Five Inexpensive STEAM Projects You Can Do This Summer

Here are five play-based *STEAM learning projects your learners can do this summer to keep them engaged and their curiosity piqued.  This list features projects that use items that are either commonly found at home or are easily obtained at your local public library and other community resource centers. 

Albany, Corvallis, and Lebanon Public Libraries offer tons of STEAM resources. Lebanon Library curates a ‘Library of Things’ collection, Corvallis Public Library offers loanable STEAM kits that are available for check out to members, and Albany Public Library is home to a student makerspace that is free to explore. 

1. Slime

When you think of slime projects you think of next-level messiness. But with this no-mess method, slime is a simple and accessible way to get your learners to learn science concepts and practice fine motor skills, mindfulness, and observational skills.

The best part is at the end of this project your kiddos have made a new toy to keep them occupied for hours.

Want to give your student some extra challenge? Let them experiment with ratios and allow them to problem-solve to get their slime to the perfect consistency.

For younger students, we recommend a high level of supervision for this project. More experienced students may be able to work fairly independently.

View the step-by-step instructions.

2. Domino runs

The genius of this project is in its simplicity. All your student needs to get going with this project is a set of dominos and an imagination. Challenge your students to build a creatively complex line of dominos with as many twists, turns, and obstacles as they can dream up. And bask in the glory with them as they get the satisfaction of obliterating their domino run by watching them fall down one by one.

Need some inspiration? Check out this incredibly elaborate example of a domino run project. “The Amazing Triple Spiral,” by Hevesh5

Domino runs are perfect for both solo learners and lessons in teamwork and collaboration. This project will help learners exercise creative and design-thinking abilities and explore engineering concepts.

This project requires little to no supervision.

3. Creating patterns through music

Music is proven to have a multitude of benefits for young minds. Besides being an excellent creative outlet and source of cultural study, making music can instill core STEAM concepts like pattern recognition that can be used in coding, math, and science. It can also be a great tool for mental well-being, helping young practitioners to learn skills in self-esteem, stress relief, and patience.

Instruments can be obtained in a wide variety of ways. One of our favorite methods is having learners make their own instruments out of common household items like boxes and rubber bands; whatever their minds can dream up. Additionally, there are also digital alternatives like Chrome Music Lab that can be used on a tablet or laptop with headphones. If your learner is interested in a more traditional instrument, often local libraries have instruments available for check out and local thrift stores may offer cheap and well-loved guitars and other percussion instruments.

Challenge kiddos who are new to experimenting with music and playing instruments to come up with their own beat or write an original song. For budding musicians with more experience with playing music and using instruments, have them try to learn how to play their favorite song.

Learners will gain pattern recognition, practice fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and explore the science of sound, problem-solving, critical thinking, and cultural awareness.

This project requires little to no supervision

4. Paper Mosaics

Paper mosaics are an accessible way to get students interested in and introduced to STEAM learning.  It’s an exercise utilizing math to create art in a way where students won’t even realize they are practicing geometry while gaining practical experience with spatial awareness.

Collaging utilizing mosaic techniques can be as simple as drawing a design in pencil and using bits of construction paper to create a vibrate pattern to fill in the pencil drawing. Paper mosaics can also be complex and involve high levels of skills and finesse, like this beautiful example of an RBG portrait made with paper mosaics.

We recommend a low-stakes version of paper mosaics (check out this version from the Lake County YMCA) as an entry point into paper mosaics – as a way for students of all skill levels to be introduced to this medium before moving on to more complicated projects.

Students will learn creative problem-solving skills, a deeper understanding of geometry, and gain practice with critical thinking.

For this project, we recommend some supervision for learners who are new to using scissors and other cutting tools

5. Stop-motion videos

What’s the first movie you think of when you think of stop-motion animation? You may think of blockbusters like ‘Marcel The Shell with Shoes On’, Netflix’s ‘Pinocchio‘, or even ‘Coraline’ from LAIKA Studios, right here in Oregon. But there is so much more! Truly the sky’s the limit with stop-motion storytelling. Artist, Andrea Love uses felt to create adorable food preparation scenes. While JD Brick Productions uses LEGO to make stop-motion reenactments of historical war events like ‘LEGO D-Day The Battle for Omaha Beach.

Stop-motion video projects are great ways for students to develop skills in innovation, creativity, and organization while getting hands-on experience working with multiple forms of tech equipment, software, and concepts. This STEAM project is great for young learners who need assistance to more experienced learners who can work both independently and collaboratively.

Animation through stop-motion teaches students an exceptional list of employable skills. Not only is the stop-motion animation industry a realistic and high-paying career option for artistic students, but the emotional and problem-solving skills developed when regularly creating short stop-motion films will prepare students to take on roadblocks in any industry. It could even be a good practice in entrepreneurial skills for those students who would like to try to monetize their creations.

While the examples above are high-tech and highly refined, stop motion can be created by utilizing an infinite variety of materials like sculpting clay (aka claymation) foil, stick figure drawings, and collage, your student can even be the star of their stop-motion film.

Stop Motion Studios may be the most popular stop-motion software for students and it has a free trial version. While Stikbot Studio is a completely free option with lots of functionality.

Professional stop-motion animator, Kevin Parry, offers a great nine-minute tutorial on how to get started with stop-motion animation by using only your phone to shoot and edit a video.

Looking for more play-based learning STEAM ideas?

*STEAM is an acronym that is directly related to the more well-known acronym, STEM.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. But with STEAM we add Art into the curriculum, a diverse and important discipline when it comes to hands-on learning through play and creative problem-solving.