STEAM Bulletin Board Idea: Experiment with Art!

I love science as much as I love art. Chemistry was a favorite subject in high school. So when I became an art teacher, I set out to integrate STEAM -like principles into my instruction. And of course, I needed a STEAM bulletin board to kick things off right!

Back in ancient times (otherwise known as 1999), we would have simply called this a “multi-disciplinary approach.” The idea being we were intentionally incorporating another subject into the learning. Now it’s STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

Being that my school is just getting into STEM some 15+ years late, I thought creating a STEAM bulletin board might broach the conversation about Arts inclusion.

So lemme tell you how I whipped up this bad boy for my most recent back to school bulletin board. I used only things I had laying around my art room and about 2 hours of time in total.

STEAM Bulletin Board Tutorial

Believe it or not, I threw this bulletin board together in a matter of hours. I started by drawing out each of the chemistry labware pieces on large, white bristol board. Tagboard or poster board (use the matte side) would also be OK.

After drawing them out, I painted a thick, black edge around all the shapes using black washable tempera paint.

If you have acrylic paint, that’s fine, too. I used the thickness of the brush to determine the thickness of the stroke on each of the shapes.

I loaded up the brush, laid it on the paper, and walked the brush around each shape. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Then I cut each piece out so I could handle them one at a time.

Now comes the fun part, friends: bubbles!

Making Bubble Solution

Let me say on the outset that you could run to the store and buy an expensive bottle of bubble solution. But I went the cheap route and did just fine without.

You will need:

Washable Tempera Paint
Liquid Soap (preferably clear)
Water
Bowls
Mesh Netting (what fruits and veggies come in works perfectly)
Plastic Water Bottle
Tape

Repeat for each color you want. I also recommend one wand per color unless you’re OK with washing off in between colors.

Making the Bubbler

Cut the plastic bottle in half and discard the bottom.Overlap the mesh on the bottle’s open end and tape to affix it to the bottle.

Bubbling

This is where the STEAM part of this bulletin board comes in effect.

To begin bubbling, dip the bubbler mesh-side down into the mixed solution and immediately blow outwards through the lip of the bottle.

If you’re doing this with little kids, keep an eye on them. They naturally like to suck in instead of out. And no one wants a mouth filled with soap!

When you blow the bubbles onto the paper, just let them sit there. Don’t pop them or blow them elsewhere on the paper. It’ll make a big ol’ mess of things.

Problem Solving the Bubbler

If you’re not getting enough bubble action, add a little more soap. And if your paint seems faint, squirt more of that in there. Definitely fill the bottom of the bowl with enough liquid for the bubbler wand to pick up.