10 Must-Have Building Materials for Your STEM Lab

The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk.

Whether you are just getting started with a new STEM lab or you’ve been facilitating hands-on learning for a while, there are many different materials that students will enjoy using in your space.

Sometimes students are looking to tinker with materials to see how they work and other times they want to build magnificent structures.

Top 10 Building Materials for Your STEM Lab:

  1. Keva Planks

  2. 3DuxDesign

  3. Brackitz

  4. Brain Flakes

  5. Bloxels

  6. Snap Circuits

  7. Strawbees

  8. Magna-Tiles

  9. K’Nex

  10. Bendy Builders

Building with blocks or cardboard can be fun too. Students can bring their own ideas to life or follow guided directions to create a model that they’ve chosen. They can enjoy using familiar products or trying something new. The possibilities for engineering and design are endless!

1 - Keva Planks

Each piece is a simple rectangular block, but when combined together, the possibilities are endless. Keva Planks are great for individual students or small groups who like to build. Creating different structures or designing a Rube Goldberg device, these are great for kids of any age.

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Simple and durable, Keva Planks can be used to design robot mazes or tall towers.

The free educator guide offers connections to math, science, social studies, and language arts creating opportunities to support learning in every content areas as well as in your STEM lab or makerspace.

2 - 3DuxDesign

If you haven’t tried out 3DuxDesign yet, you are missing out! This cardboard modeling system is perfect for kids who enjoy building with cardboard.

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The connectors are easy to use, allowing students to create different structures.

The website also includes community-centered design projects where students can think through solutions to real world problems they see around them.

This project-based learning approach develops critical thinking and communication skills. 3Dux also offers student worksheets and video tutorials for classroom use.

3 - Brackitz

Brackitz uses plastic planks and connecting brackets to create 3D structures, simple machines, and animals.

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Different kits come with different components including pulleys, cranks, wheels & axles, and gears.

One kit even comes with Hexbugs so that students can create mazes for their mini-robots. Brackitz also offers downloadable lessons for pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade that are aligned to standards.

4 - Brain Flakes

These colorful discs are a fun way to get young engineers building. Learners will quickly figure out ways to use the interlocking pieces.

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Perfect for early childhood and primary grades, these pieces click together easily and allow for students to create 2D and 3D designs or simply engage in creative play.

Learners can create something from their imagination or use the task cards for more step-by-step guidance.

5 - Bloxels

If you have students who like video games, Bloxels is a tool to make their very own game.

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Kids use the game board and colored blocks to build their game, then play their creations in the Bloxels Builder app.

This kit is easy to set up and supports creativity while kids develop characters and imaginative worlds. Once they draw and animate their pixel characters, they can also give them special powers like speed, flight, fire, and magic.

Combining digital art and gaming design, students will enjoy creating in Bloxels.

6 - Snap Circuits

This interactive product teaches basic engineering, electronics and circuitry concepts by using building components with snaps to build electronic circuits. Snap Circuits uses a simple “rows-and-columns” grid as the base for all circuits.

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Students can use the manual to create simple to complex projects or design one of their own.

Incorporating motors, lights, sensors, and sounds, Snap Circuits offers a variety of kits from beginner to extreme, so you can find the right option for your students.

7 - Strawbees

The colorful straws and connectors in the Strawbees kits gives students another way to imagine and build interesting designs.

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The class-sized kit also comes with ideas cards that provide funny and imaginative prompts for students to think creatively.

Strawbees also offers an online ecosystem of support. Their site includes a teacher-friendly curriculum with lessons, resources, and teaching guides.

From simple shapes and structures to more complex builds that incorporate coding and robotics with Microbit, this is a great option for supporting upper elementary students.

8 - Magna-Tiles

What started with simple geometric shapes has now evolved into a variety of magnetic building options for curious kids.

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Magna-Tiles kits now offer construction, farm, and dinosaur themes, perfect for the youngest learners.

Magna-Qubix features 3D cubes, prisms, and pyramids for building.

Kids can also use the colorful pieces to build whatever they can imagine. Magna-Tiles can be used when students are brainstorming in the STEM lab or even to create a quick prototype.

9 - K’Nex

The rod and connector system of K’Nex is another great building tool. With building guides and step-by-step directions, students can learn how to create vehicles, structures, or even their own Nerf gun.

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K’Nex can be used for short term builds with a partner or long term builds that classes can contribute to over time.

Large builds like the ferris wheel incorporate motors and movement, adding a layer of complexity to student designs.

10 - Excellerations Bendy Builders

This set of “bendy” builders includes twisty tubes, connectors, wooden rounds and stabilizers of different shapes and sizes.

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Learners will bend and combine the pliable plastic and wooden pieces together to construct airplanes, houses, animals, and spaceships.

Bendy builders aren’t the only kinds of building materials that the company provides.

Excellerations also offers life-sized foam building blocks, thistle blocks, and waffle blocks for other building opportunities.

As students explore your STEM lab, it is important to introduce them to a variety of different materials. Simple materials like blocks, straws, or cardboard can help students to think creatively about designing and building.

As they explore additional options, they might begin to combine materials or add components of technology to their STEM learning.

Which building materials will be the favorite for your students?

Have more questions or need additional resources?

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An educator for the last 23 years, Dr. Jacie Maslyk, has served as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, elementary principal, and assistant superintendent. She is the author of STEAM Makers: Fostering Creativity and Innovation in the Elementary Classroom, Connect to Lead: Power Up Your Learning Network to Move Your School Forward (ISTE), Remaking Literacy: Innovative Instructional Strategies for Maker Learning and Unlock Creativity: Opening a World of Imagination With Your Students. You can read more on her blog, Creativity in the Making, at www.jaciemaslyk.blogspot.com. Connect with Jacie on Twitter @DrJacieMaslyk or email her at jaciemaslyk@gmail.com .