STEM Bins®: Hands-on Solutions for Early Finishers, Morning Work, and Beyond
STEM Bins®, created by Brooke Brown, NBCT, are hands-on, play-based engineering and problem-solving activity kits designed for elementary students (Grades K–5) to use during morning work, early finisher time, or classroom centers. See everything in one place on the STEM Bins® page.
For 3rd through 5th grade, I add advanced task cards with no photo cues and written response sheets, so big kids get a real challenge when they finish early.
In this post
1. “I’m finished! What do I do now?”
How many times during our teaching day do we hear these words from our students? Oftentimes, it is much too often, and students are provided a handful of the same options to keep them busy until our next transition. Sometimes students are instructed to read, sometimes to write in journals, and others are given yet another worksheet to complete. Lately, I’ve been considering a way to change up our game, and I’ve thought to myself:
Instead of giving our kids MORE work, let’s give them more MEANINGFUL work.
For elementary students, meaningful work should be hands-on, engaging, and open ended. Why?! Because children have a natural drive to play, explore, and engineer whenever possible.
2. Enter STEM Bins®!
3. What are STEM Bins®?
STEM Bins® are plastic school boxes filled with an engineering manipulative of your choice, such as Legos, pattern blocks, base ten blocks, unifix cubes, toothpicks and playdough, or popsicle sticks with velcro on the ends. The boxes also contain small sets of task cards on metal rings that picture a variety of basic engineering structures. STEM Bins® can be placed on an easily accessible shelf in the classroom or inside a classroom Makerspace area. When students’ regular classwork is complete, they can take one STEM Bin at a time, either to their seat or a more quiet carpet area so as not to distract other students who are working, and get a quiet moment to engineer. They use the materials in the box to construct as many different structures on the cards as they can. And instead of being just “busy,” students are engaged in creative, complex tasks and are encouraged to think like inventors. Kinesthetic learners, spatial learners, and logical learners will love exploring the different possibilities for the building materials as they try to construct more challenging structures.
Even better? The prep and management on the teacher’s part is minimal! The task cards are interchangeable with any building material and include real world photos to encourage students to visualize more realistic structures.
4. STEM Bins® for Upper Grades
Upper Grade teachers, STEM Bins® will even work for you! So many third through fifth grade students and teachers are loving the hands-on engagement that STEM Bins® provide. I’ve added advanced task cards with no photo cues and written response sheets that are just right for big kids:
5. Getting Organized
Most of the suggested materials for STEM Bins® are math manipulatives or inexpensive crafting materials that you likely already have in your classroom or can pick up at the dollar store. I’m always on the hunt for anything and everything that my students can build with so I can add it to my STEM Bins®!
All you’ll need is small plastic pencil boxes to store your STEM Bins® materials.
See the link below for my favorite bins:
6. Customizing STEM Bins®
Since every classroom has a variety of manipulatives already on hand, I’ve also included editable box covers and task cards so you can customize them to your needs. Some of my favorite places to find engineering materials are Target Dollar Spot and the Dollar Store.
7. When to Use STEM Bins®
STEM Bins® aren’t just ideal for early finishers! Here are some ways you can use them elsewhere during your day:
Morning work is a big one: STEM Bins® make ready-made morning tubs, because each box holds one building material and a ring of task cards that K–5 kids can grab from the shelf and start building.
If you’re planning to use STEM Bins® every day, you can also use a weekly schedule such as the one below shared by Aja Haywood from @twogirlzstuff!
8. How Can STEM Bins® Benefit My Students?
9. Adding Literacy to STEM Bins®
You can also take students’ engineering a step further by adding a written component. The youngest students in Pre K and Kinder can draw pictures of their different structures. First through fifth graders can “Build, Draw, and Write” with descriptive sentences or imaginative stories about their structures. If you’d like to save copies, simply place any of the templates inside plastic page protectors and students can use dry erase markers to write and wipe drawings and responses.
Wondering what teachers are saying about STEM Bins®? Check it out!
Interested in fully stocked STEM Bins® kits from hand2mind? Check out the links below!
Already have STEM Bins®? The Builders Pack adds a fresh set of materials for your fastest finishers.
10. STEM Bins® Supplements
Looking to keep your STEM Bins® fresh and exciting throughout the year?
Check out my STEM Bins® MEGA Bundle with all my STEM Bins® supplements!
STEM Bins® FAQ
What grades are STEM Bins® for?
STEM Bins® are made for Grades K–5. Younger students build right from the photo task cards. For 3rd–5th graders, my advanced task cards drop the photo cues and add written response sheets, so big kids get a real challenge too!
What materials go in STEM Bins®?
Anything kids can build with! Each bin is a plastic pencil box with one building material and a ring of task cards. Think pattern blocks, base ten blocks, linking cubes, building bricks, popsicle sticks, or toothpicks and playdough. You probably have most of these already, and the dollar store and Target Dollar Spot are great for the rest.
When do students use STEM Bins®?
Anytime you hear “I’m finished! What do I do now?” Instead of more work, STEM Bins® give students more meaningful work. Teachers also use them for morning work, indoor recess, STEM centers, makerspaces and STEM Fridays. Some even set up a weekly schedule so every student gets a turn.
Do I need to buy kits?
Nope! My printable STEM Bins® sets on TPT include the task cards, bin labels and editable box covers, so you can use the materials already in your classroom. Prep is minimal: print, ring the cards and fill the bins. If you’d rather skip the gathering, hand2mind sells fully stocked STEM Bins® kits with everything in the box.
Who created STEM Bins®?
I did! I’m Brooke Brown, a National Board Certified Teacher, and I created STEM Bins® in my own classroom so my early finishers had something hands-on, engaging and open-ended to do. STEM Bins® is a registered trademark of Teach Outside the Box, LLC.
More STEM Bins® on TPT
Once your bins are set up, these are the sets that keep them fresh all year: speed builds, team building stations, seasonal cards and writing extensions. Click one to see it on TPT!
STEM Bins® was created by Brooke Brown, NBCT, of Teach Outside the Box. STEM Bins® and STEAM Bins® are registered trademarks of Teach Outside the Box, LLC. STEM Bins® kits are also available from our partner hand2mind.
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