STEM education is the teaching of four disciplines – science, technology, engineering and maths. As the world becomes more reliant on technology and the surrounding industries, it’s important to create a future where we have professionals able to carry out work in this sector. Not only this, STEM learning increases vital skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and creativity – qualities which are easily transferred into other areas of life.

There are many ways to get children interested in STEM and they don’t have to mean sitting down with a textbook or computer to simply read about it. It’s about bringing subjects to life and relating them to the real world.

Parents can get creative at home and encourage STEM learning naturally through play and hands-on experiences.

Integrate STEM into your everyday home life

There are many opportunities to encourage STEM learning throughout the day with your children, it just requires a bit of outside the box thinking! Here are a few ideas:

  • Get creative in the kitchen – let your child help measure, count and mix ingredients. Allow them to create their own experiments by mixing different liquids, textures and colours.
  • Enlist their help whilst shopping – ask them to add up costs on your supermarket trip or work out discounts and offers as you go round. They’ll love the fact they’re helping and they get to learn new skills at the same time!
  • Use holidays and trips away as a learning experience – explain how air travel works or how trains run as you explore. You could incorporate a trip to a science or technology museum whilst you’re away too.
  • Incorporate play and build something awesome – there are many toys to help with this such as Lego and building blocks, depending on their age. Building together will provide opportunity for interaction and teach them subjects such as gravity and balance as well as problem-solving skills.
  • Use technology if you child already has an interest – devices such as the Arduino offer the perfect opportunity to encourage your child’s interest in STEM and allow for creativity.

Let it happen naturally

Don’t try and force STEM learning onto your child, many will be discouraged by this and it should be a fun and engaging experience, not a stressful one. If they’re not interested, try again another time or change the activity.

Incorporating learning at home is likely to help build their skills without them realising it and allows them to integrate their own interests.

You might find that by regularly creating hands-on, fun experiences, your child comes up with a few ideas for STEM learning on their own!