STEM is regarded as the future of the world. It’s important that all children develop a maker mindset. Since most school curriculums don’t incorporate STEM learning, here are some ways you can get your child excited about STEM yourself!
1. Cooking & Monopoly – Math is a subject a lot of students struggle with. So to get your child involved in it from an early stage, cook with them! It will teach them about understanding measurements and ratios and they will learn math in a camouflaged manner. Check out Dreme’s blog on “Easy Recipes That Will Get Your Family Talking about Math” for recipes for this purpose. Another way is to play games like monopoly and business so that they learn addition, subtraction and division through the financial components of games.
2. Encouraging their questions – Children are always asking “How?” or “what?” or “why?” So instead of shrugging these questions off, you should encourage them to find out the answers themselves! They can consult the internet, ‘Alexa’ or ‘Siri’. You can also get them a telescope or a magnifying glass, and help them think through the answers to their questions on their own, rather than answering them outright. Add books like “Thing Explainer” and “Ada Twist, Scientist” to their libraries, and draw their interest towards channels like “What if?” on YouTube to stimulate their curiosity. This practice will help them develop a mindset that thirsts for knowledge and are much more active in problem-solving.
3. Blocks, Legos, Jenga and Puzzles – Toys like Jenga, Legos and blocks encourage children to be creative and be builders. They will understand the concept of balance better and understand why some structures are weak and fall while others are strong. This will set up a foundation for engineering and art in a very enjoyable way. They develop fine motor skills through this activity and it will also be effective in honing the children’s ‘Spatial reasoning skills’. Puzzles, too, will teach them problem-solving because they will willingly and patiently spend hours figuring out how each piece fits with the other and have a sense of accomplishment when they finish.
4. Do interesting art and science projects with them – You don’t need high tech equipment and dangerous chemicals to conduct experiments with your kids. Science experiments like “The Rainbow Glass” and “Invisible Ink” will teach children about otherwise complicated concepts in an amusing, interactive and simple way. They will enjoy science! Check out Tinkerama’s blog on “5 Science Projects You Can Do At Home With Your Kids” for more experiments like these.
5. Tinkerama’s Programs – Check out Tinkerama’s programs like the ‘Young Einstein Program’ and the ‘Young Edison Program’ to stimulate your child’s interest in STEM and let them experience hands-on science, maths, engineering and technology. The activities in the programs will include "Build a motor-powered car", "Make an animatronic hand” and "Marble run" and you can even book a free trial class to see if the programs are for your child.