AYA has collaborated with Artists/Arts Educators to make these activities available digitally. Many of the activities were developed for our program workshops and use recycled and other materials that are easily available. While we cannot replace in person hands-on learning activities online, we hope these instructions will be useful in keeping students engaged in learning. Please share this webpage with other families that are looking for activities for their children to do at home.
STEAM Activity Instructions
STEAM Activity Instructions
STEAM Activities
As you are scrolling through the activities you can click on the images to get to the activity.
Toilet Paper Tube Critters
Created By Kim Mesa
This fun activity guides you through the process of making a butterfly using a toilet paper tube, colored paper, and markers. You will also learn how to modify your designs to make other critters.
Tootsie Roll Flowers
Created By Kim Mesa
In this fun activity you will make paper flowers with Tootsie Pop centers. Who doesn’t love flowers, especially when there is a treat included? Using easy to access materials around your house you can design and construct flowers for Valentine’s Day, other holidays, and even as favors at a party or celebration.
Paper Construction Projects for Valentine’s Day
Created By Kim Mesa
Using simple materials and basic construction techniques you will make mobiles and wreaths, and even use your paper scraps to make a few cards for Valentine’s Day!
Lunar New Year Lanterns
Created By Kim Mesa
In this cultural STEAM activity you will make paper lanterns as decorations for the Lunar New Year. Lanterns are hung to symbolize happiness and are believed to drive out any bad luck. This paper construction activity includes instructions for a long lantern and the traditional round Chinese lantern.
Fire Breathing Dragon
Created By Kim Mesa
In this activity you will make Fire Breathing Dragons to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is the beginning of the year based on the Lunar Calendar. Red Dragons dance during celebrations to create excitement and usher in good fortune.
Lunar New Year Noisemaker
Created By Lauren Cage
In this cultural STEAM activity, we will explore elastic potential energy and sound by building a paper imitation firecracker that makes a popping sound when you pull and release the fuse.
Pollination Clothespin Automata
Created By Michele Guieu
This fun activity proposes to experiment with making a simple mechanism and materials. To get the mechanism that works, you will need to be precise in the adjustments needed between all the elements of your automata.
Mobile Made of Natural Elements
Created By Michele Guieu
Take the time to walk around your neighborhood and think about the trees and plants that live around you. Gather a few of the natural fragile elements as you walk, and while observing the natural treasures let them inspire you as you design a piece of natural art. Natural materials have specific shapes, patterns, lines, and colors/tints, and you will use them to create a unique mobile. There is no right or wrong way to do this activity.
Materials & Supplies Resources
We have created a list of ways you can source your materials and supplies for these activities. Check out the other helpful resources in the resource tab.
Please use this Google Form to provide us with feedback about our activities.
Copyright
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License CC BY-NC-SA.
Under this license credit must be given to the creator, only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, and adaptations must be shared under the same terms. To view a copy of this license, visit the Creative Commons website
We would love to see what you've created! If you are using social media, please include the hashtag #AYASTEAM as well as a hashtag with the name of the activity (#ActivityName). Also tag AYA (@A4YA_org on Twitter & Instagram and /AllianceForYouthAchievement on Facebook). To share your images with us directly or to contact us, please write us at Kim@A4YA.org
AYA would appreciate if you could share pictures of your child working on the project or the finished product. Photos are for internal use in evaluating the use of the activities. We require a photo release for any photos of students used in promotional materials and will not use them without your permission.
Photos of projects may be used in Social Media posts, but no names will be attributed to the photos without permission.