If your child is interested in STEM then take a look at our list of 10 quick and easy STEM activities for elementary school students.
We all now that it is not easy to get children interested in certain things especially when it comes to school. Even if you manage to engage them in science activities, their attention usually doesn’t last too long. It’s natural for children to get bored quickly because there are so many things they wish to do. There are, however, children who truly enjoy maths, technology, and science, and if you notice they are very good at something, then don’t give up just yet.
Are you wondering what STEM actually stands for? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and the STEM curriculum is based on combining those four fields and applying them together instead of teaching them separately. The United States is known as a global leader thanks to the countless talented scientists educated in science, technology, engineering, and maths. However, in recent years, there has been a decrease in a number of students who decide to pursue this kind of education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 16% of high school students in America are interested in a STEM career and this number is devastating as there is a need to prepare all young people to be able to think, innovate, and solve all possible issues that we are facing now or will face in the future.
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We agree that it is absolutely necessary to be equipped with knowledge and skills for solving all possible problems of the society, and therefore more effort must be put into making this number (16%) much higher. The former president Obama stated that STEM education must be a priority and that we need skilled teachers in these fields.
We believe that children like exploring and enjoying hands-on projects, and that is something we need to pay more attention to. We are also aware of how difficult it is for parents and teachers to engage children in different activities. But sometimes we also don’t give kids enough credit. The best way to arouse interest in them for STEM education and activities is to give the children a problem to solve. Give them the materials necessary for finding the solution, and then give them a time limit to solve the problem. They will work together as teams and join their ideas to find the solution. Give them the opportunity to investigate a problem and apply their knowledge because learning involves much experimenting, testing as well as failing. In one of our previous articles, we wrote about 10 Science Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers, and we tried to find easy and fun activities that were not too easy to be boring but not too difficult for them to give up fast too, and that will help children to better understand science and nature. Today we focus on the four vital fields: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as we try to provide the quickest and easiest STEM activities for your young elementary school students. STEM activities are based on inquiries and kids need to work together and be innovative in order to be able to find a solution. Working as a team allows them to learn through exploring and investigating which is precious, and it also teaches them to exchange ideas about various projects and broaden their horizons. In this way, children develop their thinking skills and are able to solve a problem on their own, without too much help from the teacher or parent. We visited plenty of websites such as Live Science and Playdough to Plato in order to find STEM activities suitable for elementary school kids that can be applied at home as well as in a classroom. Check out our list of 10 quick and easy STEM activities for elementary school students.
