It’s never too early to encourage kids and teens to pursue education and activities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It’s important to set future generations up for success as careers in these fields continue to grow. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there will be 10,567 STEM professionals in the workforce by 2028.

This guide features summer camps, websites, competitions, apps, and career resources for students in elementary school to high school. The gender gap is slowly shrinking in these fields as more initiatives crop up, including organizations such as Girls Who Code, but since women are still vastly underrepresented, we’ve included STEM activities specifically for girls and young women.

We hope this guide inspires kids and teens to use their problem solving skills to find answers to impossible challenges and help shape a better future.

STEM Fun for Kids Grades K-12 ↑

Cool STEM Websites

STEM Challenges and Contests

Siemen’s We Can Change the World Challenge: You have the power to save the planet. In Siemen’s K-12 environmental sustainability competition, teams from across the country compete to improve their own communities. Lots of prizes.

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision: ExploraVision is a K-12 science competition with a difference. Teams of two to four students work with a teacher to simulate the challenges of real research and development.

STEM Awards

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes: This annual prize honors 25 outstanding young leaders (age 8 to 18) who have made a significant positive difference to people and/or the environment. The top 10 winners receive a $5,000 cash award to support their education.

The NEED Project’s Annual Youth Awards Program for Energy Achievement: NEED’s annual award was established to recognize K-12 students who achieve excellence in energy education in their schools or communities.

President’s Environmental Youth Awards: The PEYA program celebrates K-12 students, school classes, summer camps or youth organizations that are promoting environmental stewardship. Every year, one outstanding project from each region is selected for national recognition.

STEM Career Resources

Bureau of Labor Statistics K-12: The U.S. Department of Labor has been busy. Here you’ll find charts, maps and many other resources on careers and the U.S. economy.

WeUseMath.org: Ever wondered (as I frequently did) when you’re going to use math in real life? This website on math careers has more than a few answers.

Government STEM Initiatives

Educate to Innovate: Launched in 2009, Educate to Innovate aims to move U.S. students from the middle to the top of the heap in science and math achievement. It’s spawned a number of federal efforts and philanthropic initiatives (see below).

STEM AmeriCorps: This multi-year initiative is focused on placing AmeriCorps members in STEM non-profits (such as FIRST) to work in underserved communities.

White House Science Fair: At this science fair, the President serves as the host! Students are honored for innovative projects, designs and experiments while the White House streams the event live.

Women in STEM: In collaboration with the White House Council on Women and Girls, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has instigated a number of efforts to increase the participation of girls in STEM subjects.

Philanthropic STEM Initiatives

Change the Equation: Led by CEOs, this nonprofit seeks to mobilize the business community to improve the quality of STEM education across the U.S.

Connect a Million Minds (CAMM): Sponsored by Time Warner Cable, CAMM is a five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative that aims to inspire students to develop STEM skills.

US2020.org: The ultimate aim of this nonprofit is to mobilize one million STEM mentors annually by 2020.

Youth Inspired Challenge (YIC): Created by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), YIC is designed to expand the impact of STEM learning outside the classroom.

STEM Fun for Elementary School Kids ↑

Cool STEM Websites

PBS Kids

Cyberchase: Help Jackie, Matt and Inez use math to protect the digital universe from evil. Don’t worry: Cyberchase has lots of math games, videos and activities to aid you in your quest.

Design Squad Nation: Design anything (!) your mind might imagine. Through Design Squad challenges, videos and tutorials, you’ll discover all there is to know about engineering principles.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: Pre-K STEM games, activities and videos galore. The adventurous Cat in the Hat is even ready to lead you on an exotic math safari adventure

Lifeboat to Mars: Explore the world of biology with this free online game. In one simulation (Microland) you control hungry microbes. In another (Ecoland), you have to balance out the space station’s ecosystem.

Zoom: Hot science and cool ideas. You’ll find all kinds of activities and experiments on Zoom’s website, including things like lemon juice rockets, crazy straw bridges and bubble cities.

Design Squad Global: Want to partcipate in cool scientific challanges, play games and watch fun videos? Check out Design Squad Global.

Science Games and Apps

Math Games and Apps

Geometry Quest App: Travel the world by solving geometry challenges along the way. You’ll receive passport stamps for perfect quests. Covers Common Core standards 3MD, 3G, 4MD, 5G, 6G, 7G and 8G.

Math Blaster: Do you have what it takes to save the galaxy? You’re going to need your math skills to complete your training missions in this free online game.

MathBoard App: One for the parents. This useful app walks kids through the steps to solving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division equations. There’s a handy scratchboard area where kids can work problems out by hand.

Motion Math: Pizza! App: Pizza, pizza! In this math-based game, you buy ingredients, design signature pizzas and sell them to customers (hopefully at a profit).

Motion Math: Questimate! App: How fast is the world’s fastest train? How many jellybeans fill up a soccer ball? In Questimate!, you get to make up your own questions.

Mystery Math Town: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rescue the fireflies hidden in Mystery Math Town. Be warned: you’ll need your math skills to unlock all the rooms and passages on your quest!

Numbers League: In the Numbers League, only math can save the day. You’ll use everything from addition to negative numbers to assemble a team of superheroes and capture a horde of villains.

Umigo: Bored with everything? The crazy characters at UMIGO might have the answer. Their interactive games are just right for building math and critical thinking skills.

Brain Pop Jr.: Do you like mathematics? Want to be able to calculate numbers quickly? Brain Pop has all the tips and tricks to get better with numbers.

CoolMath4Kids: Cool4Math is a great resource for kids who love playing games. It combines education with gaming, to deliver extra mathematical fun.

Fun Brain: Funbrain is sorted by grade type, it’s for kids in grades pre-k through 8th grade. It has every mathematical resource your kids need.

STEM Contests

Junior FIRST® LEGO® League: Are you a LEGO® fiend? Then this is the contest for you. You’ll use LEGO® bricks to design and build a moving model; then, you’ll assemble a Show Me poster to showcase your solution. For kids age 6 to 9.

NSBE KidZone Elementary Science Olympiad: Collect a team and test your science skills in 18 different events at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) National Convention. Open to grades three to five. Those in kindergarten through second grade compete in a non-competitive league.

Perennial Math Tournaments: A virtual math tournament (via videoconferencing) for both teams and individuals. Open to grades three to eight.

STEM Camps

STEM Career Resources

Career Aisle: Elementary: Dreaming about what you want to be when you grow up? These videos about jobs in science, technology, engineering and math can help you decide.

Note: There are plenty of state and regional organizations that didn’t make it onto this list. If you’re interested in local camps, scholarships and after-school activities, check with your teachers and school.

STEM Fun for Middle School Kids ↑

Cool STEM Websites

STEM Games and Apps

STEM Camps

Science and Technology Contests

Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge: In this one-of-kind contest, you’ll be challenged to create a one- to two-minute video describing a new and innovative solution that can solve an everyday problem. The grand prize is $25,000 and an international trip!

eCYBERMISSION: By tackling a mission (such as alternative sources of energy) with your team, you have the chance to win $5,000 in savings bonds and a STEM-in-Action grant to put your solution to work in your community.

FIRST® LEGO® League: Design, build and program your own robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology! Score points on a themed playing field and develop solutions to real-world challenges.

Future City Competition: If you can imagine it, you can build it. Working with an educator and engineer mentor, you’ll plan a city using SimCity™ software, research solutions to an engineering problem and build tabletop scale models with recycled materials.

National Stem League (NSL): Formerly known as the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge, NSL offers four different contests for middle school and high school students. You can engineer a fast, efficient and stable racing car in the Racing Challenge, teach a robot to navigate a course in the Rover Challenge, transition to renewables in the Energy Challenge or do something completely new in the Innovation Challenge.

National STEM Video Game Challenge: Submit your original game design made with tools like Gamestar Mechanic, Scratch and Kodu. The winner receives an AMD-powered laptop computer with game design software and $2,000 for his or her school.

NSBE Jr. Bridge Magazine Contests: The National Society of Black Engineers sponsors a variety of contests that challenge you to demonstrate your STEM skills or promote awareness around issues in STEM.

NSBE Jr. Explorer Technical Innovation Competition: Go head-to-head with other student scientists at the NSBE Annual Convention. Middle school and high school students are eligible. You must be a paid NSBE Jr. member to participate.

Math Contests

AMC 8: Test your math skills in this 25-question, 40-minute multiple choice contest (held every November).

MATHCOUNTS Competition Series: MATHCOUNTS holds a series of “bee-style” contests in over 500 local chapters. Top teams advance to the state competition and then to the National Competition in May.

MATHCOUNTS Math Video Challenge: Create your very own math video with your friends and classmates and be in the running to win a college scholarship!

Perennial Math Tournaments: A virtual math tournament (via videoconferencing) for both teams and individuals. Open to grades three to eight.

Rocket City Math League (RCML): Sponsored by Mu Alpha Theta, RCML is a year-long, four-round math competition. Trophies are mailed to top-ranked middle school and high school students at the end of the year.

U.S.A. Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS): Pit your problem-solving skills against some of the toughest conundrums out there. Because of the level of difficulty, USAMTS allows students a full month or more to work out solutions.

STEM Career Resources

Career Explorations!: STEM: Wondering what the future might hold? Explore some of the options available to you in science, technology, engineering and math. Lots of videos.

Kids.gov Jobs: Get the skinny on every job under the sun. Wondering what marine biologists do? Want to watch a video on becoming a veterinarian? You’re in the right place.

NASA Look to the Future: Careers in Space: You don’t have to be an astronaut to work in the space program. NASA has a list of other professions, including robotics engineer, computer scientist and oceanographer, for you to consider.

Note: There are plenty of state and regional organizations that didn’t make it onto this list. If you’re interested in local camps, scholarships and after-school activities, check with your teachers and school.

STEM Fun for High School Kids ↑

Cool STEM Websites

Arrick Robotics: This the prettiest website in the world, but if you’re looking for robotics resources, this is the place to be. Includes lists of competitions and contests, groups and clubs, games and simulation.

Codeacademy: Learn to code interactively (and for free). Codeacademy offers coding classes in major programming languages like Python, PHP, jQuery, JavaScript and Ruby.

DiscoverE: Thinking about engineering? DiscoverE has a selection of resources on careers, preparing for college and research schools. You might also want to check out their list of videos, trips, websites and hands-on activities.

Mu Alpha Theta: Also known as the National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta has over 100,000 student members. It organizes a national math convention, offers special awards and provides competitions.

Student Science: A central spot for science news, blogs, resources and information about Intel competitions. Sample article titles include “Native ‘snot’” and “A library with no books.”

Virtual Tech Camps: Year-round online learning destination for kids and teens with curriculum in Python, Java, Minecraft, Roblox, AI, Unreal Engine, Adobe, 3D modeling, and more. Save $100 with code TOGETHER.

STEM Games and Apps

Algebra Touch App: Get a refresher on your algebra skills with this touch-based tool. Tap to simplify, drag to rearrange and draw lines to eliminate identical terms.

The Elements App: If you geek out on the periodic table as much as I do, you’ll want this app. Check the current price of gold, find the half-life of plutonium or read up on helium-neon lasers.

Interplanetary 3D Sun App: Sponsored by NASA, this tool pulls data from a fleet of NASA spacecraft. Watch solar flares, coronal mass ejections and geomagnetic storms moments after they happen.

Muscle System Pro III App: Strip away the flesh to discover what lies beneath. Developed in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine, this interactive app allows you to explore the workings of human musculature, layer by layer.

NASA App: A must-have for NASA fans. This monster app includes live streaming of NASA TV and over 13,000 images, as well as on-demand videos, news stories and International Space Station (ISS) sighting opportunities. It also happens to be free.

National Geographic Apps: National Geographic has plenty to keep you entertained on a dull day. Top-rated apps include National Parks and the World Atlas.

Pocket Universe App: Astronomy unbounded. Take a virtual visit to the surface of Mars. Animate the night sky. Play quiz games. Get pop-up notifications of astronomical highlights.

Virtual Frog Dissection: All of the education with none of the guts. This app allows you to wield virtual dissection tools to uncover the mysteries of amphibian anatomy.

STEM Camps

Science and Technology Contests

Math Contests

STEM Grants and Opportunities

InvenTeam: InventTeams are made up of students, teachers and mentors who receive grants of up to $10,000 to devise technological solutions to real-world problems (you can choose your own problem).

Planet Connect Student Grants: Have a passion for protecting wildlife and native habitats? Planet Connect offers high school students grants of $1,000 to implement local projects and participate in wildlife or natural resource internships.

STEM Career Resources

Science Splash: High School: You’ll find a truckload of exploratory videos on Career Aisle’s website, as well as links to wage information and career prep resources.

Career Cornerstone Center: It won’t win any prizes for beauty, but Career Cornerstone Center has a lot of helpful resources on STEM careers. Explore over 185 degree fields, dip into interviews or learn more about education requirements, typical salaries and networking.

CareerOneStop: Learn all you need to know about STEM careers, including typical occupations, internships and education options. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.

IEEE Try Computing: A good resource if you’re just starting to look into computing. You can explore career options and majors, search for accredited programs and tinker with the visual career cloud tool.

IEEE Try Engineering: This website includes a university search, info on engineering majors and a long list of links to camps, internships, scholarships, contests and more. You’ll also find insights from experts and virtual engineering games.

IEEE Try Nano: IEEE gets around. In the third of their career sites (see above), they look at jobs in nanoscience and nanotechnology: technical fields that focus on matter at the nanoscale.

Note: There are plenty of state and regional organizations that didn’t make it onto this list. If you’re interested in local camps, scholarships and after-school activities, check with your teachers and school.

Cool STEM Websites

CanTEEN: CanTEEN was developed to help girls explore STEM careers. Take a challenge (such as creating your own urban garden), play games like “Click! Spy School” or learn more about real-life role models.

Engineer Girl!: Why should you become an engineer? Let this website for middle school girls explain. Along with interviews, quizzes, fun facts and profiles, it has links to scores of engineering contests, clubs, programs and scholarships.

For Girls in Science: Be what you want to be. Sponsored by L’Oréal, this site offers all kinds of STEM options, including a video blog, profiles of women in science, a list of summer camps and info about careers.

Girls Communicating Career Connections (GC3): Curious about a career in science or technology? This youth-produced media series for girls from undeserved groups has lots and lots of ideas to explore.

Girl Scouts STEM Program: Push your limits as you make the world a better place. To support STEM experiences, the Girl Scouts have developed three leadership journeys and a number of STEM proficiency badges.

iWASwondering.org: Inspired by “Women’s Adventures in Science” and developed by the National Academy of Sciences, this website invites you to investigate the careers of famous women scientists.

PBS SciGirls: SciGirls videos are great resources for the classroom. Each episode follows a different group of middle school girls who are designing and building STEM projects.

Society of Women Engineers (SWE) K-12 Outreach: Aspire to be great. You’ll find a huge variety of engineering resources on this site, including links to activities, competitions, camps and scholarships.

Women@NASA: Meet the women you want to be. This NASA site includes video interviews and biographies of NASA employees, as well as info on careers, events and outreach programs. Energy.gov has a sister site called Women@Energy.

Virtual Tech Camps: Year-round online learning destination for kids and teens with curriculum in Python, Java, Minecraft, Roblox, AI, Unreal Engine, Adobe, 3D modeling, and more. Save $100 with code TOGETHER.

STEM Awards

NSTA Angela Award: The National Science Teachers Association awards a $1,000 US EE Savings Bond to one female student in fifth through eighth grade who is involved in or has a strong connection to science.

STEM Camps

Note: There are plenty of state and regional organizations that didn’t make it onto this list. If you’re interested in local camps, scholarships and after-school activities, check with your teachers and school.