Find out how you can get started sharing STEAM activities with your kids right in your home with this easy to setup STEAM at Home activities.
What is STEAM?
STEAM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math! STEAM is an integrated approach to learning that helps kids make connections between the concepts they are learning and how to apply them to real-world problems.
This innovative learning is part of a larger movement in schools. STEAM activities are a great way to involve families in learning especially during this time in which schools have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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From May to October 2020, Tomorrow, powered by Remake Learning will explore–through virtual events, grantmaking and extensive storytelling–what we can do today to make tomorrow a more promising place for all learners.
Get Ready for Remake Learning Days Across America
In October 2020, Remake Learning unveiled plans for a year-long campaign for the upcoming Remake Learning Days Across America.
In April and May 2021, Remake Learning Days events will be happening across the United States in states including: California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Tennessee, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and more!
Depending on the progress made in the fight against COVID-19, these Remake Learning Days events will be held in-person and offer hands-on arts, maker, outdoor, science, technology, and youth-voice themed learning events. If public, in-person events won’t be possible, Remake Learning plans to offer a range of virtual events that will showcase hundreds of learning opportunities!
These events are a great way to get involved in the future of learning! As a STEAM educator in the Badgerland area, I’m planning on attending the Wisconsin events in April and sharing even more activities to help parents explore STEAM at home!
Learning Forerunners Across America Report
In October 2020, Remake Learning along with HundrED and the Grable Foundation released a new report called Learning Forerunners Across America. The report spotlights innovative, groundbreaking, and scalable projects that can be to highlight and encourage policymakers, businesses, and families improve the learning in their communities.
According to the Learning Forerunners report, the innovations showcased “will help set the stage for a global ecosystem: one in which innovators around the world learn from one another, share promising practices, and help every child flourish on this planet that connects us all.”
THE PANDEMIC IMPACT ON EDUCATION SYSTEMS
Educators across the United States have been exploring new forms of learning, assessment, support and connection opportunities for students long before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This disruption in our schools has increased parental involvement in learning according to the Global Family Research Project. According to the Learning Forerunners report, the innovations showcased “will help set the stage for a global ecosystem: one in which innovators around the world learn from one another, share promising practices, and help every child flourish on this planet that connects us all.”
Adding STEAM at Home activities is a great way to engage parents in their children’s learning. These hands-on activities are a great way to get started!
STEAM at Home: A Month of Easy Low-Prep STEAM Activities
Grab this free STEAM at HOME printable filled with a month of STEAM activities for parents to complete along with kids!
You can download the PDF that includes links to free STEAM activities to explore STEAM at Home! You can also use this sheet as a starting point and build on the activities suggested.
STEAM at HOME Activities
Build a Hovercraft with a CD and a Balloon
Persevere like Rosie Revere and build a machine that floats. This easy CD balloon hovercraft activity is great for kids of all ages!
Research Fibonacci and make a Math + Art Project
This math and art activity presents this would-be complex mathematical concept in an easy to understand, tangible way with Fibonacci art!
Follow an Algorithm to Draw a Lion
Can you follow the algorithm and draw a lion in this directed drawing unplugged coding + art activity?
Learn about Runes and Crack the Code with Anna & Elsa
This Futhark runic alphabet Frozen coding activity is a great hands-on activity to decipher some secret messages!!
Find out what a Dragon Curve Fractal is and Make Fractal Art
Learn about dragon curve fractals and how to make dragon curve fractal art with this awesome STEAM activity!
Design a Sensory Bottle and Learn about the Density of Different Liquids
Sensory bottles are all the rage on Pinterest because they are totally awesome and there are so many different liquids and solids that you can use. Your kids are probably obsessed with making these bottles, but do they know the science behind them?
Our goal was to conduct a water science experiment to learn about the weight and volume of different liquids and compare them to each other.
Recycle Plastic Water Bottles into Beautiful Sun Catchers
Are you ready for an awesome recycled art project that you can do with your kids?? Then you are in the right place! You can make a recycled plastic water bottle sun catcher with some plastic water bottles and permanent markers!
Research Anaglyphs and Learn How to Make 3D Art
Learn how to draw 3D images and make anaglyph artwork and grab some free 3D art worksheets!
PE + Coding is the Perfect Way to Move Your Muscles and Learn to Code
Are you ready to play the Fitness Code! This Fitness coding game teaches kids coding concepts, including conditionals and variables. This activity focuses on remaking the way we traditionally teach these concepts and uses large motor movements to reinforce the activity and make it a tangible, fun learning experience!
Engineer a Stone Tool and Learn about the Stone Age
This engineering challenge is designed to introduce kids to the Stone Age and the various tools that early human beings used.
Make Map Artwork and Explore Your Local Geography
This activity introduces maps and basic directions to kids K-3 and helps them become more aware of their surroundings while also creating awesome hometown map art from a local geography!
Learn about Decomposition in Coding and Decompose a Rocket Ship
This rocket ship decomposition unplugged coding activity is designed to teach kids the concept of decompositions and algorithms!
Make an Ice Lantern and Research States of Water
Lately, we’ve been busy working on fun winter STEAM activities designed for preschool and toddlers while my older girls are at school during the day. This ice lantern winter STEAM activity is a great way to teach young scientists about different states of water. If it’s already freezing outside, you can use your ice lanterns to decorate too!
Build a Working Drawbridge
This castle STEAM challenge pairs art and engineering to challenge kids to make a working drawbridge for a castle!
Use Your Logic Skills to Solve Letter Sudoku
Sudoku is a great activity to strengthen logical reasoning skills and decomposition skills while working with a simple algorithm, or a series of instructions for solving problems. This Letter Sudoku activity is a way to introduce kids as young as preschool to the rules and the use of logical reasoning to solve a problem.
Research Pi and Make Math Sun Catchers
The goal of this activity is to explore the number Pi and prove that it is a mathematical constant by making math sun catchers out of perler beads for a fun math + art STEAM activity! This is a great activity for upper elementary and middle school kids.
Go Stargazing, Research Constellations, and Make Constellation Art
This constellation art activity is great for introducing constellations and sparking a sense of wonder for galaxies and planets above while also helping kids to recognize patterns in the sky by observing, describing, and turning them into art!
Build a Boat out of Tin Foil and See How Many Pennies it Holds
We love a good challenge at our house and this ‘build a boat’ challenge doesn’t disappoint! My girls are very tangible learners and I love that I can demonstrate complex concepts in a way that they just get it. This buoyancy project is great for kids 5-12 and can be adapted for kids older than that!
Learn about Optical Illusions and Make Optical Illusion Art
What is Op Art? Find out how to make awesome optical illusion art and download a free optical illusion coloring book for kids!
Explore Hexadecimals and Code a Pi Necklace
We love to pair math and technology to create fun art! This Pi Necklace coding activity is the perfect combination of math, binary, and hexadecimal coding for upper elementary and middle school students. It’s also an engaging Pi Day activity!
Build the Tallest Tower with Cups and Popsicle Sticks
Can you complete the tallest tower STEM challenge using only two materials? This STEM activity is great for kids of all ages!
Can You Power a Boat with Soap?
Can you power a boat with soap? Check out this fun surface tension STEAM challenge and make a soap powered boat!
Follow the Color Code to make a Math + Art Pi Cityscape
We love math and art activities! We work with pixel puzzles and mosaic squares quite a bit in our house and decided to use turn a skyline activity into a color coding mosaic pi cityscape activity that works on basic programming skills while introducing Pi.
Research Fingerprints and Conduct a Family Fingerprint Investigation
Learn the science of fingerprints & how they are used to identify people in crime investigations and conduct some family fingerprint science investigations!
Investigate the Acidity of Candy using Science
We like to use leftover Halloween candies for experiments! In this yummy experiment, we are testing to see if sour candy is acidic with a simple acid-base reaction.
Join the Conversation with Remake Learning
Share your hopes for today’s young people using #RemakeTomorrow and tagging @RemakeLearning. Tomorrow will elevate community questions, spotlight your ideas and help all of us prepare for whatever the future may bring.
Homeschool Resources
Find more resources for virtual learning, remote learning, and homeschool!
Homeschool Schedule for Large Family with Different Learning Styles
Check out how I manage to teach my five kids and maintain some sanity with this homeschool schedule for a large family and grab a free sample homeschool schedule and blank template!
Brain Break Ideas for Remote Learning or Homeschool
Grab these free brain break ideas to break up the day while remote learning this year!
STEAM Books for Kids
Looking for some great STEAM & STEM books for kids? These STEAM books are some of our favorite books filled with great hands-on learning activities!
Google Classroom Activities
Check out these virtual field trips, digital scavenger hunts, coding activities, and Google classroom activities for kids!
Magic Tree House Book Activity Units
Check out these hands-on Magic Tree House activities! Grab a book and download an activity for a reading and learning adventure today!
31 Days of Low-Prep STEAM Activities for Kids
You and your kids are going to love these low-prep STEAM activities! Check out some of favorite STEAM activities below!
Fall STEAM Lessons by Age: Printable STEAM Schedule
Grab this free printable Fall STEAM Lessons for toddlers, preschoolers, elementary, and middle school kids.
Summer of STEAM Activities for Kids
Summer of STEAM activities for kids! 100s of projects for Math Monday, Tinker Tuesday, Wonder Wednesday, Techie Thursday, & Foodie Friday!
Meet Toni, the Maker Mom behind Our Family Code
Hey there, I’m Toni! I’m a software engineer and Maker Mom that finds my joy in unleashing my children’s curiosity by exploring STEAM concepts with my fantastic five!
When I’m not chasing toddlers or raising tweens, you can find me tearing things up and putting them back together over here at Our Family Code.
I am the owner and content creator of multiple educational websites designed to increase access to STEAM & STEM education with a focus on teaching computer science and coding to kids of all ages!
You can also find out more about me by visiting ToniGardner.com!
