Programs & challenges
Curated programs & challenges resources within maker & diy for curious kids and their grown-ups.
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66 resources · Programs & challenges
MicroBlocks
A free, live block-programming environment for making interactive projects with microcontrollers, sensors, lights, and motors.
Science Museum Oklahoma
A large hands-on science museum with interactive exhibits, science shows, a planetarium, creative challenges, and family learning experiences.
Sick Science!
Hands-on science experiments and STEM ideas from Steve Spangler for families, educators, and science enthusiasts.
NASA JPL STEM Activities for Families
A NASA JPL collection of family STEM activities spanning engineering, science, technology, computer science, mathematics, rockets, space missions, and design challenges.
Canadian Space Agency Space Brain Hack
A Canadian Space Agency challenge collection for grades 6–12 that asks learners to design solutions for astronaut mental health, food production, and sustainable satellites.
Raspberry Pi Learn to Code
Raspberry Pi’s free learning hub connects children and educators with Code Club, code-at-home projects, AI and hardware activities, Astro Pi, and Coolest Projects.
Kodu Game Lab
A visual game-making environment for children to build 3D worlds, stories, and games with simple programming tiles.
FIRST LEGO League
A guided robotics and STEM program where children build, code, collaborate, and solve real-world challenges.
KID Museum
A hands-on maker museum with coding, robotics, engineering, electronics, woodshop, textiles, and design challenges.
Morris Museum Spark!Lab
A Smithsonian invention workspace where children ages 5 to 12 imagine, design, test, and improve ideas.
Science Oxford Centre
A hands-on science centre with an Exploration Zone, woodland, ponds, family days, STEM clubs, and science activities for children.
NASA For Students Grades 5–8
NASA’s middle-grade collection organizes current challenges, space and Earth science stories, games, builds, videos, interactive experiences, and stargazing activities for grades 5–8.
ScratchJr
ScratchJr is a free introductory programming environment for young children. The official MIT project page describes a block-based app for ages 5–7 that lets children create interactive stories and games.
Science World
A Vancouver science centre with hands-on exhibits, live shows, family programs, digital learning, and educator resources.
Putnam Museum Science in Action
Interactive science exhibits and engineering challenges exploring motion, energy, magnetism, circuits, gears, and more.
Oslo Science Centre
Interactive science and technology exhibits, creative workshops, and family learning at Norway's Museum of Science and Technology.
MIT App Inventor
A block-based platform for building and testing Android apps while learning programming concepts.
TeachEngineering
Standards-aligned engineering lessons, activities, and design challenges for K–12 learners.
Science Sparks
Hands-on science experiments, STEM challenges, printable activities, and science explanations for children and families.
National PTA STEM at Home Activities
Family STEM activities, experiments, videos, and printable guides from National PTA, including hands-on challenges using common household materials.
Children’s Museum Houston 3D Virtual Field Trips
A museum collection of all-time-access 3D virtual field trips with videos and hands-on activities about water, physical science, invention, city life, matter, and math missions for ages 5 and up.
Challenger Center STEM at Home
A NASA and Challenger Center collection of adaptable science, technology, engineering, and math lessons for home learning, spanning Earth science, chemistry, forces, Mars, and the solar system.
Vienna Museum of Science and Technology Kids & Family
The Vienna Museum of Science and Technology’s Kids & Family guide brings together child-focused exhibitions, playful technology experiences, birthday programs, and a free English children’s tour in the TMW ToGo app.
Early Start Discovery Space
The University of Wollongong’s Early Start Discovery Space is a research-backed children’s museum with interactive play experiences, public programmes, and learn-through-play opportunities for young children and their adults.
StarCode
A free robotics and coding environment that lets children build robot programs with blocks and move toward Python, C++, and Java on web, desktop, Android, and Chromebook.
Canadian Space Agency Bringing Space Into Your Classroom
The Canadian Space Agency’s classroom collection brings space science, missions, engineering, and Canadian space activities into school and home learning.
Museum of Brisbane MoB Kids @Home
Museum of Brisbane’s MoB Kids @Home collection gives children and families free downloadable activities including colouring, comprehension, sewing, collage, and LEGO challenges.
Greater Boston STEM Program
The Greater Boston STEM Program provides free introductory computer science, math, engineering, and science enrichment for elementary and middle-school students through remote or in-person small-group classes.
Aquarium of the Bay K–12 Programs
Aquarium of the Bay provides NGSS-aligned classroom programs, self-guided tours, eLearning modules, a high-school 3D Print Lab, and Project WATERS focused on San Francisco Bay conservation.
Boise State Kidsteam
Boise State University’s Kidsteam invites children to help design technology with researchers through free twice-weekly after-school sessions involving drawing, programming, problem solving, and collaborative making.
UArizona Girls Who Code Club
The University of Arizona’s Girls Who Code club offers free Saturday coding classes for grades 6–12, including Python, Arduino, robotics, AI, website development, and game projects.
NASA Camp Landsat
A NASA collection of videos, interactives, games, and printable activities showing how Landsat satellite data help people understand and protect Earth.
Spaghetti Structures
A Science Museum Group engineering challenge where learners build a tall, strong tower from spaghetti and marshmallows while exploring structure and design.
Mark Rober
Engineering builds, science demonstrations, problem-solving, and curiosity-driven experiments from former NASA engineer Mark Rober.
KidsCanCode
Python, game-development, and creative coding lessons for children and teens, with beginner pathways and classroom programs.
PlayWorks™ — Children’s Museum of Manhattan
A birth-to-four learning space combining music, movement, stories, sensory art, puzzles, engineering, and pretend play through daily programs.
The New Children’s Museum Creative Resources
The New Children’s Museum’s Creative Resources page offers hands-on design challenges, printable coloring, lesson plans, virtual art experiences, and museum-inspired ideas for making at home.
Wichita Art Museum Youth and Family Programs
Wichita Art Museum’s youth and family page brings together free gallery activities, PLAY, StoryTime, YogaTime, preschool art, Family ArtVenture, camps, and at-home projects.
BCM+You
Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s BCM+You brings exhibits, programmes, animal friends, collection objects, and family art and science activities into an at-home learning collection.
Cleveland Museum of Art Engage and Create
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Engage and Create collection offers weekly creative challenges, drawing prompts, games, music, stories, and family activities inspired by the museum collection.
Raspberry Pi Foundation Teaching Resources
Free classroom resources for computing and AI, including curriculum materials, lesson plans, worksheets, assessments, Code Club support, Experience AI, and projects for school-age learners.
Sphero Coding Apps
Sphero’s official app collection supports robotics and STEAM learning with drawing, block-based, Python, and JavaScript programming, plus a browser-based Sphero Edu experience.
DevTech Children and Families
Boston College’s DevTech Research Group offers family coding activities using ScratchJr and KIBO, including family coding days, beginner workshops, and child-friendly robotics and storytelling projects.
CoKids Screen-Free Coding Kit & App
A bilingual screen-free coding kit using board and card play, with an offline companion app for computational thinking at home or school.
FIRST Resource Library
FIRST’s resource library connects teams, families, educators, and young people with STEM, robotics, teamwork, and challenge resources across FIRST programs.
TurtleStitch
A free, open-source coding and textile platform where learners turn visual programs into embroidery patterns and physical designs.
Kids Art Studio — Museum of the City of New York
A hands-on drop-in art program inspired by the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibitions and collection, with collage, drawing, fiber art, and storytelling for children ages 3 and up.
ExplorationWorks
A hands-on science center in Helena with interactive exhibits, early-childhood programming, family events, and science learning for children and families.
Markham Public Library Kids Makerspace
A library makerspace guide featuring screen-free programmable toys such as Botley and Code-a-Pillar, with instructions and recommended ages for hands-on coding play.
Buffalo AKG at Home
Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s at-home collection offers kids’ and family art activities, virtual events, collection exploration, public-art videos, and inquiry-based lessons.
SciKidz
A free online STEM program for children with science lesson videos, experiment instructions, tutorials, and teacher notes. The official site includes hands-on topics such as electricity, magnetism, life science, and simple machines.
PrimaSTEM
A screen-free coding and mathematics system in which children program a physical robot with tokens to solve mazes, sequences, geometry, and drawing challenges.
EDC IDEAS Maker Program
Education Development Center’s IDEAS project is an inventing, designing, and engineering maker program for students and informal STEM learning.
Cooper Hewitt Design Field Trips
Cooper Hewitt’s design field-trip information introduces students to design thinking and museum-based learning through guided visits and activities.
MathHappens Open Play Kits
MathHappens open play kits give families, educators, and community programs hands-on materials and prompts for playful mathematical exploration.
FIRST LEGO League Technical Resources
FIRST LEGO League technical resources support teams with robot-building, programming, engineering design, and challenge-season guidance.
Science World Classroom Activities
Science World’s official educator hub with classroom activities, coding and engineering ideas, biology and sustainability activities, professional development, and school outreach programs.
MOCHA Open Studio
MOCHA Open Studio invites children ages 0–10 to explore materials and create freely with family support, with staff available to help children get started.
The Engineering Family
Family-friendly engineering and science videos with experiments, builds, challenges, and explanations for curious children.
Applaa AI Academy
Applaa’s desktop AI Academy offers interactive coding lessons, challenges, quizzes, and tracks covering Python, JavaScript, web development, databases, games, AI, and robotics.
Museum of Solutions
Mumbai’s Museum of Solutions is a large hands-on learning space where children explore STEAM, sustainability, design, systems thinking, and real-world challenges through exhibits and programmes.
BluPants
BluPants is a browser-based coding environment for programming real robots, with visual blocks, a path toward Python, video lessons, and online-class support.
Maker Camp
Project-based making activities that combine science, engineering, art, and creative problem solving.
Kide Science
Kide Science is an inquiry-based early-years science program with playful experiments, lesson resources, and educator support for young children.
Bricks 4 Kidz Calgary Robotics & Coding
Bricks 4 Kidz Calgary offers LEGO robotics and coding programs using WeDo, micro:bit, Scratch, SPIKE Prime, and Mindstorms challenges.
DIY
A kid-focused creative platform for building games and projects with AI-assisted tools, challenges, and guided making experiences.