STEM Inventions

STEM Inventions LLC is a certified small business in the United States that is owned and operated by Lance Akiyama, a longtime project-based educator, author, and curriculum developer. STEM Inventions is an open-source collection of hands-on projects and accompanying lesson plans for elementary and middle school kids, available at www.stem-inventions.com, as well as complete STEM kits and bulk supplies available at STEM-Inventions.shop. Most of the activities were developed over the course of several years with groups of children in an after school enrichment setting.

I focus on project-based learning with an emphasis on design thinking and soft skills. Students build real things, test them, fail, adjust, and try again. The goal is not just STEM knowledge, it's the habits behind it: curiosity, persistence, teamwork, and creative problem solving. Each project gives students a chance to plan, communicate ideas, manage materials, and learn from mistakes. By the end, they do not just understand the science, they've practiced thinking and working like engineers.

Lance Akiyama is a STEM curriculum designer, project-based educator, author, and product developer focused on hands-on engineering education. He founded STEM Inventions, where he designs buildable STEM kits, classroom projects, and teaching resources used by educators and parents. His work centers on simple materials, practical engineering challenges, and learning through experimentation. He began developing original STEM activities around 2010 while running his own after-school program. Earlier he worked with Galileo Learning creating design-thinking curriculum and building educational projects. Lance has published multiple DIY engineering books and instructional resources for kids and educators, including project collections that teach science and engineering through building machines and experiments with everyday materials. Across his teaching, curriculum design, and products, his focus is consistent: accessible, project-based STEM activities that let kids learn engineering concepts by building, testing, and improving real creations.