Give young learners a creative challenge to stretch their creative thinking and problem-solving skills! This simple yet fun experience for kids combines science, art, and problem-solving to make it the perfect STEAM activity to engage a young learner’s curiosity about bugs.
STEAM is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with the addition “A” for Art.
STEAM activities are essential to raising creative thinkers and innovative problem solvers. A creative challenge like this activity will have your child thinking and problem solving as they create their own solution to the problem.
Creative Challenge: Build a Bug (or Insect)
YOUNGER Learner: If you are working with a younger artist you may wish to keep it simple and challenge your child to build a bug from the play dough and provided materials. Discuss with your child examples of different bugs and what bugs may eat or where they may live.
OLDER Learner: For the older child, challenge your child to build an insect. An insect has specific body parts such as 6 legs, 2 antennas and a body made up of 3 different parts.
Bug– an insect or other creeping or crawling invertebrate (as a spider or centipede) from Merriam-Webster.com
Insect– a small animal that has six legs and a body formed of three parts and that may have wings from Merriam-Webster.com
Materials
- Play Dough
- Googley Eyes
- Pipe cleaners
- Scissors
- Items from Nature (optional)
- Shallow Box or Container (optional)
Teaching Strategy”
Step 1: We discussed what an insect was and reviewed the different insect body parts. After our discussion, my two young artists got to work building their own insects.
While this activity does have a challenge or prompt I still left it open-ended and let them be creative with their insects. I did not expect (or want) them to try to realistically create an ant or bumblebee.
Step 2: Let your child create! This is the fun part. Ask open-ended questions along the way to stretch and prompt their problem solving and creative thinking skills. Encourage your child to name and/or describe their own bug or insect.
You may end the activity here or you can extend the experience further.
Experience Extension: Build a habitat for your newly created bug/insect.
Love this! Could this be considered a provocation? Something to perhaps help trigger an interest. Bugs/insects are always an interest for children but a catalyst to see if a possible investigation could unfold??? Humm my mind is buzzing now. 🙂
Thanks for the posting – as always your photos add so much .
This is so great I am a early childhood educator working with infants and toddlers but mainly with parents in helping them to understand STEAM and how infants are learning these different domains practily from the time they are born I even do projects with my clients so they have an understanding of what their children are learning
STEM activities like these are perfect for kids to explore their creative side. I am sure kids would help enjoy them too. Thanks for sharing these ideas!