S.T.E.A.M Toys
What is S.T.E.A.M?
S.T.E.A.M is an educational approach which uses, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
The Wooden PlayDen stock an amazing selection of toys and resources which lend themselves to support the S.T.E.A.M approach to learning, which covers science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. The advantages of learning in this way include encouraging children to evaluate and problem solve, it encourages discussion develops real life practical skills and curious thinking, all through hands on learning experiences.
It’s fairly easy to introduce S.T.E.A.M learning into your children lives, here are some examples:
Science – grab a selection of gem stones and rocks, a magnifying glass and some ID cards. Explore them together and put them into different categories based on texture, colour, size etc.
Technology – Coding is great fun for little ones, the Yellow Door penguin stones and coding activities are a great way to introduce this topic. The stones are so tactile and combines with the laminated activity cards provides a fun way of learning.
Engineering – Blocks! An essential part of any toy collection, build and create to your hearts content. Build tunnels and bridges, houses and roads!
Arts – The sensory boards are a great addition to your arts and crafts collection, add in some felt balls, or loose parts, the Tickit Treasures are perfect for this. You then have some mess free creativity on your hands. You could always add some play dough and tools too, which could lead to pattern making, colour sorting and creative thinking..
Maths – One of our favourite games is play dough squashing. Make however many balls of dough you would like your little one to count up to and as you count together squash each ball. This is also a fun way to introduce addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in this way.
The Wooden Play Den also stock some great S.T.E.A.M kits to complete and discover with your children, Hape Magnetic Science Lab, which is loved by my 5 year old. It includes 7 different experiments, and links to an app to explain the science if you need. Within the same range is the Three Experiment Kit, which has 3 great experiments introducing engineering, force and movement. The great thing about these 2 kits is they are completely compatible and you can use the parts to create your own experiments, the opportunities are endless, and its great watching your child create freely. The kits include nuts and bolts, magnets, string and wooden posts with holes in – no end of engineering and science learning opportunities.
The other Hape Kit we love is Flexi Sticks. This is a fabulous kit for creating shapes, buildings, rockets…well anything really. A range of bamboo sticks of varying length, and silicone connectors in a variety of shapes leads to some creative construction. Instructions are included to make a diamond, a ball and a wheel which gives learning and skills leading to no end of building opportunities.
S.T.E.A.M defiantly initially seemed like quite a daunting style of play and learning to me, but when I broke it down I realised there are plenty of opportunities to encourage this type of learning with the amazing resources we already have from The Wooden Play Den.
S.T.E.A.M Toys
The Wooden Play Den stock an amazing selection of toys and resources which lend themselves to support the S.T.E.A.M approach to learning, which covers science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. The advantages of learning in this way include encouraging children to evaluate and problem solve, it encourages discussion develops real life practical skills and curious thinking, all through hands on learning experiences.
It’s fairly easy to introduce S.T.E.A.M learning into your children lives, here are some examples:
Science – grab a selection of gem stones and rocks, a magnifying glass and some ID cards. Explore them together and put them into different categories based on texture, colour, size etc.
Technology – Coding is great fun for little ones, the Yellow Door penguin stones and coding activities are a great way to introduce this topic. The stones are so tactile and combines with the laminated activity cards provides a fun way of learning.
Engineering – Blocks! An essential part of any toy collection, build and create to your hearts content. Build tunnels and bridges, houses and roads!
Arts – The sensory boards are a great addition to your arts and crafts collection, add in some felt balls, or loose parts, the Tickit Treasures are perfect for this. You then have some mess free creativity on your hands. You could always add some play dough and tools too, which could lead to pattern making, colour sorting and creative thinking..
Maths – One of our favourite games is play dough squashing. Make however many balls of dough you would like your little one to count up to and as you count together squash each ball. This is also a fun way to introduce addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in this way.
The Wooden Play Den also stock some great S.T.E.A.M kits to complete and discover with your children, Hape Magnetic Science Lab, which is loved by my 5 year old. It includes 7 different experiments, and links to an app to explain the science if you need. Within the same range is the Three Experiment Kit, which has 3 great experiments introducing engineering, force and movement. The great thing about these 2 kits is they are completely compatible and you can use the parts to create your own experiments, the opportunities are endless, and its great watching your child create freely. The kits include nuts and bolts, magnets, string and wooden posts with holes in – no end of engineering and science learning opportunities.
The other Hape Kit we love is Flexi Sticks. This is a fabulous kit for creating shapes, buildings, rockets…well anything really. A range of bamboo sticks of varying length, and silicone connectors in a variety of shapes leads to some creative construction. Instructions are included to make a diamond, a ball and a wheel which gives learning and skills leading to no end of building opportunities.
S.T.E.A.M defiantly initially seemed like quite a daunting style of play and learning to me, but when I broke it down I realised there are plenty of opportunities to encourage this type of learning with the amazing resources we already have from The Wooden Play Den.
