Are you and your littles finding yourselves at home with a lot of time but little to do? I have compiled five of our easiest and most accessible STEAM activities that grow those brain muscles and blow off some STEAM.
What is STEAM? STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. By doing STEAM projects or activities you are encouraging your child to problem solve, ask more questions, and be more creative. It doesn’t have to be daunting. Each of these activities can be done with common household items. I know how disappointing is it when you find an awesome project online to do with your little and find a material list a mile long– or you have everything but one obscure ingredient. I’ve got you covered with these activities to blow off STEAM and get learning!
Science
Encourage your smallest scientists to get messy and make science with one of the most classic science experiments there is! Vinegar and baking soda is a great way to blow off STEAM! Here, we added a twist by adding food coloring and dish soap. The dish soap causes a slow foam reaction and takes this already fun experiment to the next level. If the weather allows, I encourage you to try this in your backyard so you can easily hose down the mess. If not just grab a tub to catch the excess flow.
What You Need:
- 4 glass cups or jars
- Food coloring
- Liquid dish soap
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Towel to clean up any excess spillage
Directions:
Fill your glass jar halfway with vinegar. Next, have your helper mix in 4-6 drops of food coloring and a generous squeeze of dish soap. Stir. Repeat with each jar. One by one, have your child take a generous scoop of baking soda and empty it into the jar.
The Science:
Baking soda and vinegar react with each other because they exchange atoms. This is a great time to hypothesize with your child about what will happen. Will one color have a bigger reaction than the other? What happens if you add less baking soda, what about more? This is also a great project because with just a little bit of guidance your child can take the lead on many of the tasks!
Technology
My preschooler does not own a tablet yet, so I do have to get a bit creative when thinking of technology activities for him to do. One of our favorites is a photo scavenger hunt. With his mom being a photographer, my son is used to having a camera around. He was gifted a camera for his birthday last year but you can do this activity with your phone’s camera as well.
What You Need:
- Camera/Phone Camera
- Notepad
Directions:
Make a small list of things around the house and have your child take a photo of them in this photo scavenger hunt! This is an activity that you can do with as little or as much involvement as you’d like. Have an older child? Give them the list and have them show you the completed photos. Is your child younger? Guide them around the house, make their list a bit more basic and blow off STEAM!
Some of our favorites for my preschooler are:
- Find and take a photo of something that starts with the mmm sound.
- Something blue
- Something with four wheels
- Somewhere you sleep
- Somewhere you wash your hands
- Something that starts with the letter C
- Something that is a pair
Engineering
Have a little builder in your house? And maybe some extra party supplies? Build and crash with this easy engineering activity that just has one material needed.
What You Need:
- A package of paper or plastic cups
Directions:
Encourage your child to build a cup tower as tall as he/she can. This activity takes little to no explanation. Build, crash, and build again! The material list is simple and the clean up is easy– win-win.
Art
Do you have a car enthusiast in your house? The last couple of years have revolved around anything transportation in our house! One great way to encourage your toddler to think outside the box is to think of things to paint with besides a paintbrush. Our go-to? You guessed it. Toy cars and trucks!
What You Need:
- Toy cars/trucks
- Construction paper
- Washable, non-toxic paint
- Towel to clean up any potential messes
Directions:
Place your construction paper down and dot your paper with your favorite colors. Let your toddler paint with toy cars and trucks. Have races, do spin-outs! Just create and blow off STEAM. This is a great time to discuss primary and secondary colors as colors are getting mixed about. When all is said and done, we finish with water sensory play by taking the cars and trucks to a carwash at the kitchen sink.
Math
Math is one of the easiest STEAM activities for me to work into our everyday routine. We are constantly counting things, seeing what happens if we add or take something away, and pointing out numbers around the house. Setting up this activity is almost just as easy!
What You Need:
- Spaghetti
- Play-Doh
- Cheerios
- Post-its/paper and pen
Directions:
Write the numbers 1-10 separately on 10 post-it notes. Next, take a piece of playdoh and set a piece of spaghetti in it upright. Your child will then take their cheerios and place the number of cheerios that corresponds with the post-it on each spaghetti noodle. As a bonus, this also helps them with fine motor skills and you can finish up with snack time.
So while you are home, dig in those cabinets and see what you can find for your little ones. It doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal to blow off STEAM. I encourage you to work with what you have, make some fun, and keep it simple! Need more activities to do at home? Check out our Activities for Your Kids Guide.
