No Prep STEM with Popsicle Sticks

We all LOVE no prep activities. You know those challenges and projects that we can seemingly pull out of thin air at a moments notice to create meaningful, interesting activities that kids actually enjoy. These are perfect for those rainy days when you are stuck indoors, or maybe at a party, or in the classroom when you find yourself with 30 minutes of unscheduled time that you suddenly need to fill.

We started with our popular No Prep STEM Activities with Paper.

Then we created a No Prep Teacher Toolkit, which is perfect for every classroom so you can always be prepared!

Then we shared some Mini Building Challenges that will entrance your budding engineers.

Oh and don’t forget we have our No Prep Christmas STEM Projects!

Now we are sharing all of our tried and tested ideas for No Prep STEM Activities with Craft Sticks. Between all of these resources you can always be prepared with something fun, engaging and educational!

Why Popsicle Sticks?

Here’s the thing, popsicle sticks are versatile and affordable, making them an absolute staple for home and school. They can be used for engineering challenges, construction projects, arts and crafts – truly providing endless possibilities for STEM exploration. Their lightweight structure allows for easy building, while their flat shape makes them easy to handle, ideal for stacking and forming structures. Plus, with no need for fancy materials, these activities are accessible to everyone!

Here are some of our favorite STEM activities with craft sticks that we have used over and over again. Why? Because they are fun, easy on teachers/parents, educational, and kids love them!

Popsicle Stick Catapult

One of the most classic and exciting STEM activities with popsicle sticks is building a simple catapult. This challenge is a fun way to introduce kids to basic physics principles, including force, tension, and angles.

What do I need to have on hand?
Popsicle/Craft Sticks – Small and Large
Rubberbands
Plastic Spoons
Pom Poms or Marshmallows

How to Build a Basic Catapult

Stack five popsicle sticks together and secure them tightly with rubber bands on both ends.

Take two more sticks, stack them together, and secure one end with a rubber band.

Insert the five-stick bundle between the two sticks and use a rubber band to attach a plastic spoon to one end of the top stick. Or you can glue on a bottle cap.

Press down on the spoon to launch small objects like pom-poms or marshmallows.

This activity demonstrates concepts like potential and kinetic energy and can lead to discussions on how ancient catapults were used in history. If you would like more information about catapults – or a fun comparison challenge on catapults, check out my other article Catapult Design Challenge.

Popsicle Stick Bridge

A popsicle stick bridge challenge is perfect for teaching kids about engineering and structure design. This activity encourages creativity and critical thinking as kids experiment with how to build a stable and strong bridge.

What do you need?
Popsicle sticks
Glue (or masking tape for no-mess assembly)
Pennies or other small weights for testing strength

Building the Bridge

All students with a set number of popsicle sticks and a set amount of tape (otherwise you may end up with just tape bridges) and challenge them to design a bridge that can span a specific distance (like across two desks or two stacks of books).

Encourage kids to experiment with different shapes and configurations to create a sturdy design.
Test the strength of their bridges by gradually adding small weights, like pennies, to see how much weight each structure can hold.

For a really fun challenge, try building a da Vinci Bridge using only craft sticks, with no glue, tape or anything else to hold it together.

This project introduces basic engineering concepts like load-bearing structures, balance, and tension, and it’s a great way for kids to explore the strength of different geometric shapes.

Check out my Rainbow Truss Bridge in this Rainbow Bridge Article from St. Patrick’s Day!

Build a Bird Feeder

A quick project that is for the birds is to make a simple bird feeder using popsicle sticks. All you need is popsicle sticks, glue and string.

Directions

Start by placing two popsicle sticks horizontally a little less than the length of a popsicle stick apart. Run a bead of glue along each of the sticks. Now place popsicle sticks side by side across so you make a platform.

Now flip it over, then “log house style” build up sides by alternating your popsicle sticks on each side to make little walls. Glue into place. Then add some string so you can fill it with seed and hang it up for the birds.

Get more detailed directions and other bird feeder ideas in our Bird Feeder STEM Projects.

Weave a Godseye

This is a great STEM craft that your more creative students will love.

What do I need?
2 popsicle sticks
Yarn in various colors
Scissors

Directions

First, make the cross. Hold two popsicle sticks in a cross shape and wrap a piece of yarn around the x a few times to hold them together.

Now we start wrapping. Working either clockwise or counterclockwise the whole time, wrap the yarn around a stick and then spin it and wrap it around the next stick, repeat this process all the way around and around until you’ve filled the cross to the end. The yarn will make a cool diamond pattern as you work your way around.

Change Colors (Optional): When you want to switch colors, cut the yarn and tie a new color to the end. Trim any loose ends, and continue wrapping.

Once you’ve covered as much of the sticks as you want, tie off the yarn on the back side, cut any excess, and tuck it in securely.

Add a loop if you want to hang it up, or just enjoy your finished God’s Eye!

This projects works on fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and dexterity!

Popsicle Stick Snowflakes

If you’re looking for a winter-themed STEM activity, building popsicle stick snowflakes is a perfect project. This craft not only ties into the winter season but also provides an opportunity to explore geometry and symmetry.

What do I need?
Popsicle Sticks
Glue or Tape (Only needed if you want to hang or display the snowflakes)
Markers or paint for decoration (again optional)

Directions

The reason I say the glue and tape and markers are optional is because you can just as easily use the popsicle sticks as manipulatives for practicing symmetry. Have kids arrange popsicle sticks into snowflake patterns, using three to six sticks as the base.

If you want to display them, use glue to hold the sticks together in the center and then add smaller pieces to create a symmetrical design. If we are making them as ornaments I love to decorate with paint, glitter, or markers.

Popsicle Stick Frames

All you need is popsicle sticks and glue – some paint if you want – but I like the raw wood look. I always think it’s so cute to have the kids build a popsicle stick frame to display their favorite artwork. Simply glue popsicle sticks together and tape or glue your art on the back sides – easy and adorable. They also make wonderful kid made gifts for someone special in your child’s life.

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Popsicle sticks and markers is all you need for this simple project! Tape the back of several popsicle sticks to hold them together in a flat square. Flip them over and draw a picture on the front with markers. Untape and separate the sticks. Then you have an easy puzzle to keep the kiddos busy!

Popsicle Stick Story Time

Why not decorate some popsicle sticks as story characters and have the kids act out the stories.

Math Practice

Popsicle sticks are a great way to build math skills in our STEM lessons. Use them as manipulatives to help with all sorts of math problems.

Here are a few examples:

• You can use popsicle sticks to help students understand counting and place values. Have students group sticks into bundles of tens and ones to visualize numbers. For example, to show the number 23, students would create two bundles of ten sticks each and then add three single sticks.
• Build geometric shapes such as triangles, squares, and other polygons to understand concepts like angles, sides, and symmetry.
• Use popsicle sticks to construct bar charts or tally charts. This can be a hands-on way for students to learn about data collection and representation. Each stick can represent a unit of measurement, and students can physically build the graph to represent data from a survey or an experiment.
• Teach fractions by breaking sticks into halves, thirds, or quarters. This visual aid can help students understand parts of a whole and compare different fractions. You can also use whole sticks alongside broken ones to solve fraction addition or subtraction problems.
• Younger students can use popsicle sticks to measure objects in non-standard units. This introduces younger students to the concept of measurement. They can also use the sticks to compare lengths and discuss terms like longer, shorter, tallest, and shortest.
• Take some colored popsicle sticks (already colored, or use markers/paint to DIY it) and use them to teach patterns and sequencing. Students can arrange the sticks to form repeating patterns or sequences, which helps with recognition and prediction skills crucial in math.
• Use popsicle sticks to visually represent addition and subtraction problems. For example, to solve “5 + 3”, students could count out 5 sticks, add 3 more, and then count the total.

Popsicle Stick Explosion Chain Reaction

Kids love this activity where you carefully interlock a long series of craft sticks. Then when you are ready, you set of a reaction that has it popping up and exploding in a chain reaction kids will never forget! Our friends at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls have step by step directions on this fun activity.