Children learn in different ways. Whatever subject or aspect they have to know about, the most important goal is to help them learn in a fun experience. When talking about something fun and creative, it is always directed to STEAM activities.
What is STEAM?
Basically, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. But, STEAM simply means STEM + art. This is an effective educational approach designed to incorporate the arts into a more familiar model including science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
STEAM has several programs that are centered on performing or visual arts including painting, writing, dancing, photography, and designing.
Develop your child’s creative potential and skills in a fun way. These easy STEAM art and craft projects will give you a chance to discover the most effective strategies to keep them focused on what they do. Here is the ultimate list of STEAM activities for kids you should know:
LEGO Sun Prints
Kids love to run around especially when the sun is up. Take advantage of this chance to perform an outdoor STEAM project with LEGO construction through printed paper sun. This task requires easy and quick set up. You will need these things:
- Solar paper or construction paper
- LEGO Minifigures
- Trays – There are optional, but can be useful when transporting.
- Other cool stuffs you want to add
Making a LEGO sun print is an open-ended design activity that will develop the creativity of your kids. You just have to place these papers under the sun. See to it that they will not be blown away by the wind. Put the LEGO figures on top of the paper and leave it for a couple of hours.
Then, turn the paper over and check how it changes color. This is also a reminder that you must take care of your skin. Wear sun protection when staying under the sun for a long time.
Paper Towel
This type of STEAM art is one of the most common projects you will encounter yet it can be the easiest to do. You only need to prepare a few things that you can find at home or in your child’s school supplies. Prepare paper towels, non-permanent water soluble marker, pipette, spray bottle, tray and water. Then, your little one will get a fantastic art project in the summer. The goal is to let your child create an abstract image or any masterpiece that you have in mind.
There are only three main steps in making paper towels. First, get your tray and put the paper towel sheets in one layer. Second, draw any picture or design using your marker. Third, using your spray bottle, lightly spray the paper towel with water. Observe how the colors spread through your paper towel look more vibrant.
3D Papercraft
If your kid wants to try something unusual, you can try making 3D paper crafts! There are numerous video tutorials that show how to create specific types of 3D paper crafts. While making this paper craft, you and your kid will learn to explore about the depth, height and width in the occupied space. Such a process is known as subtractive and additive. So, you get a little bit of mathematics for this task.
Balancing Buddy
In this STEM activity, you will need a couple of materials – modeling clay, wine cork, toothpick, 2 pieces of bamboo skewers (12 inches) and decorations such as googly eyes, pain and paper. This project tells about gravity.
Place your cork upright, and poke the pointy end of a skewer at a 45 degree angle on either side of the cork. The skewers should be pointing up at this point. Add two clay balls at the end of the skewers, where the clay balls you make should be heavier than the wine cork. Add a toothpick in the middle of the cork. Thus, the center of gravity is brought at the bottom of that toothpick. To let the toy stand, you should place the toothpick on your finger, and find balance in the clay balls. With skewers, they can be adjusted for compensation of differences in size.
Perler Beads
Making Perler Bead Arrays is another awesome STEAM project for you kid. It is time to break free from using the traditional ways of learning or memorizing something such as flash cards. This time, you can practice the multiplication table with the use of arrays. You need Perler Beads (which you can find online), iron, and a set of clear square pegboards (pegboard kits).
These arrays are also known as the ‘area model of multiplication. It is a visual teaching method for multiplication. If you do not have these beads, you can draw dots on the paper. Let your kids learn in their most comfortable way.
Conclusion
The integration of arts and design into education can significantly increase the well-being and happiness levels of students. It leads to enhanced innovation and creativity and increased problem-solving skills. These are just some of the STEAM activities for kids that you can do at home. Every activity is designed for a specific aspect of artistic learning that are quite difficult to teach as experienced by many parents.
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