STEM activities are able to teach us a special attitude towards knowledge and the approach to learning which could be interactive, interesting and integrated. With its child-centered learning structure and learning by doing technique the activities encourage and lead children to their new discoveries. STEM activities make a learning process easy and fun, treating the young learners as true scientists and thus cherishing their talents and capacities from the earliest age.
A great example of a STEM activity can be the one called “Likes go together”. Judging from its title, we can presume that the activity is focused on combining and assembling some things. The task of this activity would be to group the toys (or any other objects) by certain criteria: matching the shapes, or colors, or size, etc. This learning game is related to the sphere of math, as the children will have not only to classify, but also to count the objects in certain categories. I find this activity perfect for preschoolers and greatly appropriate developmentally, as it makes the children train their attention, notice the details, and use their abilities to compare and analyze similar or different objects. The activity can also be easily applied to the group, thus it would promote teamwork between young learners, especially in the group of children with different backgrounds, as each of them would be able to complement the team and contribute to the task.
The day's menu for a preschool child, given below, is based on the timetable proposed by STEM, however, it bears certain changes and, too. In particular, there is mentioned how all the fields of study can be integrated successfully in the daily routine. Teamgame in Technology may apply “Practice pouring” activity, where kids can play in pairs or bigger groups. Outdoor play in Science can involve “Shadows” activity, during which the children can observe different shadows outdoors, and the way they change. Quite activities involve reading books, painting, or doing puzzles. Outdoor afternoon play can relate to math activity “Likes go together “, which was already described above. Finally, afternoon team game in engineering “Mix it up” would enable the children to build something together using different types of building materials. It is also advisable for parents to ask children about their everyday discoveries after the program is closed so that to make them remind and remember their achievements.
A Day's Menu for a Preschool Child
References
Browning, J., Carey, C., Fredericks, B. (2013). Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Teaching
Guide. Boston, MA: Boston Children's Museum.
Darling-Kuria, N. (2010). Brain-Based Early Learning Activities: Connecting Theory and Practice.
St. Paul: Redleaf Press.
