Summer is here, and the nanny kids are home and already getting restless. How do you make this time for rest + relaxation still exciting and engaging for your nanny kids?
One of the most challenging aspects of school being out is recreating that structure and routine for your nanny kids, which is so important for them to feel secure (just like we’ve learned through Waldorf!).
One idea we love is creating your own STEAM summer camp for the nanny kids while they’re home with you. This can sound complicated, but ultimately all you need to do is check out some kid-centric STEAM resources, grab a calendar, and get started deciding which activities you’ll do on each day!
STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. The end results are students who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process. These are the innovators, educators, leaders, and learners of the 21st century! – Education Closet
We have some personal favorites when it comes to STEAM activity books for kids, so we wanted to share these fantastic resources with you. Each of these wonderful books lay out each project in a way that is easy to approach, thrilling for kids, and really eye-opening for everyone! These books will give you all the tools you need from grabbing the correct supplies, to setting up the lesson with some awesome insights for your nanny kids. Click the book title to go straight to Amazon to shop!
STEAM Kids
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A best-seller for good reason, complete with a year’s worth of captivating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) activities that will wow the boredom right out of kids! Created by an MIT engineer, award-winning educators, designers, and homeschooling experts, STEAM Kids will inspire your children
From STEM to STEAM
by David A. Sousa
Arts activities enhance the skills critical for achieving STEM success, but how do busy STEM educators integrate the arts into sometimes inflexible STEM curriculum? This new edition of From STEM to STEAM explores emerging research to detail the way. It includes:
- Classroom-tested strategies, including sample K-12 lessons plans and planning templates.
- Tools for building a professional development program designed to helps arts and STEM teachers collaborate to create STEAM lessons.
- Sample planning frameworks for transitioning schools from STEM to STEAM.
The main objective of both art and science is discovery. Lead your students to make that connection and STEAM ahead to academic success!
The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book
by Tom Robinson
With The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book, all you need to do is gather a few household items and you can recreate dozens of mind-blowing, kid-tested science experiments. High school science teacher Tom Robinson shows you how to expand your scientific horizons from biology, chemistry, physics, technology, and engineering—to outer space.
You’ll discover answers to questions like:
—Is it possible to blow up a balloon without actually blowing into it?
—What is inside coins?
—Can a magnet ever be “turned off”?
—Do toilets always flush in the same direction?
—Can a swimming pool be cleaned with just the breath of one person?
Whether you’ve always been interested in STEM or you’re looking for a cool science fair project, you’ll want to test these fun and educational experiments for yourself!
STEAM Play & Learn
by Ana Dziengel
Preschoolers will love tackling these 20 fun, easy-to-follow step-by-step projects as they learn about STEAM topics (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). Topics include symmetry and how light bounces to create reflections with mirror mandalas, diffusion and capillary action with tie-dye towels, structural framing and bracing with marshmallow structures, and electrical currents with salty circuits. This cross-subject approach to learning will prepare young children for the subjects they will soon learn in elementary school and beyond. Each project features simple instructions and large, full-color photos, to make each one enjoyable and fun for both kids and parents.
STEAM Kids In The Kitchen
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A kitchen full of captivating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) activities that will wow the boredom right out of kids!
Packed with a whopping 70+ activities and recipes, this book will get the kids having fun and learning in the kitchen. Ever wonder what makes bread rise, what molecular gastronomy means, or how a solar oven works? You’ll find out in this book that teaches and excites with fun hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math projects. It’s STEM & STEAM made fun!
STEAM Kids in the Kitchen is the creative, new sequel to the #1 best-selling book STEAM Kids. Created by an MIT engineer, award-winning educators, designers, and homeschooling experts, STEAM Kids will inspire your children to:
– question like a scientist
– design like a technologist
– build like an engineer
– create like an artist
– deduce like a mathematician
– play like a kid!
And now, cook like a chef, too!!
Inside you’ll find entertaining and educational projects like:
— Pizza Bubbles
— Color Changing Lemonade
— DIY Solar Oven
— Strawberry DNA Extraction
— Green Eggs and Ham
— Kitchen Mini Makerspace
— And so many more!!!
Perfect for children ages 4-10, all the step-by-step activities are helpfully coded with difficulty indicators and estimated project times. Helpful project extensions promote further exploration and learning for enthusiastic children. Bonus sections will help kids learn about the amazing science behind the food they eat, the innovators who have changed our world through the kitchen, and fun stuff like kitchen careers and more. So gather up your curious kids and fire up the kitchen with STEAM!
Now that you’ve got some exciting STEAM activities planned for summertime with your nanny kids, you may find that the kids become fascinated by all-things STEAM and want to attend an in-person camp with other curious learners. If you’re in the Austin, TX area we strongly recommend checking out the fantastic STEAM camps and other offerings from the amazing folks at Figment Creative.
How do you and your nanny kids engage with STEAM activities in the summer? We’d love to hear about your favorite books, lesson plans, activities, and more!
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