Back in October, I wrote about the aptly named Fall Fun Preschool STEAM program, the first of its kind I had offered. I had been inspired by a colleague’s presentation, which you can read more about in the link.
In February, our department held a Winter Preschool STEAM program that was also tons of fun, and I wanted to share.
About 30 people (kids and caregivers) attended. We started by creating a sensory snowman…aka a snow globe. Voss water bottles were PERFECT for the snowman, and the lid resembled a hat. Strips of blue flannel for a scarf really made him pop. I’ve made snow globes before with glycerin and they never really worked. Using clear glue, as suggested in the link, was a great upgrade…and added to the science as we discussed how the glitter was suspended by the glue.
Next, we made a “melted” snowman…basically, it was white slime—slime made with white glue and no food coloring. For fun, which added a Styrofoam ball, some buttons and a foam nose to make it look like a snowman had truly melted.
Our final “science” item was to make snow in disposable aluminum baking pans. I had a ton of cornstarch left over from another program, but you can use baking soda as well. Simply add shaving cream and let the kids mix. It was a fun mess, and the “snow” was textured enough that one child built a miniature snowman from it.
After our “science” time, we broke out into Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math tables.
For Technology, I put out a display of winter picture books and iPads, encouraging families to take photos and movies. Interesting…kids weren’t into the iPads (Amazing, huh?)
Engineering—building igloos with sugar cubes and vanilla frosting, all from the dollar store. VERY popular.
Art—also popular: Ice Painting. Use food coloring in ice cube trays and stick in a popsicle stick. I had them paint on white construction paper, and it went great!
Kids had a ton of fun, and more than one parent thanked us (yes, there were three of us in the program) for letting the kids have such messy fun OUTSIDE of the home.
Feel free to share your successful Preschool STEAM activities!