Introducing the idea of STEM to early childhood learners helps set them on a path to developing critical thinking skills. I decided to create some simple and easy-to-use STEM boxes to encourage my young learners to try out STEM skills on their own.
When I choose items for these boxes, I wanted things that my students could use in different ways, would help them develop critical thinking skills and utilize at least two of the STEM disciplines at a time. I also wanted them to have fun while exploring new ideas in STEM. I created six different STEM boxes that helped by students to build problem solving and critical thinking skills. To create the boxes, I used the Clear Storage Bins with Lids. They are the perfect size to store all of the STEM box materials and easily stack on top of one another.
The first STEM Box I introduced was the Tumble Trax box. My students had already used some marble ramps and blocks before, but they were excited to use marbles on a different plane and surface than before. The Tumble Trax have magnetic strips on the back of each piece making them stick to any magnetic surface. Also included in the box are a mix of shaped pieces, that vary in length and texture. My students had a great time creating different runs to test with the included marbles. They experimented first with the designs that came with the kit and then created their own! I loved watching how they made and tested different tracks all while building critical thinking skills and learning how to problem solve.
The next STEM box I introduced was the Jumbo Pipe Connectors box. My students built tall towers right away and then began exploring how they could connect those towers to each other. They learned how to build sturdy bases to support their towers and how to work together to make their creations come to life. The different shaped pipe pieces allowed my students to build their structures in different directions. As a result, they learned about balance and engineering.
My kids loved building towers so much that I decided to challenge them with the Mini Magnetic Building Blocks. These were a little harder for my students to use at first, but they quickly got the hang of building in 3 dimensions. They began by building flat shapes and even people! They then experimented with buildings and adding in walls. I also watched my students exploring how magnets work and interact with each other.
The Puzzle-Shaped Block Set was a great place to start some of my students who needed to experiment with locking pieces together. They loved creating patterns with the puzzle pieces and sorting them by color. I also noticed my students creating shapes with the puzzle pieces. They started by making squares and rectangles and moved on to long trains of puzzle pieces.
When I brought out the Block Play Set, my students squealed with joy! They were excited to build houses, walls, airplanes, and castles! They enjoyed building and creating their own designs and working to find out what the strongest structure was they could build. I oversaw my students create airplanes that they flew around the classroom and then watched as they changed a few blocks and had the coolest speed boats that coasted across the classroom carpet!
The last STEM box I shared with my students was the box that held the Solid Color Paper Cups. We'd practiced stacking cups on the 100th day of school and my students were SO excited to see them back for more open-ended stacking fun! They began by just stacking the cups in a pyramid and had fun knocking them down and building them back up. They quickly figured out that they could build other creations too! I've watched as they build "castles" out of the paper cups, circular walls around themselves, multi-tiered rectangular creations and much more.
My students have LOVED using these STEM Boxes! They hurry down the hall each morning to get the box they are most excited about and like sharing their discoveries with everyone!
