Book Review

Leonardo’s Art Workshop: Invent, Create, and Make STEAM Projects Like a Genius is a beautiful book that guides young people age 8 and up through more than 35 activities core to any STEAM education curriculum. These include the intersections of science and design and math and art projects. Written and photographed by Amy Leidtke, industrial designer and faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, Leonardo’s Art Workshop answers the essential question, “What is STEAM?” Kinesthetic learning in light and shadow, lines and patterns, form and structures, color, optics and special effects, and the Essential Leonardo are perfect for self-guided STEAM enrichment, for families who enjoy DIY projects, and teachers seeking lesson extensions, particularly for a STEAM education curriculum. The book supports and segues with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Disclosure: I am the author of Leonardo’s Science Workshop, also from Quarto Publishing. Were I not, however, I would provide the same high recommendation for Amy Leidtke’s work that I am in this review. Buy this book for your home or school library and explorations in three dimensional learning." – Heidi Olinger

Leonardo's Art Workshop: Invent, Create, and Make STEAM Projects Like a Genius

Leonardo’s Art Workshop leads children on an interactive adventure through key art concepts by following the multidisciplinary approach of the Renaissance period polymath Leonardo da Vinci: experimenting, creating projects, and exploring how art intersects with science and nature. Photos of Leonardo’s own notebooks, paintings, and drawings provide visual inspiration.

More than 500 years ago, Leonardo knew that the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) are all connected. The insatiably curious Leonardo examined not just the outer appearance of his art subjects, but the science that explained them. He began his studies as a painter, but his curiosity, diligence, and genius made him also a master sculptor, architect, designer, scientist, engineer, and inventor. The Leonardo’s Workshop series shares this spirit of multidisciplinary inquiry with children through accessible, engaging explanations and hands-on learning.

Following Leonardo’s example, this fascinating book harnesses children’s innate curiosity to explore the foundational elements of art—color, shadow and light, lines and patterns, forms and structures, and optics and special effects—and the science behind them. After each concept is explained using science, history, and real-world examples, kids can experience the principles first-hand with step-by-step STEAM projects.

Hands-on STEAM Projects

Disappearing Color

Harness A Rainbow

Create And Paint Dyes From Food

Colorful Shadows

Use Reflection To Change Light

Build A Camera Obscura

Make Shadow Puppets

Draw An All-White Still Life

Make Your Own Sundial

Make Your Own Drawing Tools

Lines In Space

Draw A Cube In Perspective

Curve Construction

Make A Golden Ratio Gauge

Geometric Alphabet

Make An Icosahedron Puzzle

Change The Strength Of Paper

Spectacular Spans

Make An Escher-Inspired Design

Make A Flip Lenticular

Make An Infinity Scope

Optical Color Mixing

Lean Zine

DIY Leonardo Notebook 

Insights from other great artists and scientists—such as Sir Isaac Newton, Sandro Botticelli, Paul Klee, and 

Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci—are woven into the lessons throughout.

Introduce vital STEAM skills through visually rich, hands-on learning with Leonardo’s Art Workshop.

Leonardo’s Art Workshop is a non-fiction STEAM book for children ages 9 - 14 (grades 5 - 8) and educators who teach grades 5 - 8.

Author: Amy Leidtke, Industrial Designer | Education Consultant | Artist | RISD Educator

Instagram and Twitter: @amyleidtke

www.amyleidtke.com

2019 Rockport Publishers, Quarto Publishing Group

Pages: 144

ISBN: 978-1-63159-522-6

$22.99 US

Visit QuartoKnows.com

Amy Leidtke is an industrial designer with expertise in design for children, as well as an education consultant, faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, and STEAM curriculum specialist. She is the author ofLeonardo’s Art Workshop: Invent, Create, and Make STEAM Projects Like a Genius (Rockport Publishers 2019). For information, visit http://amyleidtke.com.