Introducing STEM activities through play by Amy Burton

As the Summer holidays are in full swing, many of us cast our thoughts to how we can prepare our children for the big wide world ahead of them. We live in a rapidly evolving, technological driven world and the landscape of opportunity for our little ones, beyond the classroom, is ever changing. As we start to think ahead to what engaging activities we can do with our children to keep them entertained during the Summer, it is worth considering perhaps exploring activities which will foster an early interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as these areas of development are more important to expose our children to than ever before!

This all sounds very daunting I know, however the best way to introduce STEM activities to our children, is through play and this is something we want our children to do lots of during their break from school! As this is the case, the summer holidays is arguably the prefect time to start exploring these areas together.

Why is STEM important for our children?

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics development, plays a vital role in shaping the future opportunities our children may have. Love it or hate it, technology continues to dominate the world we live in and plays a prominent role in near enough every part of our day-to-day lives. Promoting a firm understanding of these areas with our children, not only sets the foundation for later life successes, it also promotes creativity, innovation, critical thinking and problem solving skills which are all essential life skills for our children to hold.

How can I promote STEM play-based activities at home?

Exposing our children to play based activities that incorporate STEM development, does not need to be time consuming or expensive. In fact most hands on play activities your children engage with already, will have links to one of the STEM development areas. Take a look at the below tried and tested ideas for some Summer fun inspiration, using everyday toys and resources, as well as some great STEM-friendly tickit products!

Block building challenge

Encouraging your little ones to use their imagination with their building blocks, is a great way to begin exploring STEM development - in fact playing with building blocks is the very basis of Engineering. To further enhance this development area, why not challenge your child with a building challenge ie. Can they build a tower as tall as the sofa? Or can they build a car which can hold the weight of their favourite teddy bear? Block building not only allows for STEM exposure, it also readily promotes the development of fine motor skills, problem solving and creativity so is a fantastic all rounder activity!

Board games and logical thinking

Having some time over the summer holidays, is an amazing opportunity to introduce your little ones to some new board games. This style of activity not only provides you all with some lovely calm down time (which is sometimes very much needed), it can also if chosen carefully, expose your child to the STEM development area of Mathematics.

Snakes and ladders is a fantastic board game to play together and a personal favourite in our house. This style of game, allows your child to develop number recognition when looking at their dice throw and also promotes the development of their counting skills as they move themselves across the board. Turn taking board games also promote communication, collaboration and rule following expectations which are all great additional transferable skills to foster in our little ones! Another game we really enjoy playing is Four in a Row. This game allows us to have a fun competition whilst improving our turn taking and logical thinking skills!

Nature scavenger hunt

Getting out and about is always great fun for our children and it promotes getting our bodies moving and burning off some excess energy! Looking closely at the environment we live in whilst out on walks is a fabulous way to explore the Science element to STEM development.

One activity my son absolutely loves to do when we go out for a walk, is to go on a scavenger hunt. This activity usually helps to keep him engaged throughout the route and somewhat prevents the ‘my feet are hurting’ and the ‘I cannot go any further’ drama we have experienced many times before!

Simply write a list of items you would like your child to look out for and provide them with a bag/box to collect these items in – these items can be brought home and observed more closely at the end of the walk and can also be used in later craft activities too!

Grab your list and an all important pencil to mark off your findings and off you go! The items you choose to add to the list will be dependant on where you are exploring - our favourite go to areas are the village green (lots of bushes and trees) and the local woodlands. Some common items on our lists are: a green leaf, a buttercup, a daisy and sometimes we will even search for insects to find such as ants or butterflies (although we do leave any animals where we find them and do not tend to bring these back to the house!). Children will naturally discuss their observations with you as they work their way through their list and will be observing the natural world around them in awe. This activity is a brilliant way to introduce them to the Science STEM pillar, with the added bonus of providing an exercise opportunity and some much needed out of the house time too!

Technology Exploration

Our households consist of lots of different technological elements – all in which your child has grown up with and been around since they were very young. Allowing your child exposure and exploration of some of these different items can be a great way for them to begin to understand how things work and a brilliant way to expose them to the Technology element of STEM development.

Why not have a clear out of any old technology you may have laying around the house and set up a Technology Exploration Station for your little one – provide them with the opportunity to explore and examine items such as old phones, calculators, torches and keyboards. Allow your child to safely explore how these items work alongside your self, by handling, pressing buttons and asking questions. This style of activity not only allows our child's technological understanding to be built upon, it also promotes the development of curiosity and fine motor skills too which are all very valuable life skills to promote.

Conclusion

To conclude, STEM development is such a vital aspect in preparing your child to thrive in the world we live in, whether that be at home, in the classroom or beyond. Fostering play based activities at home can expose your little ones to all areas of STEM development and can provide your child with really fun, engaging activities to have a go at.

A couple of things to keep in mind when creating these play based learning opportunities, is to create activities based around your own child’s interests, encourage questions, provide the right tools, and most importantly, as always, have fun!

STEM development at first sounds absolutely terrifying but I hope you have now seen this is actually pretty simple to promote at home – remember almost all hands on play activities promote a STEM development area and we as adults can take this further with a little added challenge!

Give it a go, enjoy taking part in some new activities together and sit back contented knowing that the fun you are having now, is also setting your child up for the brightest future possible – which for us adults is all we ever want for our little ones!

Written by Amy Burton, Mother of a nearly 6 year old and Primary School Teacher.

Find out more about preparing for school through play:

Tessa Betterton