5 Ways Parents Can Encourage STEM at Home (2024)

Neighbor News

From a STEM-friendly home to competitions, here are some tips that will get your child excited in STEM learning outside of the classroom.

Posted Wed, Dec 6, 2017 at 8:30 am PT|Updated Wed, Dec 6, 2017 at 3:00 pm PT

Create a STEM-friendly Home:

Participate with your children to build, make and explore STEM related activities together. Cooking, gardening, helping you repair things around the house – these activities can teach kids about fractions, geometry, engineering and more. STEM at home doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. It just requires a little ingenuity. For example, a great family activity could be to build a Rube Goldberg Machine. This is a machine that uses a chain reaction to accomplish a very simple task in a very complicated manner. Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to build a homemade Rube Goldberg Machine.

Have Your Children Teach You and their Siblings to Code:

According to USA Today and Computer Science Zone, there will be 1 million more computing jobs than employees to fill them in the next 10 years. There is a lot of potential and many opportunities in computer science. Thankfully, children are learning to code at school at an earlier age than ever before. So why not put your kids to the test and help them hone their coding skills by teaching you and their siblings how to code at home?

Discovery Education provides some great resources to help learn how to code, including code.org and Scratch. You can also check out Tynker for some cool coding activities using resources your children may already have access to and know.

Organize STEM play dates or a STEM invention club:

Play dates are important for children because they provide them with opportunities to practice important social and emotional skills. Children learn to share, take turns, communicate and cooperate with each other. You can take your play dates to the next level by organizing a STEM activity for your children and their friends. For your older kids or teens, you can organize a group of teens to participate in a STEM Invention Club at your home. Click here for some STEM activity ideas for kids to do during a playdate, and click here for STEM ideas for teens.

Watch STEM TV Shows and Videos with Your Child:

TV and YouTube videos don’t have to be mindless. There are some very educational and inspirational programs and videos that you can watch with your children that can spark interest in STEM topics and careers. Check out Netflix documentaries, and TV staples The History Channel’s Modern Marvels and Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth. If you’re looking for recommendations, Common Sense Media has a great list by age group. If you’re looking for YouTube channel recommendations, click here.

Encourage participation in STEM challenges:

According to US News & World Report, “When it comes to engaging students in science, technology, engineering and math – or STEM – fields, competitions are leading the way.” The goal of competition is to help students develop a passion for STEM. A simple Google search for STEM competitions can bring up many options nationwide, but one unique competition stands out from the rest - the STEM3 Special Challenge. This competition asks students in grades 6th–12th with social, learning or neuro-developmental differences to identify a STEM solution to a pressing challenge faced by individuals, communities, or the world at large. Many students with special needs possess the skills that STEM fields seek. If you’re a parent of a child with special needs with an affinity towards making or building things, then this is a great way to help them learn how STEM disciplines connect to their everyday lives.

About the contributing writer:

Dr. Ellis Crasnow, Director of STEM Education at The Help Group, has a PhD in philosophy from USC. He has taught widely at the college and high school levels, both in the U.S. and South Africa. Dr. Crasnow is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the annual California STEM Symposium on the importance of STEM education and its benefit to those with social and learning differences.