The Secret Sauce
I’ll never forget one morning hearing my then-2-year-old daughter singing to her stuffed animals:
Mor-ning Exploration
Mor-ning Exploration
Mor-ning Exploration
It’s time for Morning Exploration!
She then asked Cookie Monster “Do you want to play with play-doh this morning?”
She was starting the day the STEMtots way. (And in turn prompting me to get a Learning Plan ready.)
As you browse through the Learning Plans on this site, you’ll notice that each plan has four activities: Sensory Exploration, Meeting Time, ‘Practice & Play, and Movement & Nature. It’s our Secret Sauce. It gives us our rhythm, helping our Learn from Home days to feel more predictable, purposeful and cohesive.
Here’s how it all comes together:
1. Every Learning Plan has a playful, STEM-focused theme.
What have the kiddos been “into” lately? What have they been curious about? What might they find interesting? What are they “supposed” to be learning about at this age?
2. A Sensory Exploration activity helps tots explore the theme with their senses.
How can our tots see the theme, feel it, hear it, smell it (usually we don’t taste it, but sometimes we do!)? This is when we mold with clay, draw, paint, dig, build, create and experience.
3. Meeting Time helps tots learn more about the theme through reading and communication.
If our tot’s interested in a topic, someone has written a children’s book about it! Often times we can even find it as a digital download or YouTube read-aloud. We use books and short video resources like these by SciShow Kids to learn something new.
4. A Practice & Play activity helps tots work with the theme, building age-appropriate skills playfully.
“I do it by my own!” After my daughter watches a show or reads a book, she has to try it; often times she has to BE it. Practicing new concepts through pretend play and experimentation are great ways to work toward Language/Communication, Cognitive, Fine/Gross Motor, and Social-Emotional milestones.
5. A Movement & Nature activity helps tots get their energy out – while deepening their learning
Exercise is good for our kiddos. It even helps them think better. There’s no better way to wrap up a STEMtots day than by moving to the theme, building mind-body connections and internalizing new concepts. Plus, it’s just fun.
And Voila! With an interesting theme and four playful activities we’ve (hopefully!) had a meaningful Learn from Home day – one that’s fun for the kiddos and sanity-preserving for the caregiver.
A final note on the Learning Plans: Short on time? No pressure - STEMtots is all about flexibility! You don’t have to complete a Learning Plan in one day. Try spreading it out over the course of a week – maybe one activity every morning/afternoon, or every other morning/afternoon. We want to help you find the rhythm that works for your family.