1. STEAM in Everyday Life: Food, Cooking, and Baking
Colorado State Library Beth Crist, Youth & Family Services Consultant
Ashley Kazyaka, Library Development Support

2. What is STEAM? Inclusion of Arts Arts as a broad mindset
Integration of subjects, not just existing apart from each other
Think like an engineer, scientist, artist
Creativity and design-centric thinking
False dichotomy of art vs. science

3. Why Food and Cooking? Fun (Everyone likes to play with their food!)
Relevant to everyday life
Easily applicable

4. Safety Issues and Other Concerns
Potential for allergy issues
Non-toxic ingredients for younger children – if they can put it in their mouths, they will!
Parental permission
Concern about sensitivity for children who might not have enough to eat at home
Obvious safety issues with heat sources, etc.

5. Let’s Play!

6. Science Make your own ice cream
Baking soda and vinegar volcanos/ explosions
Non-Newtonian fluids (Gak, oobleck, slime)
Blind scent-blind taste test of fruit flavored candy

7. Science Make your own solutions: Iron-fortified cereal tests
For younger kids, adding salt, sugar, dirt, solid objects, etc. to water
For older kids, oil and water plus emulsifiers
Iron-fortified cereal tests
Red cabbage as pH tester

8. Technology Design your own kitchen gadgets
Historical exploration of how cooking tools evolved
Make your own conductive play dough, then build squishy circuits
Potato or lemon battery
Banana piano with MaKey MaKey

9. Engineering Pizza box solar oven
S’mores (adaptation of activity from CSLP manual)
Grilled cheese
Peep/marshmallow explosions
Gingerbread houses (cardboard or cookies)
Marshmallow catapults

10. Art Playdough/clay/modeling foam recipes Decorating cupcakes
Fondant shapes/structures
Design your own food ads/packaging
Dried apple heads
Dyeing with food and natural ingredients
Possible historical tie-in

11. Math For younger children: For older children: Counting Measuring
Following a recipe
Shapes/color/size recognition
For older children:
Fractions/percentages increasing or decreasing recipes
Nutrition information – reading a label
Polling on food preferences & charts
Weights and conversions