Bridging Generations and Sharing Holiday Spirit Through STEAM: A Morning at Lady Allum Retirement Village

Our student-led STEM club recently hosted a morning workshop at Lady Allum Retirement Village, showing how thoughtfully designed STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) activities can bring joy and build meaningful connections between generations.

Thoughtful Planning and Preparation

The success of the workshop came from careful planning. As the chief project developer, I worked with the team to prototype several possible activities, including:

• Paper circuit light-up cards

• Rotating decorative lamps

• Interactive nightlights

• Small "robot" creations

Through brainstorming, we assessed each idea based on a few key factors:

• The one-hour time limit

• Relevance to the holiday season

• Safety for senior participants

• The need to include a brief introduction to our club and team

• Accessibility for residents with varying physical abilities

After weighing our options, we decided on the light-up holiday cards. This project best combined STEAM concepts with practical considerations like safety, simplicity, and holiday spirit.

Connection

As the morning progressed, residents passing by were drawn to our festive robots and LED decorations. Their curiosity led to conversations with our team members, and soon, more people joined in. By the time the workshop began, nearly everyone who encountered us decided to participate.

Kicking Things Off with a Mini Robot Parade

The workshop started with a festive robot Christmas parade. Our line-tracing robots, decorated for the season, followed pre-set paths lit up with holiday lights and decorations made by our club. This demonstration sparked interest and created a fun, welcoming atmosphere that encouraged residents to take part in the activities that followed.

Making Light-Up Holiday Cards

The main activity of the workshop was creating light-up Christmas cards. To make the process easy and enjoyable, our team prepared all materials in advance. Participants focused on assembling and decorating their cards using conductive fabric tape, LEDs, and button batteries.

This careful preparation meant that everyone, regardless of physical ability, could successfully complete at least one card. The sense of accomplishment and the joy of seeing their cards light up made this a highlight of the morning.

Materials Used:

• Pre-cut card templates and decorations

• Conductive fabric tape for simple circuits

• LEDs, button batteries, and safety scissors

• Printed and digital instructions for guidance

• Festive embellishments for decorating



Thoughtful Gifts for the Residents

As a special touch, each resident received small, handcrafted gifts from our club members:

• LED Christmas candles: Safe and festive lights for their rooms.

• Mini Christmas wreath hangers: Portable decorations to attach to chairs, handbags, or other items.

Reflections and Lessons Learned

The workshop highlighted a few important takeaways:

• Thorough planning and prototyping are essential for success.

• Morning workshops can encourage better participation.

• Creating a welcoming and engaging atmosphere naturally draws people in.

• Hands-on activities paired with simple technical demonstrations work well. For example, Incorporating cartoon-style visuals can make complex circuit concepts easier to understand.

• Team collaboration is key in designing activities that balance creativity with practicality.

Through this experience, we identified several valuable areas for improvement:

• Materials Selection: Researching and testing more user-friendly materials and designs to enhance accessibility and maximize participants' independence.

• Instruction Delivery: Incorporating diverse and clear instructional methods to accommodate various learning styles and abilities. This could include video tutorials alongside printed instructions, step-by-step demonstrations, and hands-on assistance.

• Participant-to-Volunteer Ratio: Exploring the optimal participant-to-volunteer ratio to ensure personalized attention and support for all participants.

Looking Ahead

This event showed us how STEAM activities can bring people together, regardless of age. Seeing the excitement on participants' faces as they completed their projects was a powerful reminder of the joy that learning and creating can bring.

Inspired by this experience , we plan to continue developing inclusive and engaging STEAM activities that connect different generations and strengthen our community.

Thank You

We want to express our gratitude to Mrs. Garissa Greenough, the village coordinator, for her encouragement and support in making this event happen.

A heartfelt thank you also goes out to the residents who participated. Your enthusiasm and openness made this experience truly special. We look forward to more opportunities to learn and grow together.