Preschool STEM: Button Board Art

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We are doing one more big art project in our Preschool STEM series! 


 If you visit here much (or even just our last Preschool STEM post!) you've heard me mention how much my youngest daughter loves to do art projects, and I love to let her--partly because art is a magical experience for her, and partly because there are so much educational value to art!

This particular project has 5 important supplies:

 1- canvas
2- paint and brushes
3- buttons
4- glue (We used Tacky Glue so it dries faster)
5- glitter (okay, this is optional, but my girls loooove it!)

 I introduced the project by suggesting they use paint and buttons to create a tree from their imaginations. I encouraged them to paint backgrounds first, but many made their trees first and then added backgrounds! Either way, the results were fantastic!

Since then we've done similar projects, but I didn't even need to introduce anything...the kids had their own ideas and wanted to try out their own projects with the supplies.

 Sidenote: I know it's more expensive than construction paper, but my preschoolers (and older kids too, lol) LOVE working on canvasses! You can get the thinner ones for about $1 each, and they give the kids SUCH a neat surface to experiment and create with!

 Resist the urge to tell them to use particular colors or to glue in any particular way--experimenting with the colors and arrangements are a part of the STEM experience!

This is a great activity for mixed ages too--we also did it when my daughter turned six, and we kids from 3-11 at her party!

How is this activity STEM?  It requires your preschoolers to use science skills (like problem solving, predicting, hypothesizing, experimenting, analyzing), it lets them experiment with science concepts (like how glue changes from a liquid to a solid as it dries and how paint colors change as they interact with each other), it allows them to use technology/tools (like a glue and paintbrushes), it requires them to engineer/design their masterpieces, and uses math concepts (like spatial relationships, colors, and often counting).

Do you love preschool STEM? Do you want to learn more about it? This June I am featuring a Preschool STEM series that includes a fantastic introduction to preschool STEM and nine STEM activities, projects, or challenges that are appropriate for preschoolers! This is the first one--I would LOVE to have you join in and share your own experiences as we move through the next two weeks! You can find the landing page with links to all the activities HERE!  You can also join my STEM Activities & Projects for Kids Facebook Group HERE for more STEM-inspired conversations!





Happy Educating,
Carla


Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!





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