Engaging your kids in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) activities should start from an early age. It may be easier than you think because kids are extremely curious about the world around them. As their parent, you build on their natural curiosity about their bodies, surrounding sights and sounds, and how things work through everyday activities such as reading, counting, asking or answering questions, singing, playing, painting and cooking. You can also encourage your kids to observe (the most fundamental scientific process) and describe things.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
– W B Yeats (Poet)
Here are some fun STEM gift ideas for the upcoming festive season that will further enhance your three- to five-year-old’s STEM journey of discovery by feeding their curiosity.
Human body play set
Spark your kid’s interest in science and the human anatomy with this great play set that helps them learn about the different systems in the body through 24 mix-and-match magnetic pieces. This exceptional gift idea also develops hand-eye coordination, creative expression and play.
Melissa & Doug Magnetic Human Body Play Set
Non-fiction picture book
We can’t see the wind, but we can easily see how it moves the leaves on the trees or pushes clouds in the sky. This non-fiction picture book explores the wind, what causes it and much more.
Feel the Wind (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Screen-free coding
Toy of the Year winner: Introduce the little ones to screen-free or storybook coding. Kids design their own coding challenges and get the critter to do things like fetch or play hide-and-seek. In the interactive mode, kids can just play and take care of their pets without coding.
Building blocks learning set
This toy will enhance your kid’s STEM skills, imagination and creativity, challenging them to build anything from animals to cars and robots. It also works with fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, logical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork and collaboration.
Activity book
These 40 re-playable activities explore the way things work and teach 16 pre-school skills: reading simple graphs, experimenting with trial and error, using tools to solve problems and more.
As a parent, the more you foster your little ones’ curiosity, the better you prepare them for their future. Of course, their teachers will play a big role in developing their STEM skills, but you shouldn’t wait until they start school to develop these skills. Once they do attend school, continue their STEM education as much as possible at home.
Keep on feeding their minds. Keep them curious.
In case you need any further convincing, I’ll leave you with this thought: According to the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), the demand for STEM jobs is growing at three times the rate of non-STEM jobs for about a decade. STEM will soon dominate major parts of almost every industry.
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