LitLinks: The most popular STEAM posts for summer fun

COMPILED BY PATRICIA NEWMAN

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My kids and I loved summer. We swam, we baked, we hiked, and we did art projects by the dozens. If we could connect art to STEM in some way, so much the better. So, as we rocket into summer, I thought it would be fun to share the best LitLinks STEAM posts. STEM + Art.

STEAM connections

I started the LitLinks blog series to help educators connect STEM to all areas of the curriculum. Now that LitLinks is three years old, it’s easy to see how STEM and art connect to all aspects of our lives. When I was a child, I learned best when I could make a connection to my world outside of the classroom. I hope the following ideas help you and your children make connections because connections cement.

As children grow up and enter the world as productive members of society, an article on the importance of the arts says, “The skills developed through the arts are often in high demand within the workforce, where creative solutions to problems may be needed and where different perspectives can be useful.”

Each lesson below links to a fabulous children’s book that explores a STEM + ART connection. Children will create, write, draw, plan, observe, and analyze the following:

• 8 unique octopus art ideas, including a Yarn-opus!
• creating landforms with clay, sand, soil, and water
• pastel and paper mache animal art
• design and build an insect
• experimenting with color mixtures and pointillism

I post new lessons to LitLinks every week, so please come back for future topics.

If you have an idea for a LitLinks post, share it with me in the comments below.

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Click for more LITLINKS STEM + Literacy activities