Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TargetToys #CollectiveBias
Science, technology, engineering and math seem to have been forgotten in schools and it is up to us as parents to ensure that our kids stay curious and interested in STEM and this can be as easy as choosing the best toys that will motivated them to explore and encouraging them to stay curious.
Our idea of what it means to be successful has become the examples we see on TV: the famous actors and the music mega-stars. We have forgotten that the people that make our world a better place are the people that actually use their hands to build something or their great minds to come up with new ways to make things work better, the wonderful scientists that help find solutions for humanity’s problems like diseases and viruses.
My son Sebastian is a “creator”: he will not stop until he understands how a turbine works or how submarines submerge and then are able to come back to the surface. Yes! This are some of the great questions that this little 6 year old is asking and then tries to recreate with experiments at home with the tools he has at his disposal.
He is fascinated by robots so I wanted to find a child-friendly real working robot for him and the place where we were able to find the best toys was the Target Toy Emporium (found only online). Target offers a great selection of innovating and exciting new toys for children that want to become the next great creator, explorer or scientist. The new Toy Emporium (only online) section is exclusively on the Target website.
Lately my son has been really intrigued by gyroscopes, he is fascinated by them and wants to understand the science of gyroscopes and how these help with mobility and especially with balance, so the obvious choice was the Thames and Kosmos Gyrobot-Gyroscopic Robot Kit.
I cannot tell you how excited he was to receive and build the new toy. As soon as he started to put the toy together he already understood the benefits of the gyroscope and the potential of it. The manual helps you build seven gyroscopic machines so Sebastian was able to modify and create new ways to make the pieces of the toy move and balance in different ways. Each times he changed the design he had to figure out how to rebalance it and make it move efficiently! I cannot stress how exciting this is for my son and for me to see him building a robot and to think that this is only the start!
I believe it’s so important to take advantage of our kid’s early years to help them become a generation that will truly help the world to be a better place; seeing my son building a robot at 6 has me dreaming of a future where science and innovation will be celebrated. We have the tools now, with these new and wonderful toys, to inspire our kids to think and push for more.
5 Ways To Get Your Kids Excited About STEM
Kids come into this world excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) but many children lose their interest in exploring and discovering as they get older but if you encourage your child you will make a real difference in ensuring that their wonder for discovery and their desire to create stays alive.
Visit museums and traveling exhibits. Take your kids to the planetarium, to the natural history museum or the childrens museum in your city and visit museums when you travel.
Enrol your little one in after school clubs or camps. Computer clubs or a fun summer camp at the local zoo might be just what your child needs. Getting together with other children who share his interests will keep him motivated and make creating and discovering fun.
Motivate your child by playing with him and discovering together. Any place is a good place to discover something new. From fishing for tadpoles in the backyard puddle, to shelling at the beach or checking out a spider with a magnifying glass you can explore together and encourage your child to ask questions and try to figure out how things work.
When shopping for toys choose toys that have an educational value, that teach him something. We always get my kids building toys, toys that teach them about science by letting them experiment or toys that feed their curiosity. Get excited about ideas your child wants to test or explore and provide him with the tools to do it (within reason!).
Look for resources online. Check out websites that encourage kid’s interest in STEM activities, watch videos of how things are made or how things work with your child on YouTube or instate a movie night at home where you watch science related documentaries or programs. At home we have a Nova night on Fridays and the kids just love learning new things every week.
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I love the focus on STEM! My kids’ school actually started shifting the entire curriculum to be more STEM focused and I love it. And I love all the toys that help encourage STEM learning. It is so beneficial to kids. #Client
Target always has the best toy selection!!I’m not a big STEM person bu… Me and math/science just don’t mix well… But these toys might just be the thing to get kiddos into something I hope they enjoy:):) Thanks for the share ❤❤❤
Can’t wait until my little one is old enough for toys like this!
This is great–thank you for sharing! Have you heard of Destination Imagination? You may want to look into it for your kids. My son did it and we actually went to Globals (first regionals, then state then globals) and they use STEM plus art, music, drama—you can choose your challenges. It’s an amazing experience for the kids and they really use their imagination & thinking skills!
http://www.destinationimagination.org/
I will definitely have to check it out and already subscribe to Destination Imagination newsletter today. Thank you for the idea Terri!
This is awesome, i didn’t know about Target’s Toy Emporium… I must check it out.
These are great tips! My son happens to be a big fan of animals and cars. He’s 3.5 and he likes to identify them and point out their characteristics. It’s really amazing to watch! I try to do animal based activities especially since that is an interest we share, but right now ti’s too cold for the zoo or this great drive through safari that’s near us. He has lots of stuffed animals and plastic ones and he loves to pretend with them. Same goes for the cars. He has tons of them, and not just cars but dump trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, a motorcycle, a crane, and a tow truck just to name a few. I can’t wait to see what he gets into when he gets older.
By the way, I liked this article so much that I have linked to it from my website’s Facebook fanpage. It’s located at http://www.facebook.com/cfmfanpage. Feel free to check it out, and hopefully maybe some of my readers will have a look at your site.
These are some great suggestions for getting kids interested in STEM learning. Thanks for sharing these ideas, they are very useful!