make Minecraft classroom-ready

Bottom Line: An excellent tool to engage students in learning, collaboration, and critical thinking is now more accessible than ever to teachers.

Solve, create, and share puzzles that gush with STEM learning

Bottom Line: This challenging yet kid-friendly set of logic puzzles wonderfully allows kids to solve problems and experiment with light science concepts.

Crafty, mostly screen-free approach to computer science

Bottom Line: These creative, beautifully made craft- and interest-based projects have the potential to bring students -- particularly girls -- into the world of coding and computers.

Simple game-design app has endless creative potential

Bottom Line: Letting students design, play, improve, and share their own games opens up opportunities for learning potential in many subject areas.

Top-notch tool empowers kids to invent, build, and control wirelessly

Bottom Line: Easy-to-use, versatile electronic invention set that works wirelessly with your hand-held device.

Minecraft-like 3D modeling (and printing) made super easy for all ages

Bottom Line: This may be the fastest, cheapest route from idea to 3D printing out there, if you don't mind low-res, pixelated designs.

Kids use block code and wireless blocks to program, design, and create

Bottom Line: With some perseverance, it's a great fit for PBL and STEAM, helping students learn programming skills and engineering concepts through invention.

Fun games require spatial reasoning to help Cat jump out of a tree

Bottom Line: Get kids problem-solving and thinking about basic spatial reasoning in a fun, welcoming setting.

Kids connect the dots with multisensory, interactive media creator

Bottom Line: Kids will love playing with this one, but it needs more developed features and additional support to be effective for classroom use.

Puzzle solving and building boosts problem-solving skills

Bottom Line: Delightfully adaptive and engaging experience offers opportunities to practice important thinking skills and essential habits of mind.

Treasure trove of lesson resources will benefit from adaptation

Bottom Line: For teachers with time to sift through and adapt materials, PBS LearningMedia has a lot to offer with some highly useful support materials.

Highly applicable STEM-themed free play; easy appeal for wide audience

Bottom Line: A clear, simple, and fun introduction to science and engineering topics that may otherwise feel unapproachable for some kids.

Excellent elementary NGSS engineering practices embedded in fun games

Bottom Line: Fun gameplay lets kids explore important physics concepts in a solid standards-aligned context.

Inquiry-based mini-units for solid, free, student-led learning

Bottom Line: This could be a nice solution for teachers wanting to hand over student-led, prepackaged learning bundles, though they'll need to provide lots of support.

Early education force and motion app ramps up student learning

Bottom Line: Coconut Star, along with its companion app, are great additions to any pre-K–1 physical science unit.

Virtual pattern blocks with some extra useful teaching tools

Bottom Line: If you don't already have a bucket of pattern blocks, or you want a more portable option, this free version may be a great fit for your classroom.

Materials science photo app gets kids examining their surroundings

Bottom Line: Perfect for physical science lessons in classrooms with handheld devices, but the app needs an update to prevent crashing.

Fun hybrid puzzles with excellent classroom supports

Bottom Line: Classic puzzler combines toys with digital play to engage and teach all ages.

Super cool to see real sky, yet astronomy info only scratches surface

Bottom Line: Despite the downsides, there's enough appeal to make this a nice first step to explore the sky -- even more so because it's free.

Outdated site still useful for science games and investigations

Bottom Line: Many of these interesting and highly educational activities, though a bit disorganized, still challenge and engage kids in important ways.

Big questions, kids' curiosity drive impressive science curriculum

Bottom Line: Powerful, quirky science units encourage inquiry and experimentation, inspiring students to ask and answer big questions.

A colorful, fun way for students to build math skills mastery

Bottom Line: These engaging math games for younger kids are great for math skills practice, but you'll need a paid account to access a substantial amount of the content.

Collection of STEM simulations that students will love to explore

Bottom Line: Tinybop Schools offers meaningful scientific exploration to students, particularly when partnered with good teaching and discussion.

Super STEM, social studies resource with highly customizable content

Bottom Line: Making content accessible to kids with different learning styles, CK-12 could be the key to mastery for some students.