Let’s Craft STEAM School Shape Science and Sculpture Science Review

STEM meets arts and crafts with Let’s Craft S.T.E.A.M. School kits. Shape Science is all about exploring shapes with rubber bands and the Geoboard, while Sculpture Science has kids crafting and creating cool experiments.

There are three activities in Shape Science. First, kids do Geoboard Geometry. This is a way for kids to learn about polygons, or flat shapes made of only straight lines. Place one of the five double-sided picture cards underneath the pegboard and use rubber bands to trace the outline of the picture’s shapes. Another way to play is with the Magic Water Reveal cards and brush. Fill the brush with water and follow the directions to paint only the triangles, revealing a colorful picture as you go. Then count how many triangles you see. Continue painting the other shapes to reveal more of the picture. As the picture dries, it disappears so that kids can paint all over again. And the last activity is learning about tessellations or patterns of shapes. Using the crayons, plain paper, and fish or bird tiles, kids can trace the tiles to make their own patterns. There are also printed coloring pages with other patterns to color.

The three activities in Sculpture Science start off with toothpick geometry. Kids are challenged to use toothpicks and salt dough to build 2-D and 3-D shapes, such as triangles and cubes. From there, kids use the dough, battery pack, and LED lights to complete a simple dough circuit. Then they can take that knowledge and use the punch-out animal pieces to assemble a light-up sculpture, such as a flamingo with glowing eyes. The kit also includes pieces and instructions for building a wave machine so kids can experiment with how sound and light travel.