STEM Activity: The Power of Environment

The spaces in which we work and play can impact how we feel. How we feel can impact what we make, do and invent! Put some boing in your spring by creating or recharging a special spot for learning, discovering, making and inventing.

Optional Materials

• Drawing materials (crayons, markers, pencils)
• Glue
• Paper
• Recyclables (cardboard, wrapping paper, etc.)
• Scissors
• Tape

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Choose your space. Change up your bedroom, or ask if there might be a corner of another room, like the living room or kitchen, that you can claim for your workspace. You could also make a movable setup that gets tucked away until you are ready to use it!

2. Decide on a theme. Use these possibilities as springboards:
   • Outer space — print images of planets and rocket ships or make your own with paper and markers. Hang them around your space to go out of this world!
   • Outdoors — gather nature items to sit on your worktable or make a collage by gluing different leaves and flower petals to paper. Hang your nature art to gaze at while you dream up new inventions.
   • Laboratory — make a pencil holder out of a clear, recyclable container and paint lines on it to make it look like a test tube or beaker. Print out and hang a picture of the periodic table. Keep some homemade slime handy to stretch and squish while you generate ideas.
   • Make up your own theme! Find a roll of paper, such as old wrapping paper, and markers or paint. Create your own scene to hang as a backdrop or place on cardboard that can be used as walls for your space.
      
3. Clear out the clutter. Here’s where some traditional spring cleaning might help. A decluttered space helps your mind focus on finding new solutions, like thinking about unique ways to use items that are no longer needed in your space.
    
4. Creating this space for virtual learning? Use digital backgrounds as inspiration for the rest of your space!
   • Space Background 1
   • Space Background 2
   • Space Background 3
   • Outdoors Background 1
   • Outdoors Background 2
   • Outdoors Background 3
   • Laboratory Background 1
   • Laboratory Background 2
   • Colorful Background 1
   • Colorful Background 2
   • Colorful Background 3

What Are We Discovering? 

Taking time to freshen up your surroundings can improve your mindset. At Camp Invention^®, we encourage Instructors to create an inviting and immersive environment to match the subject or theme of each camp activity. This immersion has the power to shift the mind toward exploration, adventure and tolerance for trial, error and failure. In the case of at-home learning, cleaning or even redesigning your surroundings can inspire a new perspective that reinvigorates creative thinking and engagement. Spending time thoughtfully improving your workspace or play area can help you to feel more creative and innovative as well!

Looking for an exciting new way to explore STEM?

Thousands of children across the country have engaged in easy, at-home fun with our Innovation Exploration Kits^™. Each kit offers tons of materials for endless exploration and creativity, delivered right to your door. To learn more, we invite you to visit our website!