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Springtime is always a wonderful time to think about seeds! Seeds have adapted a variety of ways to travel. Participants will examine different seeds and explore how they use different methods to travel from the parent plant.

We will create, fold, and test different paper helicopter designs as a model of a fly seed.

Materials Needed

• Paper

• Scissors

• Pencil

• Paper clips

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Join us as we take a new, and historic, look at students using modeling clay. There are many connections to be made when learners get their hands into this material that is often ignored after primary grades. However, STEAM applications can be found across all areas at all ages.

Materials Needed

• General use clay, modeling clay, Play-Doh, or homemade modeling clay.

• Various household items: pencil, toothpick, knife, craft stick, string, etc.

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Techniques that incorporate folding and paper cutting can produce beautiful designs. Explore with us the ideas of symmetry and spatial reasoning in the playful artistic realm of making Mexican paper banners.

Materials Needed

• Paper

• Scissors

• Pencil

• Single Hole Punch

• Pencil or Pen

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Sewing has a rich history of creating space for making and artistry. We will explore simple ways to integrate this beautiful and creative tool in learning experiences that foster creativity and problem solving for learners of all ages

Participants will make sewing projects. They will explore fastening, creating a rounded shape and designing a simple picture.

Materials Needed

• Thick Paper (Index Card, Card Stock, Cereal Box, etc.)

• Thread (Any Thickness)

• Sewing or Embroidery Needles

Tag us on Twitter with #handsonlearning #STEAM

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What do leaves, squares, trail mix, and computers all have in common? They can be used as a systematized code to create music and dance!

Participants will play with basic materials to create sequences, patterns, musical phrases, and dance routines. These will be related to coding, from no-tech and low-tech to high-tech.

Materials Needed

• Paper

• Pencil

• Tape

• Toothpicks

• Snacks

• Various Other "Found" Items

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Have you ever opened a pop-up book and been amazed at how the artist designed such a complicated visual scene out of a simple material like paper? Join us as we explore some engineering paper techniques that pop-up paper artists use and then apply some of the more simple techniques to make pop-up cards.

Materials Needed

• Paper

• Scissors

• Pen/Pencil, Embellishments (Stickers, Markers, Crayons, Etc.)

Tag us on Twitter with #handsonlearning #STEAM

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Food is an important part of all cultures. Learning about and honoring cultures through their food can be a way to foster relationships and a deeper appreciation for the beautifully diverse world we inhabit. Cooking together also creates many opportunities for STEAM learning! In this webinar we'll cook with author Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young and talk about her experience with food, inter-generational cooking, and culture.

Materials Needed:

See the full list of materials and ingredients HERE

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Throughout history societies have been spaces for community making. Many indigenous groups used weaving as a means to solve problems whether that was weaving baskets to carry or blankets to stay warm. However, weaving is not just functional, it is a way to create art and use or reuse environmental materials. Join us as we explore weaving by making a simple circular woven ornament and think about ways that culture and STEAM are integrated.

Materials Needed

• Yarn

• Paper Plate

• Protractor

• Pen/Pencil

• Tape

Tag us on Twitter with #handsonlearning #STEAM

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Our ears receive an unbelievable amount of stimuli every second. Our brains have to make sense of the signals, filter out what we don’t need, and balance sound with other signals from sight, touch, smell, etc.

In this session, we will focus our brains back on these sound inputs, make some sense of what we hear, and playfully experiment with ways children can be made more mindful of this part of our world.

Materials Needed

• Soup Spoon

• A Drinking Glass

• Water

• String

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Children love to talk about their creations and tell stories! What would happen if those passions became teachable moments in their STEAM learning? In this webinar, we will talk about the intersection of stories and buildings with bricks.

Materials Needed

• DUPLO blocks

• LEGO blocks

• Other building materials

Tag us on Twitter with #handsonlearning #STEAM

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Do you remember simple checkerboard or basket weaving patterns from elementary school? Let’s take that up a few levels and make some really incredible designs with simple strips of paper.

Materials Needed

• Paper - different colors

• Scissors

• Ruler

• Pencil/Pen

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Bubbles! From bath time to play time, bubbles are so much fun. Join us in some bubbly investigations into geometry, chemistry, art, and so much more.

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Water

• Dish soap

• Straws

• Little bowls for mixing

• Paint

• Paper

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Explore dimensionality, movement, and geometry through this simple, yet elegant design. We’ll use common materials to create a model that transforms from 2 dimensional shape to a 3 dimensional solid.

MATERIALS NEEDED

• 5-7 sheets of paper

• Single hole punch

• 3-4 feet of string

• Tape

• Pencil

• Recycled cardboard box

• Optional Embellishments: Markers, stickers, etc.

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Discover the floating capacity of an aluminum boat. How many pennies will your boat hold before it goes under?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Squares of aluminum tin foil

• Small objects to test buoyancy of your boat

  • Pennies

  • Marbles

  • Other similarly sized objects work well

  • You may need A LOT.

• Plastic tub to hold water

• Water

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Paper is a simple but fascinating medium to explore STEAM content. In this session, we will make two models using paper to explore patterns and 3D geometry, emphasizing wonder, curiosity, and visual arts.

MATERIALS NEEDED

• 2-3 square sheets of paper

• Stickers or Marker

• 2-3 envelopes of various sizes

• Scissors

• Ruler

• Pen or Pencil

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Maybe you’ve seen marble races. This is sort of the opposite. How long can you make a marble take to roll across a table? What is the longest, slowest route?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Any flat surface (table, board, desk)

• Marble (or any rolling ball)

• Various household or classroom objects

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Who doesn’t love rockets? Join us to learn how to create our own paper rockets from templates and observe how different rocket designs change the flight path and distance of flight.

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MATERIALS NEEDED

Paper
Scissors
Glue
2 Pens or pencils with slightly different diameters

Come learn how to build a simple catapult. Kids love to launch things, so why not harness that excitement for learning around STEAM concepts?

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MATERIALS NEEDED

12 pencils
4-12 popsicle sticks,
20 rubber bands
1 foot of thin rope/twine/ string
4 plastic spoons
something small to launch
3 small cans
duct tape

What makes something spin? Children love to play with spinning toys, so let’s engage them in STEAM as we show them how they can make their own!

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MATERIALS NEEDED

Marker pens
Old music CD or plastic lid
Putty or play dough
Paper

Learning the concepts of geometry begins at a very young age. As children are introduced to the names of shapes, they should also be encouraged to recognize these figures in the world around them.

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Materials Needed

Cereal box

Plastic wrap

Tape

Scissors

Permanent marker