STEAM: Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math
We now come to the end of the acronym, and quite possibly the most challenging letter to make sound "fun" - Math! However, math is nothing to be scared of, for either kids or adults. It just depends on what you make of it! During my time at a public library, I had several opportunities to teach kids about STEAM and that includes math. I heard all the same comments every time, and mostly from parents! It was usually along the lines of, "Math isn't fun," "I hate math," or "How do you plan on making this something kids will actually like?" But I can tell you, from personal experience, it can be done!
There are many ways to make math fun! As a librarian you already have an advantage of teaching kids who know that they won't be given homework for any activities you provide. For the most part, you'll find that many kids are curious just to see what you'll come up with! Here are a few starter examples of fun math activities, separated by age.
Young Children (2-5)
You might find it tricky to teach math to a group of children who haven't started learning traditional math skills yet, but it can be done in a simple and fun way! One of the easiest ways is to incorporate counting into a game. There are many examples of this, but a simple one is the acorn counting game. It's easy enough to be amended: kids can use other objects like buttons, rocks, or beans instead of acorns, but the concept is the same. Using a muffin tin, tongs, and your objects of choice, little kids can easily see how two plus three equals five! The fact that this activity is sensory and can also be nature-based learning is an added bonus.
Elementary-Aged Children (6-12)
Now we come to one of my favorite activities, because it's one I've done before! The "golden ratio" activity encompasses both art and math, so it's a great way to get kids to express their creative side while learning about the mathematical aspect of the project. This clever project teaches kids about the Fibonacci Sequence and can be used in art, math, or history contexts. Kids can learn about how math and art have been used for centuries to showcase the natural beauty of our bodies and the world around us. Using simple materials like construction paper and pipe cleaners, this activity will get kids thinking about math in a way they haven't before.
Teens (13-18)
This age group can take a bit more convincing when it comes to "fun math" as most teens will agree that that's an oxymoronic phrase. But as succinctly stated on the STEMcadia website, "Math is the foundation for science, technology, and engineering. Its work is generally used in STEM to find patterns in data. These patterns can be used to test relationships, draw general conclusions about data, and model the real world." Experiments with temperature, distance, and size can all be used to teach math in a library activity setting. A popular and fun activity would be for teens to design a model of the solar system using math to determine the proper distance ratio between each planet. This could be an individual or group activity, and will teach teens about ratios while giving them the hands-on means to create their own model. Remember, it's supposed to be fun, not homework!
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