STEM Tools

My soon to be eight-year-old son has been introduced to the world of STEM throughout his early elementary school years. Now that he is in second grade, he is more intrigued by all of the possibilities that STEM has to offer and wants to know more. While seemingly unnoticeable, it appears as though there is a severe lack of funding in school for STEM-related activities and the exposure for our children is slowly diminishing. So, I took it upon myself to get him as much exposure as possible so brought him two robots with accessories from Wonder Workshop. Wonder Workshop has some cool robots for children and easy to use apps that work great across multiple platforms. The digital programming language is well suited for kids 5+ and make learning how to code super easy and fun. You can either download the Wonder Workshops app or Blocky to start programming these robots.

What I love the most about these robots is that they are easy to set up and ready to use right out of the box. We are still learning and having fun with these robots. The programming apps (for me) took some getting used to as it is designed to be drag and drop. It took my son a few minutes to figure out how to navigate through the Wonder Workshop app on his IPad but not long after, he was getting Dash to perform some cool things. The apps contain an easy to follow the guide and walk the children through each step in fun and easy to use games.

[the_ad id=”17851″]

It is important to get your children exposed to world Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) at an early age. Early exposure can also improve their mathematics and science grades. The earlier children are exposed to STEAM, the quicker you can get those little engines going and who knows the possibilities after that. If you are in one of the STEAM fields I encourage you to donate some of your time and resources to our future generation. Be sure to look out for some non-profit organizations in your community, I will be doing the same.

If you are in the STEAM market and looking for more ways to expand your small child’s mind then check out these other tools that my son recommended:

LEGO Mindstorms
My son has always loved playing with his LEGOs and I was excited to see LEGO’s incorporation of STEM in their products. LEGO Mindstorms creates small, customizable and programmable robots using LEGO pieces.

Little Bits
Little Bits won the 2018 Creative Toy award of the Year. Little Bits is easy to use an open-source library of electronic modules that snap together with magnets for prototyping, learning, and fun. Your child can create their own devices using easy electronic building blocks and programing tools to ignite possibility.

LEGO WeDo
WeDo is extremely hands-on and helps you create an engaging classroom. WeDo comes with an easy-to-use software interface and a cross-curricular, plug’n’teach activity pack that improves communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Kodable
Kodable teaches kids the basics of any programming language in an easy game! Completely self-guided and designed for kids 5+, which makes the tool super easy.

[the_ad id=”17851″]