Fostering creativity through culturally grounded STEAM out-of-school time activities: A case study of Lanna lantern making in northern Thailand

Pathompong Chummongkol; Jiraporn Tupsai; Chokchai Yuenyong; Pathompong Chummongkol; Jiraporn Tupsai; Chokchai Yuenyong

doi:10.3934/steme.2026040

STEM Education

2026, Volume 6, Issue 5: 998-1018. doi: 10.3934/steme.2026040

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Research article

Fostering creativity through culturally grounded STEAM out-of-school time activities: A case study of Lanna lantern making in northern Thailand

Science Education Department, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand; pathompong.chu@kkumail.com, tjirap@kku.ac.th, ychok@kku.ac.th

Academic Editor: Jingjie Yeo

Received: 25 March 2026 Revised: 18 June 2026 Accepted: 14 July 2026 Published: 10 September 2026

Culturally grounded out-of-school time (OST) activities offer promising opportunities for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) learning, yet few studies have examined how local cultural practices can be systematically designed as interdisciplinary contexts for fostering children's creativity. This qualitative design and development research study explored how a STEAM OST activity based on Lanna lantern making elicited creativity among upper elementary students in Northern Thailand. The activity was developed through field exploration, expert validation, and a seven-stage STEM inquiry process integrating science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Five students (N = 5) participated in a single six-hour implementation at Chiang Mai. Data were collected through video-supported structured observation using the A-to-E creativity framework, three-level field notes, artifact analysis, and informal member checking. Agency and connecting were the most frequently observed dimensions, particularly in students' self-directed design choices and the application of evidence from hands-on investigations to lantern construction. Experimenting and daring also appeared across participants. Being curious was less visible through behavioral observation alone, suggesting methodological limits in capturing internal states, such as wonder. Given the small purposive sample and single-session design, findings are intended as analytic rather than statistical generalizations. This study offers a contextually grounded design example of integrating cultural heritage into STEAM OST learning and illustrates how craft-based activities may support the expression of multiple dimensions of children's creativity.
- STEAM education,
- creativity,
- out-of-school time,
- Lanna cultural heritage,
- design and development research
Citation: Pathompong Chummongkol, Jiraporn Tupsai, Chokchai Yuenyong. Fostering creativity through culturally grounded STEAM out-of-school time activities: A case study of Lanna lantern making in northern Thailand[J]. STEM Education, 2026, 6(5): 998-1018. doi: 10.3934/steme.2026040

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Abstract

Culturally grounded out-of-school time (OST) activities offer promising opportunities for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) learning, yet few studies have examined how local cultural practices can be systematically designed as interdisciplinary contexts for fostering children's creativity. This qualitative design and development research study explored how a STEAM OST activity based on Lanna lantern making elicited creativity among upper elementary students in Northern Thailand. The activity was developed through field exploration, expert validation, and a seven-stage STEM inquiry process integrating science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Five students (N = 5) participated in a single six-hour implementation at Chiang Mai. Data were collected through video-supported structured observation using the A-to-E creativity framework, three-level field notes, artifact analysis, and informal member checking. Agency and connecting were the most frequently observed dimensions, particularly in students' self-directed design choices and the application of evidence from hands-on investigations to lantern construction. Experimenting and daring also appeared across participants. Being curious was less visible through behavioral observation alone, suggesting methodological limits in capturing internal states, such as wonder. Given the small purposive sample and single-session design, findings are intended as analytic rather than statistical generalizations. This study offers a contextually grounded design example of integrating cultural heritage into STEAM OST learning and illustrates how craft-based activities may support the expression of multiple dimensions of children's creativity.

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Authors' biographies Pathompong Chummongkol is a doctoral researcher in the Science Education Department, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. A native of the Lanna cultural community in Chiang Mai, his research focuses on STEAM out-of-school time learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and creativity development in elementary students; Jiraporn Tupsai is a lecturer in the Science Education Department, Faculty of Education and a teacher at Khon Kean University Demonstration School, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. Her research interests include STEM education, out-of-school learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and qualitative research methodology. She is the corresponding author for this article; Chokchai Yuenyong is an associate professor in the Science Education Department, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. His research focuses on context-based science and STEM education and the seven-stage STEM inquiry learning process

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