Skip to main content

Set Up Your Own Creation Station STEAM Table

I like my kids to have access to lots of materials for creating and building whenever inspiration strikes. That's why I recently set up a Creation Station STEAM Table in our homeschool space. The idea is to keep the table stocked with materials for building projects, creating art, and working on simple science, that my kids can use anytime they have a little free time.
#thebarefootmom


Why Set Up A Creation Station?

Kids need unstructured time to just experiment and create without instruction or adult interference.  It's those times that kids learn to problem solve, build self confidence, and develop critical thinking skills.

 I love how creative my kids can be when left to work on their own ideas. Recently my daughter designed and sewed a gown for one of her Barbie dolls. I was blown away by her finished product. It was so creative! And she made it completely on her own which made her feel really proud of herself.


How To Set Up A Creation Station STEAM Table

First, find a space to use. A corner of your learning space or even a corner of your dining room will work great. Set up a decent size table with plenty of room for stocking with supplies and working.

 Then find materials to stock the table with. Some materials we often keep on our Creation Station table are:

 -Construction paper
-Scissors 
-Glue
-Tape
-Markers
-Colored Pencils 
-Crayons
-Toilet paper rolls and paper towel     rolls
-Rubber bands
-Pipe cleaners
-Pom poms
-Craft sticks
-Watercolors
-Sewing supplies 
-Beads and string
-Magnifying glasses
-Rocks and minerals we've collected
-Kinetic sand
-A small basket of Legos

 Pretty much any material you feel safe letting your kids build and create with!


Organizing Your Creation Station STEAM Table

You can organize your materials for your table however you want. I keep a large bin at the far end of our table for random loose materials like toilet paper rolls, rolls of string, duct tape, pipe cleaners, etc...

 I keep pens, markers, scissors, glue sticks, etc in a couple small baskets along the back of the table. We keep sewing supplies and jewelry making supplies in a couple plastic bins with lids.

 If you have toddlers or young children in your home, you may want to keep supplies that you don't want them having access to in containers with tight fitting lids or in a nearby cupboard or cabinet. We usually keep tiny or sharp things like the beads and our sewing kit in the cupboard above our Creation Station table so my two year old can't access them.

 And that's it! Once your table is set up and stocked your kids can get busy building and creating!

A Peak At Our STEAM Table:



Our rock painting station


My daughter's rock collection, some geodes we were recently given, and a basket full of pens, colored pencils, scissors, and paste.


Sewing kit, art kits, and coloring books


I keep a large bin at the far end of our table full of random STEAM supplies like paper towel rolls, string, a container of beads, clean aluminum cans, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, etc...



 If you enjoyed this post, check out:

 -Lego STEAM Activities 

 -Toothpick Gumdrop Geometry


Follow me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest

Labels:

Comments

  1. Kristen of A Mom's Quest to TeachOctober 11, 2018 at 10:17 AM

    Been thinking about doing something like this...giving them a bunch of materials and letting them create and invent.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill the small watertight
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilions set around a
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -several clean
5 comments
Read more