Education
12 best STEAM activities for children under 7
STEAM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) are activities that creatively educate with a hands-on approach. STEAM learning happens every day as children explore, play and investigate the world around them, and research shows a positive relationship between early STEAM experience and future success in school. Get your child off to a good start with these easy STEAM activities you can do at home.
Slime Making your own slime is insanely fun to do, and it has fantastic educational outcomes for young ones. Playing with slime is a form of sensory play that promotes fine motor skills, coordination, the five senses and exploration. It’s a great STEAM activity based on science, with an element of art and mathematics incorporated.
Bubble blowing Bubbles have the ability to capture the attention of young minds, and this simple invention is a great way to introduce some STEAM into playtime. It’s science-based and the bubble’s shapes and colours incorporate art. Buy bubble mixture or make your own, then create your own tools or use household objects to blow different bubbles. This activity opens up a whole range of STEAM relevant conversations.
Create a ramp – marble run
Gardening Growing plants is a budget-friendly, interesting and exciting science activity to do with your child. You can grow new life in an old ice-cream tub, eggshell, little pot or in the garden. Sunflowers, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, watermelons and strawberries offer the greatest chance of success for your little ones. This activity opens up a world of knowledge and conversation about the process of growth from a seed and sustainability.
Scientist station – edible and non-edible
Kids love nothing more than being thrown a bunch of materials and being told to go wild, and this activity is perfect to foster the engineer in every child. All you need is a marble (preferably a large one to lower the choking hazard) and cardboard tubes or similar to build the ramps. A cereal or chip packet box makes the perfect shell for a marble run, then kids can cut and glue or tape the ramps and tunnels into the shell. How fast can their marble get down the track? Is there a way they could make it quicker?
Creating a station that is easily accessible and full of age-appropriate equipment is a great invitation to inspire children to take on the role of a scientist. There are many fascinating and easy experiments to try, like changing the colours of flowers with dye, making paper airplanes or a volcano, building a windmill, or even just offer a bunch of child-safe ingredients to let your little one go crazy with mixing and making. Edible experiments include creating phases of the moon with Oreo biscuits or toasting marshmallows in a solar oven. Don’t forget to add a scientist laboratory coat and goggles to help your child really get into the role.
Water play
5 senses rotations
Something as simple as filling containers with water can provide hours of fun and educational conversations between you and your children. Not only does water play develop motor skills, problem solving, language development and social-emotional growth, it weaves together science, mathematics and fun. It teaches children language such as full, empty, sink and float whilst opening conversation about volume, motion and life cycles.
Outdoor scientist This big wild world is home to many wonderful and interesting things, and some of these are in your own backyard or local park. Role play with your children and pretend to be scientists for the day: give them a hat and a magnifying glass and turn the back yard into a science experiment.
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Lay down and see if you can spot animals in the clouds or watch how quickly they move. Look through the grass to spot ants, check the garden for butterflies and collect different types of leaves. All options provide opportunity for science and math related conversations.
Your Local Families Magazine April / May 2019
The five senses are vitally important to everyday function. Teach your child about them by focusing on a different sense on different days or creating a sense station. For sight, play picture matching games, I-Spy, create a collage or discuss and explore different eye wear like blindfolds, sunglasses, 3D glasses and goggles. For smell, create a collage of good and bad smells like a baking cake or stinky socks. For sound, listen to music or the sounds you can hear outside, play with a tape recorder or experiment with musical instruments. For taste, try different types of foods and talk about their textures, taste different flavours of jelly beans, cook with your child or make edible jewellery. For touch, create a touch-and-feel box, explore different textures or make your own slime. All of these sense activities open up endless conversation and opportunity for education.