Play and STEM at the Preschool Level

Organizations like the Heritage Museums & Gardens on Cape Cod are combining play and outdoor activities to expose children to STEM at the early childhood education level. From Lous Ricciardi, vice chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and vice chairman of Heritage Museums & Gardens, via masslive.

…For children ages 4 and under, structured early STEM education exposure sparks the kind of intellectual creativity, critical thinking and development of habits of mind that lays the groundwork for their entire academic well-being. Through their own understanding and application of “play,” a child latches on to concepts that define math and scientific principles if placed in a classroom environment — which can encompass everything from a museum, to a school, to a playground. It is therefore essential that early-education models place a greater emphasis on STEM learning to set these children on a path to inquisitive — and ultimately professional — greatness. A child’s individual development will reach its fullest potential if STEM concepts are introduced and explored from the very earliest point.

On Cape Cod, one organization, Heritage Museums & Gardens, is seeing firsthand how STEM education, particularly at the preschool level, allows children to break out of the constraints of the classroom, while also creating strong foundations in literacy, math, arts and sciences to assure future success.

Utilizing the eyes, minds and exploratory senses of children who visit, Heritage will open the doors in September to The Hundred Acre School in Sandwich, a first-of-its-kind year-round preschool designed to engage children aged 4 and 5 in active STEM learning through extensive use of the organization’s collections, facilities and spacious grounds.

This school was created to cultivate young minds and its core group of STEM-influenced and well-versed educators will use STEM as a springboard to multidisciplinary learning. Through the Hundred Acre School, Heritage is also partnering with the Sandwich public school system and the Sandwich Public Library to ultimately establish a STEM curriculum designed to be a bolstering template for such other sites across Massachusetts, including the future Sandwich STEM Academy for 7th and 8th graders…

Read more.


Adafruit_Learning_SystemEach Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!


Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Apple to build another chip at TSMC Arizona

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — SMT Tip – Stop moving around!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.