In our previous interaction with you, we all agreed that there is a need to replace the excessive use of digital media with activities that are experiential and hands-on. This will ensure the wellbeing of all children and push them to not only make mistakes but also learn from them. What makes this the best solution and a proper replacement for excessive use of electronic gadgets is that it engages children in a way that no other form of learning can. It will not only push them to ask questions but also find solutions by experimenting and challenging themselves. The best part is that when it comes to experiential learning, no method is right or wrong.

Given below is a carefully collected set of hands-on activities that can be easily performed in the comfort of your own home. These can be used to help children revise and go back to the concepts they have already learned. You do not need to go out of the way to buy any extra equipment, and just the open space that is available at your house will work. To make sure children have a variety of activities to choose from, these are a mix of all disciplines. 

Build a Museum 

This can be done by putting the furniture or showpieces at home to use. Children today have a habit of collecting objects that they like, and they can be used for this activity too. Tell your child to gather a variety of objects and create a museum from the same. Start with asking them to differentiate items and categorize them in terms of the material used, its value, the money it may have cost, etc. Let them use their organizational skills to decorate and create a museum. Once done, ask them to give a tour of their museum by putting their knowledge in history and their vocabulary skills to use.

The Apple Rotting Experiment 

This will help children understand the importance of the environment and how species react differently in different settings. Cut pieces of apples and put them in different glasses. Use solutions like oil, water, vinegar, and air for each glass and label them with the same. Give it a few days and let children draw and make predictions on what might happen the next day. Let them understand the decaying process, and ask many scientific questions that they may be curious about. 

Scavenger Hunt 

This can be an activity within an activity! All you need to do is hide clues within the boundaries of your home, exactly like a treasure hunt. Each clue can have a variety of learning activities, like math equations or science-related questions. All of these have to be relevant to the chapters your kid is studying at school. Encourage them by keeping some treasure or a few extra minutes of gadgets ready for them as a reward once they complete the treasure hunt. To make it more engaging, set a time limit to the hunt too, and let them figure out how much time is left on their own. 

The Value of Storytime 

If you have not already made this a habit for children, now is the right time to start. Reading stories will help the child not only learn new words but also enhance his/her imagination. When you come across a new or unfamiliar word, try and strike a conversation around the term with your kid. Introduce different genres of stories and encourage your children to use their imagination and the new words that they have learned to create their own stories too. To work on their drawing skills, it is a good idea to sketch the characters along with your child.

Start a Restaurant 

This will help children revisit their language and literary skills. Use props and utensils to create a restaurant at home. Let them design a menu from scratch and use words they have learned at school. You can also use vegetables and fruits, asking your child to categorize them and learn to differentiate. Let them play the role of a waiter, owner, or even a customer to enhance their communication skills and confidence. 

Note that all these activities have been chosen to keep in mind the times of the pandemic. Apart from all this, it is a good practice to weekly check-in with your children emotionally. Taking a day off once in a while to binge on food or TV shows is sometimes a great idea too! 

A pro tip is to make sure your kids are an active part of this whole process. It is only when they are given attention, and their opinions are valued, is when they start participating and engaging themselves in activities. 

To sum it all up, we at Experihub believe that, at the end of the day, what makes a significant difference is not what your children are taught, but how they are taught. 

At ExperiHub, we teach Science and Mathematics by bringing concepts from the real world into the classroom. We conduct science experiments and have myriad science projects for better learning and understanding of concepts. If you want to learn more about Experiential Learning and cool home experiments, browse through our Online Sessions and Youtube Channel! 

65% of our children will be working in jobs that don’t even exist yet! (World Economic Forum, 2016) Embedding STEM subjects in academic curriculums at an early age will allow the next generation to have the right tools needed for the future. To do so, we as parents must work towards building a necessary foundation for STEM skills at home. But where do we start? 

Parental Engagement 

Last year, STEM Next Opportunity Fund published a report “Changing the Game in STEM with Family Engagement.” The report revealed that we, as parents have an immense effect on our child’s learning and career outcomes (Stem Next Opportunity Fund, 2019). 

STEM is all around our living spaces. Daily activities and science projects for you and your child can help build critical thinking and problem-solving skills (DeAngelis, 2019). These activities could be as simple as repairing an old bicycle, baking in the kitchen, gardening, or understanding how the fish tank works. Even reading with our children is proven beneficial in expanding their minds to the unknown.   

Encourage Creativity 

Our children are born eager to learn and curious by nature. Creative thinking engages the mind and makes learning more efficient. When creating a STEM environment at home, parents should dismiss the “usual” way of doing things and celebrate their child’s uniqueness.

Challenge your child with out-of-the-box science experiments and refrain from showing the solution to them at first. Old habits of thinking do not give the opportunity of understanding the cause and effect of a concept. Additionally, promote healthy discussions at home and allow them to be explicit with their theory and thinking. These conversations will shape their perspectives and help them to formulate their step-by-step rationale. 

Innovator’s Work Station  

STEM education is specifically designed with experiential learning and hands-on applications as the fulcrum. Therefore, you must designate space for your little innovator. Have visual supports, such as posters and charts, to help remember key concepts. Additionally, desks and other furniture must be arranged to allow full flexibility for STEM activities, science projects, and lectures for your child.

Integrate Technology and STEM-based Platforms 

A full-functioning STEM environment utilizes technology and electronic gadgets. Using technology for academics and setting a healthy relationship between your child and gadgets can boost your child’s interest in learning. Students using digital models and simulations can go on to mastering STEM concepts. As STEM education encourages students to visualize and experience academic topics, technological tools support their collaborative reasoning.

As STEM-based education is slowly rising, myriad applications are available to better teach these concepts. At ExperiHub, we believe students learn more effectively with the use of real-world examples and hands-on science experiments. Our platform is specifically designed for making learning fun through ‘experiencing’ science and mathematics. To learn more about us, please feel free to browse through our online sessions and workshops.

References: 

DeAngelis, S. (2019, September 06). STEM Education Helps Students Think Critically. Retrieved from https://www.enterrasolutions.com/blog/stem-education-helps-students-think-critically/#:~:text=STEM helps young people to,readily take on the future.”

Jacobs, P. (2014, July 09). Science And Math Majors Earn The Most Money After Graduation. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/education/Science-And-Math-Majors-Earn-The-Most-Money-After-Graduation/articleshow/38090854.cms

Stem Next Opportunity Fund. (2019). Changing The Game in STEM With Family Engagement (pp. 1-56, Rep.) San Diego.

Study in India. (2019, January 11). India and STEM Education. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.studyinindia.gov.in/blog/Page/india-and-stem-education#:~:text=As per the National Science,learned to the real world.

World Economic Forum. (2016). Global Challenge Insight Report (pp. 1-167, Rep.). Geneva: World Economic Forum.