Description:
In this engaging and hands-on professional development session, early childhood educators will discover how to use picture books as a springboard for designing meaningful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) challenges in the classroom. Participants will explore a variety of popular picture books and learn how to connect their stories to creative problem-solving activities that encourage curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Through guided practice and collaborative brainstorming, educators will design age-appropriate STEAM challenges that align with key learning objectives, fostering literacy while building skills in making, tinkering, and exploration. By the end of the session, teachers will leave with ready-to-implement strategies and a toolkit of ideas to seamlessly integrate STEAM concepts into their story time routines, making learning fun, playful, and impactful for young learners.
This session is perfect for Pre-K to 2nd-grade educators seeking to enhance their teaching practices with innovative, story-driven STEAM activities that inspire lifelong learners.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this training session, participants will be able to:
- Identify STEAM concepts in popular picture books and understand how to connect those concepts to hands-on, exploratory activities for young learners.
- Design developmentally-appropriate STEAM challenges that promote problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking, aligned with key early learning standards.
- Integrate literacy and STEAM learning by using storytelling as a framework to engage students in interdisciplinary exploration.
- Utilize the engineering design process with young children, guiding them through building, testing, and refining ideas inspired by stories.
- Foster collaboration and communication by creating group-based STEAM activities that encourage teamwork, discussion, and shared problem-solving.
- Apply playful learning strategies to make STEAM accessible, fun, and meaningful for children in Pre-K through 2nd grade, encouraging curiosity and a love of learning.
Other details:
- Audience: Pre-K through 2nd grade
- Length of session: 90 – 120 minutes
- Cost: $250 – $450
Interested in booking a session?
If you’d like to book a workshop, or have questions, please use the form below. In the message section, please include possible dates, a rough number of participants, and if this is an in-person or virtual booking. Thank you!