Affiliate links follow. See more info in the About tab. Easy Engineering ActivitiesPerhaps you have heard about using STEAM or STEM principles in preschool and you have always wanted to try it. Or maybe you are already incorporating STEAM and just need a few new ideas. Either way, we are glad you are here. Learning Across All DomainsWe are focusing on the "E" in STREAM as I mentioned, however you will see that many other learning domains are touched on in just one engineering activity. We use www.mothergoosetime.com curriculum that provides us with many STEAM station ideas at the front of each Teacher Guide and then different activities throughout the lessons. My assistants and I have very little time after school to set up the room for the next day, so having ideas laid out in a Teacher Guide is worth more than gold to us. Below, Science, Art and Engineering all collide in to one amazing "Invitation to Create "project. The children ran in place, checked their pulse, then decided on what materials they would use for a heart, Of course, rich language was infused in to this project as well. Check out the 7 Learning Domains that www.mothergoosetime.com/skillsresearch/ has integrated in to their curriculum. Make and PlayMake and Play activities are common in the Mother Goose Time curriculum. Children learn how to engineer their own toy or dramatic play prop. Our students will play with their item all morning! Below is a Little Jack Horner prop, which was carried over to the Housekeeping Area of the classroom. At Circle Time, we played with language and inserted student names and changed pronouns accordingly. Car WashDuring our Transportation theme, we added a small car wash to our building area. Our Teacher Guide suggested we allow the children to wash cars and truck in buckets as well. It was a hit with our students. I have to say it is so much fun staging these little "invitations to play" before I leave for the day and then watching the children discover and explore the next morning. Assembling Furniture or ToysI asked the children if they would like to help assemble a new item for our Housekeeping area. Of course they shouted, "yes!" It took twice as long with their help then if I would have built the fruit stand on my own. The sense of pride that was beaming from their little bodies and the lessons learned were so worth the extra time. Stage Unusual Items and Loose PartsI had a disco ball hanging from our classroom ceiling as a large sun catcher. It was fun to watch the colors dance across our walls. To change things up a bit, I placed the disco ball on a table with a mirror and flat marbles. We collect many different types of containers, tubes, cardboard and so on throughout the year and add them to our building area. See how I staged a few of those pieces below. A grandfather and father volunteered to cut tree coins and sections for us. The children absolutely love them. Well, I hope you were inspired to add STEAM principles in your early childhood environment. If you would like to know more about our school, visit www.stmarysll.org or call 231.256-9636.
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AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
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