From the UNL Extension Office
Let your child’s imagination grow this summer through books, hands-on fun, and colorful activities! Reading with children is one of the most powerful ways to spark curiosity, learning, and connection. Through shared reading experiences, children build foundational skills like print awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and storytelling. Nebraska Extension’s early childhood STEAM Imagination Guides make it easy to include meaningful reading moments into your day—while exploring science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) concepts.
This year’s STEAM Imagination Guides focus on art and creativity as powerful tools to spark curiosity and wonder. Aligned with the library’s summer reading theme, "Color Our World”, Nebraska Extension selected a collection of high-quality picture books and designed fun, engaging activities to go with each one.
Each guide includes:
A featured children’s book
A hands-on STEAM activity using low-cost, easy-to-find supplies
A nature-based exploration activity
A creative arts extension
Newly added this year are guides specifically designed for infants and toddlers! These new additions support early brain development through sensory-rich, age-appropriate reading and play.
All guides are aligned with the Nebraska’s Early Learning Guidelines and available in both English and Spanish, ensuring accessibility and flexibility for all families and early childhood professionals.
The purpose of the STEAM Imagination program is to provide all caregivers with books, guided questions, and expanded learning opportunities to support literacy development, enhance relationships, and to make a connection to local libraries.
This year’s featured titles include:
10 Cats by Emily Gravett
Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Color and Me! by Michaela Dias-Hayes
Just Add Glitter by Angela DiTerlizzi and Samantha Cotterill
Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell
My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf
Nature is an Artist by Jennifer Lavallee
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Oh, Olive! by Lian Cho
Perfect Square by Michael Hall
These downloadable guides are perfect for use by parents, grandparents, early childhood professionals, librarians, and anyone who loves reading with children. Each activity is adaptable to meet the needs and interests of the children in your care, creating a personalized and enriching reading experience.
STEAM Imagination Guides aren't limited to art and creativity. There are also books and guides from previous years specifically related to adventures, unity and kindness, oceans, animals and their habitats, and books and guides for some of your favorite fairytales, too! Check out our archived guides on the website.
To access all the guides and explore additional resources, visit go.unl.edu/imagination or contact Jackie Steffen, Nebraska Extension Early Childhood Educator, at jsteffen2@unl.edu.