STEAM: Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math
You may have heard two different terms: STEM and STEAM. Why the extra letter? It's because Art was added to the STEM acronym when students, teachers, and parents agreed that art education is just as beneficial as more classically-codified "scientific" pursuits.
Art not only encompasses the creation of beautiful things on a canvas, but can be incorporated into every other part of the STEAM experience. Art means using your imagination, art means creating, and art means adding aesthetics into any and all areas of life. Teaching art as part of STEAM is not only educational, but super fun! Here are a few examples of artsy activities, broken down by age range.
Young Children (Ages 2-5)
Introducing kids to art can be both fun and rewarding, so get creative! You can experiment with different media - kids love using all kinds of tools to create art: watercolor paint, chalk, crayons, markers, etc. A pendulum painting project is the perfect way to start kids thinking about combining art and science. A cup on a string filled with paint and a hole in the bottom can create some amazing designs, just with the use of gravity!
Elementary-Aged Children (6-12)
Slightly older kids will have much more wiggle room in what they're able to do in terms of motor skills. You can add more challenging aspects to your art projects for kids at this age in order to really get them engaged. An easy experiment that uses both art and science is the rainbow density jar project. Kids will be able to use many different materials with varying densities to see how they "stack" on top of each other within a glass jar. Get them to try different materials in alternating orders to see how things mix together - and the things that don't!
Teens (13-18)
You can really go crazy with teens! Some teens will have already developed some amazing art skills, while others have no interest in art whatsoever. Both of these groups are wonderful, as it makes your job as an activity creator to really tap into your own creativity and get teens thinking about art and science in a way that they have maybe never tried before. One thing I've learned that's usually very successful for teens is to have them create something useful for themselves - something that has a practical purpose that they can use in their everyday life. It will remind them of their own creativity and imagination, and it's something they can proudly take with them. A great example of this is custom-made tea towels! As stated on this website, "In all honesty, tea towels are probably the last on teenagers’ minds. But this craft is an excellent project to enhance their creativity and resourcefulness." More detailed instructions on this activity can be found here, but ultimately there are very few materials that you'd need to accomplish this activity (you really just need tea towels and stamps!), and teens can use whatever designs or stencils they want to create something that is truly unique to them.
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