The Science
The first three years of life are an extraordinary and vital part of our children’s growth and development. We know that 85% of core brain development happens by the time a child turns three years old, with an additional 5% by age five. During these first three years of life, the brain is making connections that will become the foundation for all other learning, health, and well-being. While genetics provides a foundation for early brain development, environmental influences play a critical role in supporting brain growth and health.
What is STEM?
STEM is a commonly adopted ideal of education that involves an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Often, STEM curriculum includes incorporating arts, thus creating an additionally well-known acronym STEAM.
STEM is designed to help students think critically, process, and solve real-life problems through these interrelating disciplines while igniting and fueling children’s curiosity.
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STEM BASE: What does STEM look like for infants and toddlers?
Kindergarten is too late. The everyday experiences that infants and toddlers have with their parents and caregivers help shape how their brains become hardwired to learn and interact with the world around them. These experiences impact a child’s ability to reach 3rd-grade reading levels, graduate from high school, avoid incarceration, and hold employment as an adult.
“Play is a child’s context for learning. Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet.” (Bongiorno, "10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play") Children behave as little scientists in their world. They are active agents of trial and error, pushing of boundaries, and cause and effect. Very often adults view play as mindless and wandering, without concrete learning; but as we know, play is the hard work of children as they learn to move, operate, and change within their world.
As part of the foundation of STEM ideals, children learn to become critical thinkers. These forms of critical thinking include being able to compare and contrast, gather and analyze information, and think about data in new ways. As these are higher levels of thinking, it is important to set the foundation for critical thinking for infants and toddlers. That is where BASE support can be used for very young children.
Brain Development & Fundamental Processing
Genes allow the brain to wire itself in response to environmental input. This environmental input impacts neural activity and sets the foundation for later learning and thinking.
As we know, practice makes perfect; and this is no different for infants and toddlers. The more that a child practices a skill or is exposed to repeated experiences, such as response to their needs, strong synapses are created. When strong and positive neural pathways are created, the brain can more effectively process information and work to build on skill sets, this creating fundamental processing.
Just as we learn to walk before we run, we must learn fundamental concepts before engaging in complex thinking. For example, to perform complex algebraic equations, one must learn the concept of 1, then learn to count, then learn to perform simple equations, and so on. It is the foundational experiences that allow children to build upon their basic set of skills to grow into abstract learning.
Attachment
Early brain development is dependent on the formation of healthy attachment relationships, as relationships become the vehicle through which children explore the world around them. Early biological systems are strengthened by supportive interactions with adult caregivers. Everyday interactions that take place in the context of nurturing, responsive relationships enable the developing brain to focus efforts on organizing and processing information and experiences
Social-Emotional Learning
Brain research indicates that emotion and cognition are profoundly interrelated. Social-Emotional Learning consists of a child’s ability to understand their feelings, manage emotions, develop empathy, regulate behavior, and create & maintain relationships with others. These are all accomplished in the context of positive and sensitive caregiving relationships.Exploration and Engaging Experience
To support the healthy development of infants and toddlers, we must provide a positive and engaging experience, as well as supporting exploration. In practice, caregivers can promote these positive opportunities for infants and toddlers through consistent loving care, positive touch, watching and supporting how children interact with the world, utilizing teachable moments, engaging in music activities, incorporating sensory activities, providing children with consistent routines, providing healthy nutrition, and engaging in reading every day.Videos
Watch some of our favorite educational videos on STEM.
Let’s Talk About Math: Everyday Fun With Counting
Early Math: Through play and everyday interactions very young children learn about the quantity, counting, and patterns.
STEM in Early Learning: Engineering with the Three Little Pigs
This video is one of a four-part series on how early childhood educators and families can introduce STEM concepts (science, technology, engineering and math) to young children
Everyday Fun with Science: Let’s Talk About STEM Video
Baby Scientists: Infant and toddlers are active scientists; learning to explore and test cause & effect in their environments.
Common Questions
What is STEM? Or STEAM?
Can I really teach my baby math, science, and technology?
What if I don’t have access to premade STEM toys?
Activities
Pipe Cleaner Exploration
- Description: Grab some pipe cleaners and a plastic colander. Allow and encourage your child to explore the objects. Talk to them about the colors they see and count how many pipe cleaners you have. Demonstrate how to put the pipe cleaners into the colander. Take turns adding more in. Count how many you have added! Talk to your child about what happens when you move some of the pipe cleaners, or if they pop out! What happened? Do they want to add more?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, cause and effect, and problem solving
- Ages: 1 - 3
Pom Pom Drop
- Description: Gather some bath tissue rolls, paper towel rolls, pom poms, and some painters tape! (small pom poms are a choking hazard; supervision is required by parent). Arrange the rolls on the wall and secure with painters tape, in a way that will allow for the pom poms to move through them like a vertical maze (as pictured). Provide the pom poms to your child. Encourage exploration and talk to them about how many pom poms they have, how many rolls are on the wall, etc. Are they able to figure out on their own how to drop the pom poms down? If not, demonstrate for them, and talk about what happened!
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, cause and effect, science & technology, and problem solving
- Ages: 2 - 3
Stacking Cups & Reading
- Description: You will need stacking cups, a story book that provides a sequence of characters or patterns, such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, a computer/printer, or paper and coloring tools. As pictured, color or print out the characters from the book. Attach the pictures to the cups using a non-toxic glue stick. Begin the sequence from the bottom, so when the last cup is stacked, the final character is introduced. For younger children, 6months – 18 months, read the story to the child and stack the cups as they appear in the book. For older children, allow for more exploration of the cups. Can they find the next animal/cup? Can they stack them on their own? Talk about the colors of the animals and the cups. Count the cups at the end. What happens when the cups get too tall? What happens if we try to put a big cup on top of a small one?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, sequencing, cause and effect, science & technology, literacy and problem solving
- Ages: 6 months+
Shape Sorting
- Description: You will need different household items of various shapes, and painters tape. Make different shapes on the ground with the painters tape. Allow your child to explore the different objects you have gathered. Can they name the shape? Where do they think it belongs? How many items do they have? Demonstrate sorting of the shapes. Support their exploration and even if they can’t match them correctly, you can still provide guidance by pointing out the similarities between objects. Over time, they will be able to master shape sorting.
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, shape recognition, and problem solving
- Ages: 2+ years
Scoop and Transfer
- Description: Gather a two large bins, water safe toys and a large plastic spoon. Fill one bin with the toys, you can even fill the bins with water too. Allow for your child to explore the items. What do they feel like? How many are there? Do they float or sink? Support your child as they scoop up the items and place them in the other bin. Was it hard? Does the spoon allow for them to pick up multiple items?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, science and technology, and problem solving
- Ages: 12 months+
Exploring Hot vs. Cold
- Description: You will need two plastic bottles, ice and warm water. Be sure to supervise your baby so they do not open the bottles. Fill one bottle with ice, and the other with warm water. Allow your child to explore the bottles. How many bottles are there? What do they feel like? What do they sound like if you shake them? Is one heavier than the other?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, science and technology, and problem solving
- Ages: 6 -36 months
Baby Drum Circle
- Description: Gather different pots, pans, plastic containers, and a spoon. Place objects in circle, and place your child in the middle. Provide your child with the spoon and encourage exploration. What happens when they hit them? Do they make different sounds? How many pots and pans are there?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, science and technology, and problem solving
- Ages: 6 - 36 months
Ball in a Box
- Description: Gather a clear plastic container and an infant safe ball. Place the ball in the box and close the lid. Allow your child to explore the container. What is inside? How many balls are inside? What color is it? What happens when you shake it? Is your child able to figure out how to get it out without help?
- Skills: Supports exploration, counting, science and technology, and problem solving
- Ages: 6 -18 months