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Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Is Offering Free STEAM Lessons for Kids Online

By Jessica Stewart on May 4, 2020

Little Girl Face to Face with Bust of Frank Lloyd Wright

Photo: Jill Richards

In an effort to ensure that culture and education don't stop even while we're stuck on lockdown, many institutions are coming up with innovative ways to spread their knowledge. This includes the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Not only are they organizing virtual tours of some of the architect's well-known buildings, but now they're helping all ages stay engaged with the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Classroom.

Every Wednesday for six weeks, a new STEAM-focused lesson will be released online. Aimed at students K-12 and developed in collaboration with Paradise Valley School District, these free virtual lessons feature hands-on activities designed to inspire creativity and push critical thinking. The lessons build on each other and finish with an at-home final project.

“For the last eight years, we have focused on how to bring Frank Lloyd Wright design and architecture to students in their classrooms. Since living rooms and kitchens have now become the new classroom, we are confident that your child will enjoy exploring outside in the real world around them. The Wright-Design program is a one-click solution to keeping students active in learning, designing, and building during this pause to the traditional classroom setting,” says Michael Linn, curriculum producer and support teacher at PVUSD.

The lessons were designed to be turn-key, so that students can complete them while parents get some work done or take a well-deserved break. But alternatively, families can get in on the fun and work together to complete them. While the first two lessons have already passed, new students will be able to go back and complete them at their own pace.

The first lesson asks students to think about their similarities with the acclaimed architect and to begin exploring the natural world at home to see what shapes they find. That then moves into lesson two, which talks about Wright's relationship with shapes and patterns. As the lessons move forward to talk about geometry and color, they culminate in a final project that will bring together all of the skills that the students have learned.