Summer is breezing by and I can hardly believe it's already been two months since Homeschool STEAM Fest. I'm still buzzing with excitiement after seeing so many families come togehter to explore the fascinating world of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Over 162 kids, and more that 286 attendees from 80+ families, joined us for two days of hands-on activities, interactive stations, and pure learning fun at our Homeschool STEAM Festival. Parents and kids alike dove headfirst into engaging experiences like building bridges (thanks to toy partner Learning Resources), coding their own robots (thanks to Sphero), creating cute little botanical journals (inspired by our friends at the STEAM Learning Institute), and so much more!
Here's a glimpse into the fun!
A heartfelt thank you to all the families who joined us, our incredible partners, and the dedicated volunteers who made this event a reality. We can't wait to spark more curiosity and ignite a love for STEAM learning at the next Homeschool STEAM Fest!
Here's what our families are saying about Homeschool STEAM Fest..
"What an awesome event.. our boys had a great time! I'm going to get them those little Sphero robots"Leah L. (parent)
"Great event! My son truly enjoyed all the opportunities to just explore and ask questions!"Sujit V. (parent)
"This was such a great event! Hoping they do it again next year!"Brenna F. (parent)
Partnerships That Make a Difference
4.0 Tiny Fellowship
If you've been following along, you already know that 4.0 was instrumental in this event's success. Not only did they provide financial support for our educational pilot. Their supportive 4.0 community, along with the Tiny Fellowship's provided coaching and curriculum offered me valuable support that allowed me to further explore my ideas and navigate my new life as an education founder. You can read more about my journey as a Tiny Fellow here.
Suncoast Remake Learning Days
Beyond serving as a pilot for the Tiny Fellowship program, Homeschool STEAM leveraged its participation in Suncoast Remake Learning Days (SRLD) to further amplify the impact of our 2-day Homeschool STEAM Fest event. SRLD is an exciting 15-day, regional learning festival, presented by The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading with generous support from The Patterson Foundation, providing a free platform for over 300 events across Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto Counties. Organized by more than 271 diverse organizations, including schools, museums, libraries, and after-school programs, the festival offered families a wealth of hands-on learning opportunities.
This strategic partnership with Suncoast Remake Learning Days not only secured additional funding from The Patterson Foundation for our pilot, but also broadened the reach of Homeschool STEAM Fest, allowing us to connect with a wider audience passionate about STEAM education.
The Patterson Foundation's support extended far beyond their generous financial support. They also provided invaluable assistance through insightful planning and execution workshops, professional media coverage, and strategic social media marketing efforts. Furthermore, they created a printed catalog and a companion app featuring all SRLD events, ensuring families could easily discover and attend our Homeschool STEAM Fest pilot among hundreds of other enriching offerings.
Building Strong Community Partnerships
We are grateful for our continued partnership with Manatee County Natural Resources Department, and appreciate them allowing us to use their beautiful classroom at "The Nest" at Robinson Preserve to host our Homeschool STEAM Fest pilot. Such a cool space to play, learn, and explore! There's even a giant slide that takes you under this building. Did you try it? So cool!
Learning Through Play
We were incredibly fortunate to collaborate with some of our favorite education brands who believe in the power of STEAM education. Sphero, Educational Insights, hand2mind, and Learning Resources generously provided a treasure trove of educational toys, min robots, and STEAM learning resources that families could explore during our STEAM Festival. Their support allowed kids to test and practice their skills, discover new interests, and find the perfect STEAM toys to add to their wishlists!
Through geneours in-kind donations kids took home cool toys and tech prizes from Educational Insights, hands2mind, Learning Resources, and Sphero. And two lucky families won an introductory coding course from our friends at Juni! Woot! Woot!
A Glimpse into the Fun
Each station offered a unique STEAM adventure. Here are just a few highlights:
FREE PLAY ZONE: Families got tol check out STEAM-based educational toys from top toy brands, and had a chance to explore and learn together as they played with these toys in our FREE PLAY ZONE. Randomly selected families also won daily raffles and got to take home their own toys to play with at home.
Sphero Fun Zone: Learners experienced the magic of coding firsthand and learned to program mini-robots by creating light showsusing Sphero Robots -- Sphero Mini, Sphero Bolt, Sphero Star Wars Droids. Randomly selected families who won the daily raffle got to take home their own Sphero Mini robot to play with at home.
Meet the Future with Robotics: Families had the opportunity to meet a local FIRST Tech Challenge team (Team Ironic from our local charter school, Manatee School for the Arts) showcasing their incredible robot and learned about the engineering process by asking questions and listening to the team talk about their competition experience. In addition, the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship was happening live (in Texas) and was live-streamed during Homeschool STEAM Fest for all to watch. Talk about inspiration!
Families got to build and drive their own ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) underwater, through our partnership with Manatee County Natural Resources Department who exhibited their underwater robot and shared information about their STEAM camps and summer programming with attending families.
Arts & Crafts Extravaganza: Kids got to express their creativity through STEAM-inspired projects, building structures, designing suncatchers, and more! Kids also used their creativity to learn about nature and science by creating their own Botanical Journals to take home. This activity was provided through a collaboration with the STEAM Learning Institute.
Interactive Exhibits & Games: Kids and families got to discover the wonder of STEAM through captivating exhibits, fun games, and engineering challenges that were both entertaining and educational for the entire family.
Math Fun happened through a collaboration with fellow Tiny 4.0 Fellow, Jessica Page and Just Focus Online Learning. By engaging with Jessica, families completed exciting math challenges to practice and learn math skills, including completing a fun math scavenger hunt.
The Future of Homeschool STEAM Fest:
The overwhelming positive feedback from families has filled us with joy. Many commented on the event's engaging activities, the opportunity to learn alongside their children, and the valuable resources they discovered. We're already brainstorming ideas for next year's event, aiming to offer even more interactive stations and exciting STEAM experiences.
You can visit us at homeschoolsteamfest.com to stay in the know about our upcoming events!
Where to Find Us Next:
Join us on June 8th to Celebrate Manatee County World Ocean Day at "The Nest" at Robinson Preserve
Join us for Beach Science & Celebrate Shark Week - DIY Skimmer Worskshop
Comments