You know what I like about this article? It acknowledges knitting as a STEAM activity. Often, as with makerspaces, only certain types of activities are held up as “STEAM” (usually those that are attractive to boys) and others are dismissed as “arts and crafts” (usually those that are attractive to girls). This is an ongoing issue in STEM fields in general – why has it taken so long for Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to be considered “real science”? Why is the mathematical work of artisans making practical goods (drums, rugs, pitchers, etc.) not considered to be as mathematically rigorous as a worksheet (where a kid has probably just mimicked something the teacher showed them without true understanding)?
Source:
Koester, A. (2014). Get STEAM Rolling! Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 12(3), 22–25. https://doi-org.proxy.queensu.ca/10.5860/cal.12n3.22