With this STEAM Square, we invite you to use different aspects of performance to complete the challenges below. There is science behind several aspects of performance, and we have included challenges related to acting, writing, singing, composing, and dancing for you to enjoy this summer. Curious about how a focus on the performing arts is integral to science and math? Read this article from Forbes magazine or check out our links below to see correlations you be unaware of.

Looking for more stuff to do? Check out our other STEAM Stop activities here or head back to the 62 Days of Summer home page for more ways to participate in the summer program!

Have you noticed the uptick in viral dancing that has taken pop culture by storm over the past two years? Taking inspiration from this trend, we challenge you to learn and perform a popular dance or choreograph one of your own to share for others to learn and perform. See if you can copy or reimagine a popular dance from a music video or learn a specific decade dance or style. Try the Charleston, The Hustle, The Dougie, The Running Man, and more!

For more information on the viral dances of the popular social media platform Tik Tok, follow this link.

Want more?

• Check out our Summer Jams blog for music suggestions
• Get down with our Home Dance Party blog

Curious how dancing and STEAM work together? Below are some further links to explore:

• Dance Your PhD Contest 
• STEM Danceology 
• Dance Exchange 
• TedMed Talks: David Odde & Black Label Movement 

Use items around the home to create a backdrop and costumes for a play. Act out your favorite book, movie, video game, or television scene using puppets made of popsicle sticks or tree sticks, sock puppets, or you and your family members in homemade costumes. Focus on the lines or how awesome your scenery or puppets are by acting out using your scripts and voices or using the background sounds prerecorded from an audiobook, phone, or television. 

• Sock Puppets, Paper Bag, or popsicle stick like this YouTube or just a photo 
• Link to Doorway Puppet Creativebug Class here

Bored at home? Make a song, rap, or spoken word to talk about something you are passionate about. 

• One idea is utilizing the Chrome Music Lab which features a ton of exciting experiments and experiences for all ages and abilities 
• For a more advanced composer, try BeepBox which you can use live or download for times when you do not have Internet access
• Get inspired by some of these TED Talk spoken word videos
• Need help with rap lyrics? Try Deep Beat for AI-generated rap lyrics as seen in the Wall Street Journal and MIT Technology Review. *caution* the AI does use explicit content from time to time when suggesting lyrics!