The Importance of Introducing Under-5s to STEM

from Tumble Tots Spring 2022 Magazine

Summer Holiday Booking Checklist

By Orna Herr, Communications Officer for Education at the British Science Association

What is STEM? STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Getting children excited by STEM subjects and engaged from a young age is vital for their development and for ensuring they have the aptitudes to excel in their lessons when they start Primary school. Early development for future success Early years are an incredibly important, if not the most important, time for brain development. A newborn baby’s brain is around a quarter of the size of an adult’s brain, but by the age of five, the brain has grown to an enormous 90% of its full size! This period of growth is the perfect time for children to absorb new information, learn about the world around them and begin to develop skills they will apply to academic study and use for the rest of their lives. This is especially true of STEM subjects. Speaking to Pacey, the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, Dr Sally Moomaw, Professor of Early Childhood Education, said:

“STEM disciplines provide a pathway for children to explore a wide range of exciting areas in science, maths, and engineering. Preschool children are naturally interested in science and maths. Almost everything young children do involves exploring their world.”

She added that “children who engage in science and maths regularly develop circuits to make learning in these areas faster and easier”.

Dr Moomaw is not alone in drawing these conclusions. There have been multiple studies that show the far-reaching advantages of engaging very young children with STEM subjects. Strong correlation has been found between early years learning and later successes. This has been attributed to the idea that building a foundation of understanding from a young age is a huge advantage when it comes to learning more complex skills and ideas later on. Transferable skills As well as laying down the groundwork for later academic successes, early years STEM learning can be very advantageous in the here and now! The Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education have conducted research that found that ‘early learning in mathematics and science’ benefits children in all sorts of ways, not necessarily related to gaining scientific knowledge.

STEM learning can promote socio-emotional development and result in fewer challenging behaviours. It ‘supports the development of STEM related habits of mind’, such as curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration, persistence and problem solving. These are incredibly important skills for children to acquire, and they feature in Nustem’s STEM Person of the Week, a STEM engagement activity. It aims to breakdown stereotypes around science and scientists – to find out more, visit nustem.uk/stem-person-of-the-week. Learning science also supports literacy development and is associated with stronger reading skills. The list is endless!

SmartMax is the multi award-winning pre-school magnetic construction system; providing children aged 1year+ with the chance to explore the fascinating world of magnetism in a safe way. Encouraging logical thinking, motor skills and imaginative play from the very beginning, the simple, yet effective design of the ‘My First’ sets are perfect for little hands!

British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) taking place this year between 11-20 March! The Week is run by the British Science Association, a non-profit organisation, whose/their work includes encouraging and supporting STEM education for all children from the earliest years. British Science Week activity packs Each year for British Science Week, activity packs are published for children and young people of all ages to help them take part in the festivities and beyond, including under-5s!

The theme for this year’s packs is…’Growth’! Growth is a hugely versatile theme as it covers all sorts of areas of science learning, from how trees and plants grow, or how buildings grow as they’re being constructed, to how early years learners grow as they get bigger and closer to starting school.

This year’s Early Years activity pack includes some fantastic ideas for you to try with your Tumble Tots at home, nurseries, toddler groups, or any setting you choose. For example, you could host a ‘dress as a scientist’ day, to teach children that anyone can be a scientist: it’s important to tackle stereotypes from a young age!

There is also a selection of brilliant, low resource activities designed to start introducing under-5s to science, by showing them how it is all around them, and in themselves. There are activities which ask the children to investigate the different plants in their garden or local park, activities for measuring themselves and their friends, and creating their own greenhouses in a pair of rubber gloves!

Find the Early Years British Science Week 2022 activity pack at www.britishscienceweek.org and to help get you started, please go to page 19 to try a selection of example activities from the pack!