At-Home STEM Challenge: Mathematical Masterpiece

This at-home STEM challenge is perfect for you art loving girls! We’ve even found a way to sneak a little math into the activity.

Piet Mondrian was a dutch artist who lived from 1872-1944. He is known for being one of the 20th century pioneers in abstract art. Some of his most famous paintings include geometrical shapes and primary colors.

His work not only inspired other artists but also architects and fashion designers. Designer Yves Saint Laurent based her 1965 collection of shift dresses around Mondrian’s work.

So let’s create our own Mondrian inspired paintings!

• Supplies:
  • White paper (thick painting paper works best but any paper will do)
  • Red, yellow, blue, and black paints
  • Paint brush
  • Ruler
  • Pencil

• Method
  • Using your ruler and pencil, draw horizontal and vertical lines on your paper.
  • Paint over the lines with your black paint and some of the shapes with your primary colors.

• STEM Applications
  • Calculate the area of some of your squares and rectangles.
    • area = length X width
  • Calculate what fraction of your shapes are painted each color
    • For example, if you have 3 red shapes and 12 total shapes your fraction would be
      • 3/12 which reduces to 1/4
  • Younger kids can practice using a ruler by measuring the length of different lines

We’d love to see your Piet Mondrain inspired art so email us a picture at info@stemlikeagirl.org or tag us on FaceBook at @stemlikeagirl or Instagram @stemlikeagirl_PDX