5 Ways To Get Your Child Excited About STEM

As a parent, enabling your child to get a good degree of education is most likely on the list of your priorities. However, in the current day and age, with the rapid of evolution of technology alongside the growing popularity of social media platforms, it may not be an easy task. Inspiring your child to learn can be a struggle, especially if their peers are not exactly interested in it either. However, if the value of education is instilled in them from a young age, they will grow to appreciate it, especially STEM subjects, which are becoming increasingly useful for many job roles in the labour market. Here are ways to ignite your child’s passion for STEM:

Discuss the importance of STEM

With the internet at your fingertips, it’s easy to access a range of interesting articles and videos for your child to delve into. It can also be fascinating to discuss the importance of people in STEM careers, such as healthcare professionals who provide care, engineers who help run many manufacturing processes such as RNA automation and even scientists who facilitate us with understanding the world around us. Not only will this influence them to learn more about the importance of STEM but it will also invoke their natural curiosity leading to the development of crucial lifelong skills.

Encourage their inquisitiveness

STEM relates to the subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths, so you can probably understand that there may be a lot to grasp for a little mind. Therefore, it’s important to encourage their natural inquisitiveness which forms the basis of the skills required for STEM. Critical thinking, observation and problem solving are all vital in allowing them to develop and be equipped for life, because it enables them to understand and analyse situations as well as actively process information. Asking questions is a great way to assist them with this and can also develop their communication further.

Entertain them with activities

Creating that tiny spark of interest and excitement in your child can be a hard task. However, with a quick search on the web, there are so many fun, STEM related activities you can take part in with your child. The best thing is that you don’t need to spend loads of money; even exploring the garden and looking for bugs is great fun whilst logic games such as chess will get the cogs in their brains turning. You can also try baking in the kitchen to learn basic maths or study basic coding which is brilliant to equip your child with essential IT skills. Toys such as Lego or Kinetix are another way to help them learn about engineering.

Explore new places

Going on a day out to your science local museum or exhibit will increase your child’s enjoyment in STEM subjects, as they will be able to learn more about it through a different approach. Even a planned trip to a zoo will help your child in more ways than you could possibly know! Also, consider looking at local after school or weekend clubs which they could join to further pique their interest.

Feed them with positivity

Praise and positivity is what every child craves from a young age, so it’s important to give them this attention so they naturally grow their interest in STEM as they age. This way they will be encouraged to learn out of their own will rather than be forced into it, leading to better results in the long term. Matching their enthusiasm is a great way to show that STEM subjects are interesting, so they continue to explore their new found hobby further.

Above all, remember that your child’s health, both mental and physical comes first, so if it seems they are not happy, be gentle with them and discuss their needs with them so you are able to progress in a way which is helpful for the both of you.