Pre-K School Provides Great Tips to Parents on How They Can Apply STEAM Concepts to Their Pre-K Kids at Home
The concept of STEAM activities that focus on developing science, technology, engineering, art, and math skills is growing in popularity as both educators and parents realize the importance of equipping children for a changing world. But when is the ideal time to start introducing STEAM concepts at home? Can a pre-k age child benefit? The answers are surprisingly simple: right now, and yes.
Here are tips from Pre-k School in Valrico, FL shares parents on how to introduce STEAM concepts at home:
When can pre-k parents start building interest in STEAM?
It doesn't have to be through dedicated STEAM-based activities, but interest in STEAM can be integrated into everyday life from a very early age. It can be as simple as using the right words to describe STEAM concepts while making the explanation age-appropriate. This could be anything from describing the different states of water (ice cubes in an ice tray and steam from the kettle), explaining friction when playing cars or trains, or doing different art activities once a week.
Even if your child is still very small, using the correct terminology creates ‘prior knowledge’, which they can use to build on years in the future. As the child gets older, you’ll be able to offer deeper explanations and introduce more formal STEAM concepts, and they’ll be able to make more meaningful connections. An example of this would be when you play blocks, use the word ‘cube’ for a 3D square block rather than the word ‘square’, then when they start geometry, even if it’s only in high school, the connection will trigger for then. They’ll be able to move towards a deeper understanding of the concept of 3-dimensional figures more quickly.
How do you introduce STEAM activities in a way that is interesting for 3-year-old pre-k children with a short attention span?
Rather than focusing on introducing entirely new activities that are expressly STEAM-based, you can incorporate the concepts into activities that are already part of your routine. It’s less about formal teaching and more about creating a dialogue while you go about your daily life.
This could be something as simple as at bath time, talking about the buoyancy of their bath toys, why some things sink, and others float. Or when you go for a walk, collecting different seeds, or leaves or stones and ordering them from smallest to largest, or lightest to heaviest. Other activities are naturally STEAM-based such as free play toys like blocks or LEGO.
How do you encourage pre-k girls to enjoy STEAM Activities?
STEAM is gender-neutral, and you don’t need to differentiate when introducing concepts to your daughter or son. Focus on what they like as an individual, then begin introducing STEAM concepts naturally and organically in conversation through the activity that they enjoy doing.
It could be that your daughter enjoys playing with stuffed animals, so order a kit or join a class and help them build their own. The same is true for building their own playhouses. If they enjoy blocks, this is one of the best activities where the child builds, testing out different designs, and works out for themselves what works and what doesn’t.
The opportunities are endless – ranging from cooking and baking (with many chemistry concepts) and maths concepts when measuring recipe amounts to building the train and car models to learn about engineering.
Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academy of Valrico, as part of their progressive educational approach, offers an engaging curriculum designed to encourage innovation, collaboration, and imagination. They recognized the importance of STEAM-oriented learning, and as such their STEAM Ahead program incorporates learning objectives that build a firm foundation for future success. Kids ‘R’ Kids seeks to grow the ability of learners to innovate, be creative, feel free to experiment, use their imagination and build on theory development.
