The inclusion of the arts into science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) has recently gained much national attention. The purpose of this qualitative study was to conduct a thematic analysis of student STEAM survey open responses to provide the field with an examination of grades 3-5 elementary students' perceptions of their STEAM learning experiences. Grounded in transformative learning theory, a systematic and iterative thematic analysis of 1,572 student-written open responses to six prompts by 262 student participants revealed three primary themes: (1) extent of identification of science and mathematics learning in STEAM; (2) STEAM progression of activities, authentic problems, and empathetic problem solving; and (3) the presence of metacognition in STEAM. Our findings revealed that students' STEAM perceptions provide strong support for STEAM learning experiences as a space for implementing the instructional practices important and central to reform efforts in science and mathematics education in the elementary grades.