Small hands, Big Ideas - Exploring STEAM Through Art

By Fernanda SP Souza Early Childhood Art Teacher, Pan American School of Bahia

Between April 10th and 11th, I had the opportunity to represent the Pan American School of Bahia in the online event AMISA STEAM Educators Virtual Institute. It was a meaningful professional experience. During registration, I was faced with a provocative question: Do you have a STEAM project or success story to share?

Yes, I do — the Exploratory Atelier, a “third space” environment within the art class, intentionally designed to be explored by students.

As I prepared the material for the workshop, I began reflecting on how this space came to life. My thoughts traveled back seven years, revisiting the process that led to its creation. My first belief was that children benefit from a structured and predictable routine. So in our art classes, we follow a routine organized into three stages.

The first stage is a circle time dedicated to art appreciation. The second stage includes two simultaneous small-group activities focused on painting and drawing development. The final stage is the Exploratory Atelier.

This environment incorporates characteristics of a STEAM approach. The space includes a light table, scissors, staplers, hole punches, tape, whiteboard, and a variety of everyday materials that invite children to design, build, and transform. Within this open-ended environment, children naturally engage in STEAM-related processes and develop creative solutions through construction.

This intentional ‘stage’ draws inspiration from the Reggio Emilia philosophy, where the environment is considered the “third teacher” — a concept that recognizes how thoughtfully designed spaces provoke curiosity, autonomy, and learning. As Loris Malaguzzi emphasized, environments should invite exploration and communication, becoming active participants in children's learning.

Similarly, this approach aligns with Ron Ritchhart’s 8 Cultures of Thinking, particularly the Culture of Environment, which suggests that “the physical environment sends messages about what learning and thinking are valued.” In the Exploratory Atelier, the message is clear: creativity, experimentation, and problem-solving are valued and expected.

Throughout the event, I heard discussions about Phenomena and Cross-Cutting Concepts, which promote learning through “figuring out” and “bridging disciplinary boundaries.” Somehow I recognized the Exploratory Atelier reflected in these ideas too.

The space emerged from a pedagogical desire to create a provocative learning environment for early childhood students. During this process, several questions guided my thinking:

• How can children wait without disturbing those still producing?

• What can keep students focused and engaged?

• How can we extend creative thinking beyond structured activities?

The Exploratory Atelier became the answer — a space born from experimentation and the desire to offer children time to create, explore, and develop what could be described as a designer’s mindset.

Tools, Ideas and Hands-on Action 

The recyclable materials station, combined with office supplies, empowers children to move from flat creation to constructed art as they cut, fold, staple, and assemble paper to build structures and artworks.

This hands-on experience emphasizes children as capable constructors of knowledge while embracing the spirit of tinkering—where they experiment, test ideas, and refine their thinking through playful exploration. As they manipulate materials, children begin to notice patterns in how objects connect, relate, and transform, naturally exploring cause-and-effect relationships and how materials behave and interact.

It is fascinating to observe the relationships children develop with raw materials. Recently, I noticed one student forming a strong connection with bottle caps, consistently using them to create a watch. In a later session, he shifted his thinking and used the same material to design a remote control. This evolution reflects flexible thinking, where ideas develop through discovery.

Another example occurred during a drawing activity focused on bats. One child showed limited interest in the drawing task, quickly finishing a simple sketch and moving to the Exploratory Atelier. There, using a small medicine box, the student transformed it into a colorful three-dimensional animal, demonstrating greater engagement and confidence when working with diverse materials.

The Whiteboard as a Thinking Space 

The whiteboard is an open-ended, flexible, and low-risk space where children can create, erase, and recreate freely, supporting artistic growth. Its large vertical surface encourages whole-body movement and expressive mark-making, helping children understand art as an evolving process rather than a final product.

As a shared canvas, it fosters collaboration, communication, and collective creativity while enabling children to represent their stories and ideas visually. Notably, it acts like a magnet for young learners, who are naturally drawn to filling the expansive space.

The Light Table as a Space for Observation and Creativity

The light table invites children to slow down, observe details, and experiment artistically. By placing paper over illuminated images, they trace, sketch, and refine lines, supporting fine motor development and building confidence.

Once, a student transformed a simple LEGO figure outline into a personalized character, illustrating how this space fosters risk-taking, persistence, and creative exploration.

Small Hands, Big Ideas

This reality shows how playful exploration in the Exploratory Atelier naturally leads to authentic STEAM experiences, where curiosity, experimentation, and creativity come together. When children engage with meaningful materials in designed environments, their ideas gain strength and purpose.

In this context, art goes beyond expression—it becomes a way of seeing, questioning, and understanding the world. As Susana Rangel Vieira da Cunha suggests, art in education should provoke questions and expand how we perceive reality. The Exploratory Atelier, therefore, becomes a space where children not only create, but investigate, imagine, and construct meaning through their hundred languages.

About the Author:

Fernanda SP Souza is a passionate art educator with a background in design and a strong interest in creative learning processes. She holds a Master of Science degree from SUNY and brings together creativity, problem solving, and independent thinking in her teaching practice. Ms. Souza has been teaching at Pasb for 7 years and is part of the early childhood education teaching team.