CSTANJ CSPDWeek 2026

Roll up your sleeves and dive into quick, tech-free STEM builds that spark creativity and engagement from the start. These playful engineering challenges are perfect for the STEM lab, makerspace, or classroom and can stand alone or extend into core learning goals across literacy, math, and science. After a high-energy, hands-on, team-based monster theme park build, we will explore a variety of ways to extend these quick builds into deeper learning aligned with classroom core learning goals. You will leave with inspiration, ready-to-use tools, and your very own monster.

In this highly interactive session, educators will experience how quick, tech-free STEM builds can serve as powerful entry points into deeper, standards-aligned learning across all teaching areas in the K–8 grade band. Participants will engage in a series of fast-paced, team-based engineering challenges using simple materials, beginning with a collaborative monster theme park build that incorporates elements of simple machines, design thinking, and spatial reasoning.

These “STEM Starters” are intentionally designed as low-floor, high-engagement experiences that can be implemented in STEM labs, makerspaces, or classrooms as stand-alone activities. They are accessible to all educators, regardless of STEM background, and scaffolded in a way that builds educator confidence and capacity over time. At the same time, they offer high ceilings and wide walls, allowing for deeper exploration and creativity for more advanced learners.

A key focus of the session is how these quick builds can bridge STEM programs and classroom instruction. Educators will explore how highly motivating, hands-on builds created in a STEM lab or makerspace can be extended into the classroom to support core, standards-based learning goals. We will model a variety of ways to connect builds to literacy through storytelling and descriptive writing, to math through measurement, geometry, and scaled models, to science through forces, motion, and engineering design, and to technology through presentation tools such as ChatterPix, Book Creator, stop motion animation, and Canva.

Throughout the session, participants will experience strategies for differentiation, collaboration, and student-centered facilitation that support diverse learners and multiple entry points. The session will also highlight how these quick builds can transition from playful exploration to structured academic applications without losing student engagement.
Participants will leave with ready-to-use activities, practical strategies for integrating hands-on STEM into existing curricula, and a clear framework for extending quick builds into deeper classroom learning. Most importantly, they will walk away with inspiration, increased confidence in facilitating hands-on learning, and tangible model, and a STEM-Starter Challenge Card Deck they can immediately bring back to their students.

Robotics Playground offers a full‑day, open‑house learning experience designed for K–12 educators. Teachers are welcome to stop by at any time to explore robotics devices, engage in unplugged coding, and participate in hands‑on collaborative activities. With support from experienced facilitators, participants will uncover innovative strategies to strengthen computer science instruction and inspire student engagement in STEM.

In this full-day, hands-on workshop, educators will explore the complete journey from virtual design to physical creation through CAD design and 3D printing. Participants will design their own 3D models, prepare them for printing, and print hands-on during the session. They will also be introduced to coding in 3D and AI-assisted 3D object generation as emerging pathways for creativity, computational thinking, and design. With multiple 3D printers on hand, educators will experience the full workflow from idea to object and leave with practical skills, sample project ideas, and greater confidence using 3D design and printing in their teaching.