Put the mini Ozobot robots on a table. Add their magnetic tiles and some simple directional information. Now you've got an easy passive STEAM event enjoyable by many ages.
The direction cards I put out this time were inspired by the Power Point slides I found on the Kinder Shenangigans blog at https://kindershenanigans.com/coding-in-kindergarten. The topics included:
A monthly Friday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
Activities of the day:
“T" is for Technology: Ozobot Robots
Participants used the magnetic cards to guide and program their mini Ozobot robots to do various things.
“E” is for Engineering: Build with
Blocks
I opened up the wood block cabinet for some creative building.
A monthly Friday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
.jpg)
Activities of the day:
“A” is for art - Creation Station
I brought out leftover supplies from past passive craft tables for the children to decorate and craft with.
“E” is for Engineering - Build with
Blocks
I placed several building toys on the floor for the children to build and create with.
A
monthly Thursday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
Activities of the day:
I spray painted some rocks gold. I also bought some St. Patrick’s Day shamrock
temporary tattoos. I encouraged the
children to paint the rocks or add the tattoos to the rocks. Apparently temporary tattoos can be applied
to rocks the same way they go on skin.
“S” is for Science: Microscopes
I got the microscope kit from my
library! The kit includes traditional
microscopes as well as a few hand-held microscopes. The kit also comes with a variety of prepared
slides. The children enjoyed seeing cat
fur, carrot skin, and a bunch of other everyday items at the microscopic
level.
“E” is for Engineering: Build with
Blocks
I opened up the wood block cabinet for
some creative building.
What do you do when you find tons of plastic straws in your craft supply storage? You create a craft table to use them up! I created this passive craft table last summer to help use up all the straws I found. This was a supper cheap craft table since I already had the paper, tape and coloring pens already on hand. I found super easy instructions for this activity on the Instructables site at https://www.instructables.com/Hoop-Gliders-Galore/. On another page they even explained the science of lift for these fun to make gliders at https://www.instructables.com/Hoop-GliderAirplane-STEAM-Activity/.
This program was intended to introduce STEAM concepts through stories and exploration activity stations to families with children ages 3-8 years old.
Intro song: Hello Friends
(sign language action song for the words hello, friends, math, fun, and time)
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
It's time to say hello.
Hello science,
Hello science,
Hello science,
It's time to have some fun.
Demonstration and Storytime:
·
Read the book Remarkable Robots by Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker
·
Show the word card for robots. Talk
about what this word means.
·
Show pictures of various types of robots and talk about what these robots
do.
·
Instruct on how to use the stations.
Stations:
Station #1- BeeBots
The children entered movement commands into the BeeBots.
Station #2 – Ozobots
Using a variety of small magnetic tiles, the children created paths for
the tiny Ozobot robots to follow along with special color tiles with action
codes.
Station #3 – Animatronics
The children created an animatronic hand that really worked using
cardstock, scissors, tape, yarn, and straws.
Station #4 – Measuring robots
I found a cute free printable online that encouraged children to use
Unifix cubes to measure the robots on the paper.
A monthly Thursday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
.jpg)
Activities of the day:
I borrowed the library’s toaster oven
and brought in “shrinky dink” plastic sheets for the children to design their
own little pieces of plastic to watch them shrink in the oven.
“E” is for Engineering: Build with
Blocks
I opened up the wood block cabinet for
some creative building. I also brought
out the bristle blocks and Unifix cubes to build with.
This program was intended to introduce STEAM concepts through stories and exploration activity stations to families with children ages 3-8 years old.
Intro song: Hello Friends
(sign language action song for the words hello, friends, math, fun, and time)
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
It's time to say hello.
Hello science,
Hello science,
Hello science,
It's time to have some fun.
Demonstration and Storytime:
·
Read the book What Is a Rainbow? by Harritet Blackford, illustrated by
Mike Henson (from the TechTots STEM Science series
·
Show the word card for rainbow.
Talk about what this word means.
·
Show the word card for colors.
Talk about what the word means.
·
Show the word card for color spectrum.
Show a color spectrum chart. Be
sure to mention the “ROY G Biv” memory device.
·
Put the color words for ROY G Viv on the white board. Hand out papers with the colors on it. (Give the blue, indigo, and violet papers to
the older kids.) Allow the children to
tape their paper to the white board under the correct color.
·
Instruct on how to use the stations.
Stations:
Station #1- Color roll game
The children roll the cloth die. They then pick an action card that matches the up-top color on the die and do the action. I used the ThinkFun Roll & Play game.
Station #2 – Prism play
The children changed look through various shaped prisms to see the color
spectrum.
Station #3 – Beaded rainbow sun
catcher
The children create a sun catcher using pony beads strong on a length of
pipe-cleaners with one prism bead attached at the bottom. I got this idea from Rhythms Of Play website
at https://rhythmsofplay.com/rainbow-pony-bead-prism-suncatcher/.
Station #4 – Lego brick challenge
I found some free printable Lego Rainbow challenge cards from the Little
Bins for Little Hands website at https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/lego-rainbow-build-challenge-kids/. I set out a large tub of Lego bricks along
with these challenge cards.
