Experience
My experience consisted of multiple steam activities at Brown Elementary. Each week I came up with something different to do with the kids at SACC. I would set up the activity before the kids would get there after school and get out all the supplies that would be needed. When the kids arrived they would put their bookbag away and then run over to see what we were making and ask if they could participate. Often times so many kids would want to do it I had to start a list and write their names down and call them over when it was their turn. Every kid would have the chance to do it though. We made slime, bird feeders, candy sushi and marshmallow structures.
The slime was a lot of fun for the kids. They each got to pick the color they wanted and then they got to mix it all together. The materials we needed were Elmer's Glue, Borax, food coloring, water, a bowl and a spoon. All you have to do is mix it and then let it sit and settle. We did slime a few different times since it was such a big hit. The kids always got to bring it home in a bag.
The bird feeders was something new that a lot of the kids had never made. Each kid got to pick a cookie cutter shape they wanted. We then filled each cookie cutter with the bird seed we had made. We had to let it sit until it was molded and then we lifted the cookie cutter off. We let it sit overnight to dry and then put a string through the next day. The kids got to take them home and hang them up in a tree outside of their house.
The candy sushi was definitely a favorite for the kids because they got to eat it. All we did was take a mini rice krispy treat, put a couple swedish fish on it and wrapped it with a sour candy straw. It was super easy and fast but every single kid did this one because candy was involved.
Another thing we did was marshmallow structures. This was also very easy to do but the kids enjoyed getting to think what they wanted to do. They could build anything they wanted using toothpicks and little marshmallows. Some kids build huge crazy things and some just did simple things like a house. Some kids wanted to eat it when they were done and some wanted to save theirs and show it to their parents when they came to pick them up.
These are just a few of many things we did. The kids would always come running to to SACC to see what we were doing that week. Although my Capstone project is over I know we will continue to do different S.T.E.A.M activities throughout the year. I really enjoyed getting to find fun activities and often times I was actually just as excited as the kids to do the different things too and see how they turned out. I look forward to seeing what else we do this school year.