This is a collab post: STEM is a set of subjects that all children are pushed to do at school for the reason that it offers lucrative career prospects and exciting opportunities. The four-letter term stands for science, technology, engineering and maths and they are core to us progressing as a society. We rely on them to not only learn and make sense of the world around us but to find solutions to both age-old problems and newer ones that we’re facing. As there are gender disparities in the number of women entering the fields, there has been an emphasis on getting women into STEM and levelling that playing field. Regardless of what they choose to do later in life, having a STEM background is impressive. It can certainly set them apart from their peers and help them in developing essential, transferable skills. If you would like to help your child with STEM, here are a few activities that you can do at home.
This post was put together with the help of a boys’ school in St Albans.
Sink or Swim
If your child’s ever wondered about the concept of gravity, sink or swim is an interesting thing that you can do as objects react differently despite their weight depending on their properties. You can explore this together by getting a range of items that they think would potentially sink or swim and putting them to the test by dropping them into a bucket full of water.
Bake
Another is baking. We all love sweet treats. They’re irresistible and once they know how to make them, you will never be short of any in your home. The thing about baking is that it requires ingredients and chemical processes like evaporation and conduction from heat. There’s a lot for children to get their head around and seeing it while baking can give them a better grasp of what they’ve been learning about in school.
Maths Games
If numeracy is something that you want to focus on, you can look for online maths games for them to play. They will do especially well if they like playing games as they will be doing maths without even realising it and potentially even start playing them for fun.
Build a Circuit
If you want to teach them about how electronics work, build your own circuit. There are many children’s science kits that you can find for them to build prototypes and learn all about science and technology.
These are just a few of the ways that you can explore STEM with your child. If you feel that they need a little more help and that you’re struggling to explain (because STEM can be rather complicated), you may find that a tutor can help. They are knowledgeable in their fields and are experienced at educating children. It takes skill as you will know if you’ve ever attempted home schooling.
If you liked this post and would like more parenting ideas like this, take a look at my other posts.