STEM projects and ideas to try at home with your children

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During the run-up to Christmas, children often get more distracted with the festive cheer and creativity cravings can be higher than usual. It can be tricky for parents to come up with activities that perfectly balance fun and education as we edge closer to Christmas. In this article, we look into different ideas for STEM projects that can get children excited to try something new at home over the festive season.

What Is STEM Education?

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (or STEM) is the collective term used to group a particular set of skills that fall into these four categories. There are numerous benefits of STEM education. Each of these subjects help in the following areas:

– Creativity
– Communication
– Problem-solving
– Research
– Critical thinking
– Teamwork

No matter what specific interests children may have, all of these skills when combined together can be extremely beneficial building blocks for children as they develop within their education.

STEM Projects and Classroom Experiments

There are a vast array of different STEM projects that parents can try with their children this December as some extracurricular activities, with tonnes of resources that can be found online. Here are just a few ideas to get you started this Christmas:

Fizzing Shapes – create interactive fizzing shapes for your children to experiment within this exciting science project. All you need is a plastic tray, some baking soda, white vinegar, a plastic bottle, and a pipette. Simply fill the bottle with baking powder, and using the nozzle, design a shape of your choice! These can be basic shapes such as triangles, circles, squares – or even something a little more Christmassy such as snowflakes or snowmen. Then dip the end of your pipette into the vinegar and begin squeezing small droplets onto your design – and let the fantastic fizzing fun begin!

Lego – Lego is a brilliant way to get children thinking outside the box by working out exactly how to construct different shapes and objects. Create a giant lego pit by filling a large soft matt with Lego upon it and allow this to be a “construction area”. During Lego time, you can set your children different objects to build, or better still, have a list that they can choose from to make it more engaging for them. This is a great way to allow children to unlock their inner architects. You’ll find plenty of Educational Lego kits online for the children to enjoy.

Christmas lights using Arduino – A great one for older children, Arduino boards are a healthy way to challenge their minds and get them thinking about technical problem-solving by using their components to create magical Christmas lights that dance to the sound of selected Christmas songs for all to enjoy! Simply use an Arduino kit and carefully code and program any speaker to connect to your lights.