STEM Vs STEAM learning and why we’re launching art prints

6 mins

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As a business we’re moving from a core part of our business being focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) learning and moving towards STEAM (STEM + Art). STEAM like STEM focuses on developing a child’s critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity skills.

STEM education focuses on the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and maths. It encourages children to develop both their analytical and technical skills, as well as helping them to solve real-world problems using scientific and mathematical principles.

STEAM learning on the other hand, adds art into the mix. STEAM focuses on using creativity and design thinking to help solve problems. STEAM recognises and values that art and design can enhance innovation and creativity and that incorporating art into STEM can lead to more innovative and well-rounded solutions.

Both STEM and STEAM learning have their benefits. STEM learning helps to prepare children for careers in science, technology, engineering and maths, which are all in very high demand. It also helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are useful in many fields.

STEAM education, adds an artistic and creative element to STEM learning, allowing children to explore different ways of thinking as well as encouraging them to use their imagination. It can also lead to more diverse and innovative solutions to problems. This is because art and design thinking can offer unique perspectives that may not be immediately apparent through traditional STEM approaches.

Incorporating art into education has a lot of benefits for children. It can help children develop their imagination, creativity and self-expression, as well as empathy and their emotional intelligence. Art and design can also provide a form of therapy and stress relief, and can be a source of joy and fulfilment for children.

If you would like to introduce STEAM learning to your children. We have a great pack of STEM activity cards. The 32 activities and experiments are simple and fun and can be created with everyday items from around the home and the supermarket. The cards are double sided with illustrated instructions and key learnings for each activity/ experiment. You can shop our STEM activity cards here.

STEM activity cards

Overall, both STEM and STEAM education have their benefits, and incorporating art into education can have a lot of positive effects on children’s development and well-being. As a business we will be launching an art prints range in May and we will be talking a lot more about art. Natalie is the illustrator for the business and a qualified web and app designer, so she has lots of creative experience.

What are your thoughts about STEAM learning? Let us know in the comments below.

Natalie

info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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Author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.

National Coding Week – Our Tips for Kids

3 mins

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This week is National Coding Week here in the UK and we often get asked by parents how to get their kids into coding. There are many benefits of coding for kids, including improving their; logical thinking, problem solving skills, resilience and their maths skills. Natalie is a coder/developer, so below are her 3 tips to get your kids started with coding.

1) Online resources

There are some great online resources that can help you introduce coding to your child such as; Girls Who Code, CSS Tricks for older kids and BT’s Skills for Tomorrow programme.

STEM activity cards

2) Our STEM Activity Cards

Our STEM Activity Cards are a great way to introduce coding to your child early on. The pack includes some coding activities. You can buy the pack here.

Black inventors children's book

3) Our STEM Leaders: Black inventors and innovators who changed the world

Our STEM Leaders book includes inspirational leaders in tech and has useful links to help you introduce coding to your child. You can buy the book here.

We hope you found these three coding tips for kids useful. Let us know in the comments below

Natalie

Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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About the author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.

Our Black History Month Resource

4 mins

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Black History Month is only a few weeks away (where is the time going? It will be Christmas soon, eek!) Our STEM Leaders: Black inventors and innovators who changed the world book would be a great resource. We all know schools will not be teaching children about these amazing people. So it’s for us all to do this at home.

STEM Leaders will introduce children to important Black inventors and innovators who changed the world. This vibrantly illustrated book is a stimulating reference source; it is educational and includes; Q&A’s, useful links, fun facts and activities to get children started with STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) experiments. You can buy the book here.

Black history month book
Black inventors book

We’re so excited about this book. We both work in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) industry and we don’t see many people that look like us. So we want to inspire the next generation to embrace STEM subjects. An industry which creates the inventors, innovators and leaders of tomorrow. You can buy the book here.

Natalie

Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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About the author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.

20 Rainy Day Activities to Do with Kids

6 mins

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Rain Rain go away, Come again another day! The heatwave seems to be over here in the UK and we’re forecasted to have some heavy rain. Heavy rain poses some challenges for parents. Kids have a shorter attention span than us adults, which means cabin fever can set in quickly. Minimise the number of times you hear ‘I’m booored!’ with our top 20 rainy day activities to do with kids that are on their summer holidays.

1) indoor play/ soft play. This is always fun for kids, there are many indoor soft play in the UK.

2) Fashion show. Kids love to dress up in their parents clothes and shoes. So why not let the kids choose some clothes from your wardrobe, so they can create a fun fashion show!

3) Our STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) activity cards are great for entertaining the kids and can help to reduce screen time. Our unique pack of 32 cards are simple and fun and can be created with everyday items from around the home or the supermarket. The pack of cards can be bought here.

STEM activity cards
32 STEM Activity cards

4) Cook or bake together. Kids enjoy cooking and baking (especially licking the bowl at the end!).

5) Visit your local library. Let the kids choose a book they want and then get cosy in the reading corner. If the weather is too bad to get out. Then create a cosy area at home and read their favourite books. We have a great selection of books. You can shop our books here.

Black inventors children's book
STEM Leaders: Black inventors and innovators who changed the world

6) Visit a museum. There are many free fun museums in the UK. Going to the museum is a fun adventure for kids.

7) Play board games. Board games are a fun way to get the family together and helps to reduce screen time.

8) Our STEM inventors journal. Our STEM inventors journal will show kids how new inventions are created. It includes prompts to get your budding inventor started on their inventor journey. This journal will be sure to keep kids occupied on those rainy days. It can be bought here.

STEM inventors journal
My STEM inventors journal: A little book of ideas

9) Build a blanket and cushion fort.

10) Watch a movie. Dim the lights and pop some popcorn and create a cinema at home.

11) Indoor picnic. Too rainy to have a picnic outside? Why not bring it indoors. Eating on a blanket is always fun for kids.

12) Create a puppet show. Grab some socks and paper and create a puppet show.

13) Open ended play. Get your children’s imagination going with some open ended play, with things like wooden blocks or a sensory activity.

14) Get the puzzles out. Puzzles are a good alternative to screen time for kids, they’re both fun and educational. We have a great wooden solar system puzzle, which can be bought here.

solar system puzzle
Wooden solar system puzzle

15) Play some musical instruments. You can even create a mini concert.

16) Do some yoga. The cabin fever has kicked in, so now the kids are bouncing off the walls, eek! There are lots of yoga videos for kids on YouTube, which can help to calm them down.

17) Create an indoor scavenger hunt. Get the kids to hunt for the objects all over the house.

18) Arts and crafts is always fun. Create a crafting station at home. It can occupy kids for a long time and it is both entertaining and educational for them.

19) Create an indoor obstacle course using unbreakable objects.

20) Splash in some puddles. As Peppa pig says “I’m jumping up and down in muddy puddles.” Once the rain has stopped, get your wellies on and go outside and splash about in some puddles!

We hope you found this blog useful. If you did, please share it with your friends and family who may find it useful too.

Natalie

Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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About the author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.

Our NEW STEM activity cards and why STEM should be introduced early on

Estimated reading time: 4 mins

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We’re very happy to launch our NEW STEM activity cards today! The cards include 32 fun and easy Science Technology Engineering and Maths activities and experiments made with everyday items. Our unique pack of 32 cards makes learning STEM fun and accessible to all. Beautifully illustrated by us, with illustrated instructions and key learnings for each activity/ experiment. This product makes learning STEM fun for toddlers!

The cards can be bought here

STEM and our activity cards will:

– Introduce STEM in a hands on way
– Create a love for STEM subjects early on
– Enhance a child’s collaborative learning, as STEM often
encourages children to work together
– Amplify a child’s problem solving skills, which is a critical skill in
the early years
– Enhance a child’s memory through experimental learning
– Help to reduce screen time

The STEM Activity cards are great for:

– At home; homeschooling, screen free time, fun experiments and activities
– In the classroom; station or whole class activities, after school activities, summer club activities

What is STEM?

STEM is a neat little acronym for Science Technology Engineering & Maths. One idea behind grouping these broad disciplines into something memorable; is to draw attention to an emerging policy choice within schools, focused on increasing educational interest within STEM. By stimulating interest in STEM early on, we can begin to motivate more young people to study STEM at an advanced level and to enter STEM related industries. This is particularly important for Black individuals who at university for example, only represent 6.2% of students enrolled onto STEM related subjects*.

STEM in early childhood

The idea of introducing STEM to children in the early years is to begin the process of creating scholarly minds. Little children who ask questions, seek out answers, solve problems and become innovators who go onto contribute to the human story. The sooner we get our little ones to see that our world is filled with shapes, materials, forces and numbers; is the start of something special, in the form of inquisitive minds.

Natalie

Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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About the author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, Black women in STEM and Montessori.

How learning music helps to improve maths skills

4 mins

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Learning music helps with a child’s brain development. But did you know it also helps to improve maths skills? To play a musical instrument well, you need to develop your critical thinking and problem solving skills. These are key skills when learning maths. If you think back to early childhood, young children often learn counting through rhythm. They first start clapping their hands and bopping their head to a number’s nursery rhyme. We know kids learn through repetition which is why nursery rhymes are great. Young children are particularly responsive to rate, which is a key player in helping them to form mathematical skills.

Below are 6 ways learning music is beneficial to developing a mathematical mind:

1) Performing music reinforces parts of the brain used when doing maths because It’s about time signatures, beats per minute and formulaic progressions

2) The frequency of sound is related to maths, different sounds can be made up with different weights and vibrations

3) Studies show that children who play instruments are able to complete complex mathematical problems better than their peers who do not play instruments

4) Patterns are used in both maths and music

5) Learning music teaches valuable skills such as patience, research also shows that children who learn an instrument retain information better

6) Music is full of fractions. Music includes whole notes, half notes and quarter notes, all of which follow the same rules as a maths equation

Getting children used to music early on will have fantastic positive outcomes. It adds a fun element to learning and sometimes can get them to learn things without even realising it. Who knew that learning music which is lots of fun can help with improving a child’s maths skills?

Natalie

Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com

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About the author

Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.

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