Snap-together components are great for kids who are naturally curious. But how do you get children interested in engineering if they want a real toy to play with, rather than a theory-based novelty?
If you happen to be unfamiliar with STEM, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, and it's a branch of education that's taking off in a huge way.
Learn as you build
Drawn on paper or created from snap-together components are great for kids who are naturally curious about such things. But how do you get children interested in engineering if they want a real toy to play with, rather than a theory-based novelty?
The solution is a functioning model that requires assembly. Building from scratch helps fine motor development in young children, as well as improving hand-eye coordination. Some kits include complex mechanical linkages, giving young makers a personal experience of how torque can be transposed to linear motion, for example. As both research studies and ancient aphorisms attest, you just can’t get that from books.
Here are some highlights from our range, and the engineering concepts they demonstrate.
- Get an in-depth understanding of how gears work and interact by assembling a functional clock.
- Learn about solar power while putting together four fun, easy models.
- Discover pneumatics by creating a car with a pressurised piston engine.
- Assemble a robotic lizard with simple fight-or-flight AI based on infra-red sensing.
- Some kits, such as a set of 12 robotic models, use overlapping scientific fields (in this case, hydraulics and solar power).
Click here for more details about the different varieties of kits available for children.