Learn STEM by Doing (and having fun)!
Your daughter seems excited in STEM – but what can you do to help? You see ads for STEM toys, but many just seem like a poor fit. Maybe she’s even said “that’s a boy toy!” We’re here to say you can find STEM toys for girls that they will actually enjoy, that won’t break the bank, and even if you don’t know the difference between a neutron and an electron, that CAN build your child’s enthusiasm for STEM.
My son likes computers, but I have no idea how to help him learn more? My daughter wants to learn how to code, but her school doesn’t offer classes… how can I help her? It’s a common struggle for parents. Especially if you as a parent have limited experience. When it comes to coding and computers, you may feel hopeless. DON’T! Here we introduce to two great kits that help your kids build their very own computer – the Piper Raspberry Pi Computer Kit and the Kano Computer Kit. Kids (and parents) have fun building and learning how to code.
Two years ago, our daughters were into all things Minecraft. While other tech-related hobbies took the lead since then, that summer we learned about a week-long camp offering computer building and Minecraft instruction. Now summertime was probably the LAST time I wanted to see my kids glued to a computer screen. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first whether this made sense. However, I learned there’s more to Minecraft camp than just coding.
It was a warm, sunny afternoon, when they crept inside… Mom! We’re boooored! I wanted to avoid the iPods or Netflix, so I scraped together supplies to make homemade baking soda/vinegar rockets to shoot off in the backyard. Holy cow! Lots of rocket FAILS that day! I may still stink like vinegar… After working through different materials, we came up with our favorite combination and the kids learned more about acid/base reactions. In this post, we walk through how our kids learned how to build an Alka-Seltzer rocket. What’s also great about this project is that it can be easily turned into a science fair project… let’s SCIENCE!!
