Finding Engaging STEM Toys for your Child
What are STEM Toys?
STEM toys are designed to build skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. While many parents hope that playing with these toys will foster the interest and skills needed for a future STEM-related career, these toys do so much more. STEM toys engage young minds, foster creativity and unlock critical developmental skills like fine and gross motor skills, cognitive and analytical thinking skills, and problem-solving abilities. Most importantly, STEM toys are FUN!
How STEM Toys Work
Effective STEM toys challenge young learners, foster creativity, and engage the brain through fun play while developing three main areas: academics, cognitive thinking, and motor skills.
Academic toys, like math and science kits or language learning tools engage children. They are active, hands-on learning experiences.
Cognitive Thinking toys might include puzzles, or activity/construction sets. Toddlers can use these to practice creative thinking while older children (even teenagers) can learn about and experiment with engineering concepts. Motor Skills toys support the development of physical skills in very young learners. Work benches, or even simple blocks strengthen muscles and build fine and gross motor skills.
Science Toys
Children learn by asking questions and exploring the world around them. Driven by curiosity, science toys help children question, explore and discover the many facets of science. Whether your child has an interest in dinosaurs (paleontology), ancient relics (archaeology), collecting rocks (geology), gardening (botany), stargazing (astronomy), or making their own unique concoctions (chemistry) there’s a STEM toy designed to foster their interest. Science STEM toys are designed to spark curiosity and independence as children are given the tools to ask questions, make predictions, and solve problems. These skills are the foundation of cognitive and creative thinking. No matter the subject, scientific-based toys teach children about the world and how it works, how to respect the environment (and why), and how to improve people’s lives for the better. Science toys are a great way to help children develop mental, physical, social and emotional awareness. Science is such a vast topic that children of all ages and abilities can enjoy new challenges, master new skills, spark new interests, and learn something new while having fun and building self-confidence.
Technology Toys
Technology STEM toys are focused on helping children understand why and how things work. These toys give children an opportunity to tinker, build, fix, and create. Technology STEM toys build an understanding of physics, electricity and mathematics all while developing problem solving skills. The great thing about technology toys is that they give children the power to tap into and control our tech-driven world, which builds independence and confidence. From computers to robotics to mechanics and beyond, technology toys develop fine motor skills, problem solving abilities and foster cognitive and creative thinking.
Engineering Toys
Engineering STEM toys help children develop creativity and problem-solving skills while building within the world of physics, mathematics and technology. Engineering toys can be as simple as wooden blocks or as complex as a mechanical train set, but these toys are great at fostering both imagination and cognitive thinking. If your child loves to build and tinker then they’ll find engineering toys fun!
Math Toys
While science, technology and engineering toys may all have a basis in mathematics, there are a number of math STEM toys that focus on developing math skills to improve memory, logic, cognitive thinking and problem-solving abilities. From music to computer programming to robotics to card games, math STEM toys are a great way to balance academic learning and fun while teaching children the foundations of mathematics.