Our Program

S.T.E.A.M. (a Headstart program)

Understanding STEAM and how children use it, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

Each of STEAM’s five subjects share a common approach and focus. They require gathering and using evidence to create

knowledge or solve problems. STEAM learning happens naturally everyday as children explore, play, and try new things.

When young children have the opportunity to investigate the world around them, they learn and experiment with new

STEAM skills and theories. Research shows there is a positive relationship between early STEAM experiences and future

success in school.

This document provides an interactive learning experience and is intended as a professional development resource to help

supervisors, coordinators, managers, and education staff* understand how young children engage with STEAM concepts and

ideas. This document will also help adults identify strategies for exploring and developing STEAM in early learning settings.

Children engage in STEAM everyday STEAM learning begins early. But STEAM isn’t about showing an infant or toddler flashcards or teaching equations. It is the hands-on things that children do everyday.

STEAM learning includes examining shapes, building forts from cardboard boxes, playing “grocery store,” pouring liquids and other materials, filling and

emptying containers of different sizes, and mixing paints to create new colors. And these are only a few examples. Many of children’s everyday activities use STEAM skills, even if we don’t typically think of them in that way. When children play, they explore and build skills and theories about the world.

When young children investigate their environment, they experience the satisfaction that can come from investigation, discovery, and solving problems.

Adults can foster children’s development of STEAM skills by providing learning opportunities and materials that support exploration and discovery. Because STEAM activities are interactive, and exploration based, they provide many opportunities for children who are dual language learners to be actively involved.

S is for Science

Children are natural scientists. They try to figure out just how the world works by engaging in a series of steps called the scientific method. The scientific method includes observing, forming questions, making predictions, designing and carrying out experiments, and discussing. Even infants and toddlers are using a basic form of the scientific method (or performing little experiments) as they explore and discover the world around them!

Children find patterns and build theories to explain what they see, and collect “data” to test those theories. A theory is like a guess or possible explanation for something. A toddler makes footprints after she walks through a puddle. She may form a theory based on her observation of her footprints, that the way she walks changes the size and shape of the prints. She then tests her theory by hopping on one foot or walking on her toes to see if her prints change.

Like scientists, children learn from others. They watch what children and adults do and learn from trying to repeat what they’ve seen or

by asking questions and seeing the results.

T is for Technology

When we think of technology, cell phones and computers often come to mind. But the “T” in technology also stands for any type of man-made object. Technology includes simple tools such as pulleys, wheels, levers, scissors, and ramps. They support children’s cognitive development, because as children play with these tools, they observe and learn from the underlying cause and effect. These simpler technologies allow children to understand how tools help us accomplish tasks. Children can see the cause and effect behind them, like how adding wheels below a large object makes it easier to move, or how raising a ramp makes a ball roll faster.

E is for Engineering

Engineering applies science, math, and technology to solving problems. Engineering is using materials, designing, crafting, and building – it helps us

understand how and why things work. When children design and build with blocks or put together railroad tracks, they are acting as engineers. When children construct a fort of snow, pillows, or cardboard, they are solving structural problems. When they figure out how to pile sticks and rocks to block a stream of water or how objects fit together, they are engineering.

A is for Arts

A creative mindset is critical for STEM subjects. That is why the arts was added to STEM to become STEAM. Scientists, technology developers, engineers, and mathematicians need to innovate and solve problems creatively. The subjects in STEAM are similar in their approach to learning. Active and self-guided discovery is core to the arts and to STEAM learning. Children engage in painting, pretend play, music, and drawing. Art is sensory exploration. Children can feel the paint on their fingers and see colors change the way paper looks. As they grow, children include symbols in their art that represent real objects, events, and feelings. Drawing and play-acting allow them to express what they know and feel, even before they can read or write. Music is also linked to STEAM skills such as pattern recognition and numeration. Research shows that early experience with creative arts supports cognitive development and increases self-esteem.

M is for Math

Math is number and operations, measurement, patterns, geometry and spatial sense. From birth until age five, children explore everyday mathematics, including informal knowledge of “more” and “less,” shape, size, sequencing, volume, and distance. Math is a tool children use every day!

Babies and toddlers learn early math concepts like geometry and spatial relationships when they explore new objects with their hands and mouths. Teaching staff support math learning with infants and toddlers by intentionally using math language throughout the day.

They make math concepts visible when they connect them to objects and actions. Infants begin to understand the math concept “more” early on and often use it to signal they want more food or drink.