STEAM is a learning method that integrates science, technology, engineering, art, and math into inquiry and critical thinking based education. Not only do students receive instruction on these topics at school, these topics can also be incorporated in learning activities or STEAM projects at home.
STEAM Activities for Any Grade
The best STEAM projects for kids at home are those that require only a few household items such as paints, recycled cardboard, and kitchen or office supplies; although, there may be some items you’ll need to purchase to do some of these activities with your kids. For the most part though, you will already have these items available, so these STEAM activities can be set up easily.
A great STEAM activity for any grade would be to create plant-able paper. Plant-able paper is paper that is made with seeds mixed in so that when it is moistened or planted into the ground, the seeds sprout. This craftsy project teaches students about the life cycle. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has easy to follow directions on how to make plant-able paper with materials you can find at home. Once you have made the plant-able paper, you can get them out into various shapes and give them as gifts.
If you have a child who is more interested in the engineering aspects of STEAM, some great activities include building projects.
Babble Dabble Do is a great website for science and engineering projects for kids to do on a snowy day. Your kids can learn all about building and testing the strength of paper structures using various shapes when they try “Paper Building Blocks” with craft supplies available at home. If your kids are more interested in science, then look no further than experimentation with chromatography, or the science of separating chemical mixtures. With Babble Dabble Do’s “Chromatography for Kids,” your kids will experiment with separating colors.
A few other great STEAM projects from Babble Dabble Do include…
The Artful Parent is another great resource for STEAM projects for kids, for example creating marbled paper with shaving cream and creating salt paintings.
Your kids can explore a variety of artistic science, math, and engineering projects by…
- Exploring Sound and Color with Water Glasses
- Creating Oobleck
- Printmaking with Gelatin Printmaking for Kids Made Easy
When your kids stay home from school because of a snow day, make sure to have some of these activities printed out so that you have fun, interactive learning opportunity ready to start.
What is your fun go-to STEAM project?
Author: Nicole Acevedo, Teacher Manager at A Grade Ahead
