How to use a STEM Journal

Use a STEM journal to support children organise their investigative ideas.

March 2025 | 6 min read

Crafts | Official Blog for Hands-On Education

Hands-On Education’s STEM journal

What is a STEM journal?

A STEM journal is a notebook in which children can record and develop their ideas throughout an investigative activity. Using the journal is not just a matter of children writing down a few lines but can be used as an educational tool, supporting them in following a specific process in which they must plan, design, test and evaluate their ideas.

Why use a STEM journal?

Implementing the use of a STEM journal within your classroom or home school environment can encourage children to take real ownership of an investigation. This is especially true when comes to problem solving and designing. It can help children document each step of their project including predications, design, recording data and evaluating results.

Using a STEM journal can promote critical thinking, as well as communication skills through writing and drawing. There is no right or wrong way to use a STEM journal – this is personal to the child. Our role as educators is to encouraging them to make notes of their ideas.

Making a prediction for a growing seeds experiment.

How can I start implementing the use of a STEM journal?

Initially, I started by using the STEM journal as a group activity. My boys, Harry and Teddy, shared their ideas and took it in turns to record them. This approach worked well for us as I didn’t want the journal to feel like work. The idea was to use is to help us in exploring STEM challenges, not to limit the fun.

Teddy and Harry like to jump into a STEM activity with two feet and start creating and building straight away. I generally don’t invite them to the table until I have all the resources laid out and ready. Using the STEM journal helped them to slow down a little and work together. I wanted them to understand exactly what they were trying to achieve and how they might do this.

The more we used the journal they started thinking of it as part of the process. At that point I gave them each their own and they were willing to write down their experiments as they went along.

Taking ownership through reflection

Taking ownership of their learning is not only a matter of participating in hands-on activities, it’s important they have the time and space to reflect. I believe reflection is a key ingredient for learners to take accountability and grow. Remember that a STEM journal is a tool to support this reflection process. How they go about this is personal to themselves. Through writing and drawing they can communicate their ideas and consider how these added to the final outcome.

During a child’s primary school age years, I believe discussion should be a large part of this reflection process. Sometimes children will know how to say what they are thinking without having the ability or comprehension to write it down. In documenting, without pressure, their learning, the journal provides a space for children to take record of their achievements. This hopefully leads to a feeling of pride while building confidence and self-esteem.

Take a look inside Hands-On Education’s STEM journal.

Our Hands-on STEM journal

All children will have their own unique ideas about how they want to document their ideas and what they will put in their STEM journal. For some children, you will be able to just give them a blank notebook and they will have an idea of how they want to use it. For others our hands-on STEM Journal is the book for you! This can provide structure and prompt each step of the investigation process. This includes:

Goal: what will you try to find out during this investigation?
Resources: draw or write the materials needed for the investigation to ensure you have everything before starting.
Method: describe how you will conduct the investigation.
Prediction: before starting, predict the outcome based on existing knowledge.
Fair test: ensure a fair test by changing only one variable.
Diagram: draw and label a diagram of how you will perform the investigation.
Results: record the data you collect during your investigation. Use tables, charts, or graphs to present the information clearly and accurately.
Observation: describe what happened in the investigation.
Conclusion: explain why you think this outcome occurred.

How can I make the STEM Journal?

Once you've downloaded the PDF, you'll have access to the full document. It's designed to be easily printed and assembled into a journal. To do this, print the entire document using the double-sided setting. You can then organize the pages by either hole-punching them and placing them in a folder, or using a simple binding machine. I use a basic Fellow's model to create holes and bind the pages together.

Teddy and Harry made a potion, experimenting with ingredients to make the perfect potion.

Choosing your STEM activities

At Hands-on Education we value hands-on learning experiences and encourage children to participate in kinaesthetic activities. Our site has over 250 STEM based activities suitable for primary-aged children. All of our activities meet standards set out by the National Curriculum in England. To easily identify our 250+ STEM activities at Hands-On Education, look for this symbol.