Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are at the core of so much that we do in the world. It's also an exciting place to explore and experiment, which is why there's been such an emphasis on STEM learning in schools and at home.

Now, eager young scientists can get involved with STEM in an affordable and convenient way with a wide variety of interactive experiments and kits that are conveniently packaged with everything your child might need to explore and interact with the world around them. There's nothing better than learning by doing!

Build a Rube Goldberg machine right on your refrigerator -- or any metallic surface -- with National Geographic's Magnetic Marble Run, one of the most popular Kickstarter toys of all time! Kids and adults will have hours of fun and learning with this 75-piece kit that offers infinite design combinations.

The set includes 42 tracks & connectors, 17 trick pieces, and 15 marbles to keep your mind racing as fast as those marbles down your unique tracks. It even comes with a handy instruction booklet to ensure you know how to use each piece, and a Learning Guide to teach more about physics and engineering.

It'll look like magic when you watch your very own crystal formations grow in just six hours right before your eyes ... but it's all science! National Geographic's Crystal Growing Kit features evergreen and cherry tree designs for the crystals to grow, and kids can even customize each tree by coloring them with five different watercolor pens included.

This kit adds an element of artistic creativity with children having the opportunity to control the color of their final product, while the completed geode is ready for study to learn more about crystal formation with the included full-color guide.

Get messy with your learning! This Barn Owl Pellet Pack Exploration Activity kit brings the experience of biology dissection and exploration into the home or classroom. Each kit comes with sterilized barn owl pellets, which include prey remains like insects, snake, bat, rodent, and other bird skeletons.

Connect kids with nature, healthy ecosystems, anatomy, and the food chain with this interactive lab experience. The kit includes everything they need to start exploring with forceps and a paddle pick, while the accompanying instructional chart will help them learn about what they uncover.

Your learners will get hours of fun and educational experiences with this massive 200-piece Rock, Fossil & Geode Treasure Hunt Activity Kit from Dancing Bear. Kids can simulate a real fossil hunt with all of these treasures mixed in with clean gravel, so they can experience the joy of discovery.

The kit includes even more than rocks, fossils, and crystals. Little explorers will also uncover arrowheads, fool's gold, shark teeth and more! And to help them understand what they've found, the kit come with a full-color educational identification sheet and Learning Guide filled with fun facts and tons of information about what can be found in the earth.

When it comes to understanding the intersection of engineering and physics, nothing beats hands-on experience. With these wooden STEM Science Set Building Kits, kids will be able to experience first-hand five different classic engineering feats like the telegraph, excavator, Newton's cradle, and the mind-bending Tension Structure that looks like it defies gravity.

Kids will learn about energy conversation, tension, motors and more by building these items themselves and then seeing exactly how they work through experimentation. These items are designed for kids 6-12 with detailed step-by-step instructions, though parental assistance is suggested for kids 6-8.

Parents and teachers will find everything they need to help or guide kids as they assemble five different self-propelled creations with this STEM Science Kids' Electric Robot Building Kits set. Each robot comes with detailed instructions, while the included mini-screwdriver is the only tool kids will need to bring their creations to life.

Kids will get the satisfaction of seeing their careful step-by-step process culminate in a unique robot that can move on its own, while problem-solving skills will help deduce what happened when something isn't working right. With five designs, no two creations will look or move alike, making it a fun project to explore over and over again.

Kids can design their own glow-in-the-dark habitat before filling it with seeds and water to create their own magical ecosystem with the Grow N Glow Terrarium Kit. The kit comes complete with various seeds and a potting mix that promises growth within 3-4 days for your 6-8 year-old junior botanists.

The kit also includes glowing sand, glow-in-the-dark stickers, stones, and even glowing figurines so kid can personalize their terrarium. They'll learn about the responsibility of caring for and nurturing through two plant life cycles with organic chia and wheatgrass.

Problem-solving and fine motor skills, not to mention hand-eye coordination, take center stage as kids try to carefully navigate the Aucoglu Take-Apart Electric Maze Experiment kit. Plus, they can challenge themselves to see how quickly they can move through the maze without getting buzzed.

By assembling this setup themselves before they play, kids will gain an understanding of how circuits, currents, and gears work, with a little bit of engineering thrown in. This interactive experience is perfect for any eager young scientist.

Future engineer's curiosity about how thing work and interact start at a very early age, so start their learning in the right direction by offering them the interactive STEM Engineering Science Kits for Kids Crafts Set. Featuring five different models, kids will explore Newton's cradle, a telegraph, orbital model, dimmable lamp with resistance, and a Hooke's Roller with elasticity.

Each kit comes ready to assemble with easy-to-follow instructions and everything you need inside the box. Your kids will be amazed as they create real working scientific constructs, helping them to understand each mechanism and how they work together to create scientific principals.

Help kids to understand the importance of clean water by making it themselves with Green Science's Clean Water Science Mini Water Filtration kit. This is a great opportunity for young minds to explore the impact of climate change on clean water, and why it matters so much.

With this personal desalination kit, complete with a plastic filter system, active carbon, sand, rock, and filter paper -- kids will be able to learn about the scientific process to clean and reuse dirty water. This kit walks them through three processes: solar water purification, water desalinization, and a carbon filtration system.