Inspiring the Youngest: SENSE.STEAM at a German Children’s University
“The World is Colourful – the Science of Colour!” was the title of a STEAM lecture that
attracted around 50 children at our consortium partner Weingarten University of Education on May 16 th , 2025. The Kinder-Uni Ravensburg-Weingarten is a collaborative project of three local universities to engage young students between the ages of 9 and 13 in scientific topics and academic life. Herein, motivated professors host monthly seminars to spark interest for their disciplines and offer a glimpse into university studies for kids eager for knowledge.
Guided by Prof. Florian Theilmann, an experienced teacher, professor and physicist, and supported by enthusiastic students and colleagues from PHW’s physics department, the children could dive into the scientific and aesthetic-emotional dimensions of colours, a topic they could intuitively relate to due to its omnipresence in their daily lives.
To start off the one-hour session, this ubiquity was reflected: Attendees shared their personal experiences and associated meanings certain colours imply, while learning about the cultural, emotional, and symbolic character behind.
Afterwards they were encouraged to investigate colour features themselves. Inspired by our
SENSE. activity “The Order of Things” each participant received a set of 20 colour cards that
ranged from reddish shades to brown, orange, and yellow ones, some barely distinguishable from one another.
The children were told to try sorting these in a way that would place similar colours preferably close to each other. They excitedly engaged in the hands-on action while the facilitators moved around to observe, assist, and engage in discussion. Questions like “What makes colours similar or different?”, “What does it mean to you and to others?”, or “Do you and your neighbour agree on everything?” were posed to actively encourage the sharing of opinions and ideas. This also offered space for reflection and further exploration. Additionally, Florian Theilmann encouraged the children to share their strategies, difficulties and observations at the end of the sorting session.
In order to dive into the scientific components and further foster curiosity and comprehension, the lecture was completed by jointly exploring additive and subtractive
colour mixing, prism physics, and how coloured shadows are cast, all reinforced by live
optical experiments.
After the lecture the young STEAM scientists could head into their weekends (ideally) filled
with joyful experiences and newfound interest in interdisciplinary science, along with a set
of colour cards to keep and the added incentive to challenge their families to a sorting
activity!