Human minds are amazingly unique and endowed with unique types of learning styles. Finding out the specific type of learning style of your kids can help you understand their needs and talents. This way, you can offer support throughout their education journey for a healthy development.
The idea that there are different types of learners has been supported by myriad studies in the past century. In order to cultivate 21st century skills in kids, and to prepare them for the future, it is essential to understand their unique needs and dispositions.
What is a learning style?
Learning styles refer to different tendencies of individuals in learning. In other words, it is the idea that each person learns best when they are presented information in the way that suits their learning style. This theory has especially become prominent in scientific circles in the 1970s and greatly influenced educational approaches since then.
Models of different learning styles vary according to the components of learning they focus on. Some may include elements such as motivation and surface-deep approaches, some include social, physical, environmental aspects, and some are interconnected to personality traits (e.g., introversion or extroversion).
Different Learning Styles for Kids
Children are at the beginning of their lifelong learning. Their preferences, talents, and needs are always changing. This is important to keep in mind when thinking about learning styles for kids. It can be helpful to think about which learning style your child is closest to, and to make adjustments accordingly. However, remember that these categories are not set in stone, and life is always more complex and bigger than any categories can account for.
That being said, matched with the right strategies, learning styles can facilitate education journeys. When the strategies in alignment with the learning style of your child are implemented, it can boost motivation and make it easier for them to understand new information. Moreover, it encourages children to persist with difficult learning tasks and keep them engaged.
Parents and educators are encouraged to discover different types of learning styles and how they can accommodate the right strategies for each. Not only will this result in an increase in the levels of comprehension and metacognition of kids, but also it will significantly boost their motivation.
What are the different types of learning styles?
According to a literature review, there are around 71 different models of different learning styles. For the sake of simplicity, we will be focusing on Neil Fleming’s “VARK model” which consists of four different types of learning styles: visual learning, aural learning, reading/writing (linguistic) learning, kinesthetic learning.
Visual learning style
Those with a visual learning style (spatial learning style) tend to learn the best when they receive information through maps, diagrams, charts, graphs, colours, and other symbolic devices. Visual learners have strong perception and spatial thinking skills.
Auditory learning style
Learners with the auditory learning style prefer being presented with aural information. This means they can make the best of lectures and class interactions, discussions. They can also benefit from group work and partnered activities. Auditory learners have strong language and oral communication skills. They are usually inclined to be musical and rhythmic.
Linguistic learning style
Individuals with a linguistic (reading/writing) learning style thrive when they are dealing with written words. They tend to process information by writing notes. These individuals are practical and careful with details. They work best alone in a quiet space.
Kinesthetic learning style
Kinesthetic learning style (hands-on learning style) requires learning things by doing. Individuals with this learning style like to recreate and put into practice what they learn. Physically acting out the information and engaging in tactile processes speed up their learning.
What is Your Child’s Learning Style?
To find out the exact learning style of your child, you can consult a professional and take a questionnaire for learning style assessment.
It is also important to keep in mind that life is larger than any number of categories. Children’s skills, talents, and inclinations can vary over time. The best you can do is observe and talk to them, to figure out how you can support them the best.
Nevertheless, with reference to the four learning styles inventory by Fleming and Mills, we have curated a simple guide to give you some ideas.
Your child may have a visual learning style if they:
Prefer to learn through patterns, shapes, and visual aids over written/spoken word
Have an active and vivid imagination
Are good at interpreting body language and visual data around them
Enjoy visual activities such as art
Have a talent for recognizing and remembering people’s faces and places they visit
Are interested in the world and objects around them.
Your child may have an aural learning style if they:
Recall spoken words and songs very easily
Have a sensitivity to different tones, pitches, rhythms
Like to “think out loud”, rather than silently brainstorming first and then speaking up
Enjoy explaining things to others and having discussions
Often sing, hum or talk when they are playing or working
Ask questions often when they are working on a task.
Your child may have a linguistic (reading/writing) learning style if they:
Write things down and take notes when they work on a task
Enjoy reading books and creative writing tasks
Prefer learning facts and solving problems about the real world rather than abstract ideas
Are good at remembering what they have read
Learn most efficiently when they write down instructions for a task
Like to study by taking notes and writing summaries.
Your child may have a kinesthetic learning style if they:
Excel at physical activities (sports, dancing, acting)
Have a hard time remaining seated for long periods
Prefer fieldwork settings or laboratories rather than traditional classrooms
Love exploring around, engaging their five senses and touching things
Learn best when they can connect things to concrete personal experiences, examples, real life practices
Like role playing, narrating, using flash cards and interactive maps to learn.
No matter which learning style your child is inclined towards, they can find fun activities and lessons to suit them on Twin app! With over 1000+ interactive activities, 300+ DIY projects, mini-games and trivia, Twin offers a holistic STEM learning experience for all kids to enjoy. Find out more and start your journey today!
What’s one thing that no child could say no to, after playing games? Making their own games, of course! And no, not just in the sense of “making up” games with their imagination, but actual playable video games.
You may think to yourself, “how can kids make a video game?! I can barely get them to tidy up their room.” But with the right tools and guidance, children are perfectly capable of developing simple games. In fact, starting early can help them gain the abilities they can later develop into advanced hard skills for programming and coding.
For kids, game making may not necessarily mean coding a game from scratch–rather, it’s about learning to code a game with Scratch. (Keep reading to find out what that means!)
What is game development and coding for children?
Game development is the general name given to the processes involved in creating a game–design, iteration, building, coding, programming, and testing. Of course, coding and game programming for kids look a little different from the work of a professional in the industry. (Though, getting started in game development at an early age can definitely pave the way for a professional career later in life!)
There are learning tools for kids specifically designed for their ages, teaching the necessary skills in a fun and simple way. Kids get to learn game development basics such as mechanics, design, reward system, and engagement while having fun. It also makes learning about basic coding concepts such as conditions and loops very easy and effective.
What is the importance of game development for children?
Game development for kids can be a great way to hone a variety of 21st-century skills. The potential skills that they can develop range from those related to analytical thinking such as problem-solving, decision-making, logical reasoning, design thinking, storytelling, to technological hard skills such as coding and programming. These skills not only prepare children for future jobs but also give them a competitive advantage throughout their education and work life.
Technology is very much embedded in our daily lives, and will increasingly continue to do so. Through engaging with game development, kids can understand the world around them and how it works much better.
In addition to these specific learning outcomes, game development is an incredible means for children to create and accomplish a project that interests them. Children are already invested in all kinds of games and fascinated by how parts come to make a functioning whole.
Think of the simplicity of LEGO building blocks. Yet children (even adults!) from all sorts of backgrounds and interests spend hours and days playing with these simple toys–building, breaking, rebuilding, imagining, re-imagining, designing, and executing.
Game designing for kids offers a very similar process of creative exploration. In the end, the little ones can look back at their creation, be proud of their accomplishment and keep playing around with it.
What are the stages of game development for kids?
The stages of game development can be roughly grouped into five: ideation, creation, testing, release, and post-release.
In the ideation stage, the developer picks and develops their concept and gathers as much information about it as possible. What kind of game is planned? What is the target audience? What is the main storyline? How will the game develop and unfurl as the player proceeds? A rough outline of the game and its elements is thought up.
The second stage, which is creation, is perhaps the longest one. This is where the game is refined, the characters and environment are really fleshed out. The game is coded, designed, and the narrative is written out. Ultimately, it all depends on what kind of game is being built.
For kids, game programming and creation mostly occur through block coding and/or other game development tools. This makes the creation stage a little simpler and more straightforward so that the little minds don’t wander off too much and get lost in the process.
The next stage of game development is testing. This is where the created game undergoes tests to detect any errors and bugs. In addition to the technicalities, the concepts and elements in the game, such as character development and narrative elements, can be furthered and fine-tuned in this stage.
After testing comes the release, which is the fourth stage of a usual game development cycle. Of course, this only applies to commercial game development projects. If the game is designed for your own pleasure, this stage will only consist of sharing with friends and family as you wish. Otherwise, you would want to invest some time and effort in marketing the finished product to the larger public on various platforms.
Game development is a circular process, so it is not over until you say it’s over! There’s always room for more updates, improvements, and changes. This is what the post-release stage consists of. As new ideas crop up, they are developed, created, and put to test, following the stages of game development.
How can kids get started at game development?
Kids can get started at game development as early as at the age of three. However, how to engage them with coding and development would depend on their age range and needs. For example, between the ages of three and seven, the learning process should be focused more on the fun and games part. The technical training on coding skills can be gradually eased into after the age of seven.
The first step to becoming a good game developer is being a good gamer! That’s right. Just as it takes a good reader to become a good writer, it takes a good gamer to become a good game developer. So, a great place to start is playing games with a critical lens. As they’re playing, invite them to think about what they like and what they don’t like. What are the strengths and weaknesses? How good is the game, and why? What would they improve if they could?
Then they can test the waters of game development by editing games that already exist. Starting out with games that they are familiar with, such as Minecraft and Roblox, will be a good way to get acquainted with editing tools and techniques.
Finally, they can get into coding and game development through block-based platforms and apps specifically geared at teaching game coding for kids. MIT’s visual-based coding editor Scratch helps children create fun animations, interactive stories, games, and sounds.
For a comprehensive start at coding and game development, you can check out Twin App’s interactive coding games for kids. With over 1000 projects, coding lessons from a professional software engineer, and gamified coding projects, children can not only learn to develop their own games but also learn the basics of block coding. You can also get the Twin Coding Kit or the Autonomous Vehicle Kit for a more hands-on learning experience!
Overall, with game development for kids, the goal is to develop skills and have fun doing it. Just like for all other DIY crafts and games that you create together with your child, you should embrace imperfections – even encourage making mistakes! In the end, game development is a cyclical, never-ending process of trial and error, discovery and (re)invention.
Teaching kids fun STEM facts and interesting science facts is a great way to get children excited about science. This offers them an opportunity to obtain brief and memorable information on how the world works and why things are the way they are – from planets to plants, to animals and the human body!
As classrooms evolve, teachers increasingly seek fun, memorable ways to connect students to science. So, we have prepared a list of fun facts about STEM that you can share with your children to astonish them and spark interest in different fields. If you’re looking to inspire scientific thinking through playful, real-world insights:
How can space facts spark student curiosity about the universe?
1. The Milky Way contains 100–400 billion stars; the known universe includes over 170 billion galaxies.
2. The Sun is massive enough to fit 1 million Earths inside it.
3. A plane from the Moon to the Sun would take 20 years to arrive.
4. Venus is the hottest planet at 450°C.
5. Most galaxies have supermassive black holes at their center.
6. A teaspoon of neutron star material weighs 6 billion tons and spins 600 times per second.
7. Neptune completes a full day in just 16 hours.
These facts support STEM inquiry and help students conceptualize scale, distance, and the physics of celestial bodies!
Nature & Earth Science Facts
What everyday natural facts help students connect with Earth systems?
8. Earth is 70% water, with only 11% of its surface usable for habitation.
9. It takes 2 years for a pineapple to fully grow.
10. There are 630 species of carnivorous plants—some live entirely in water!
11. Elephants have the longest pregnancy of any land animal: 22 months.
12. Hummingbirds flap their wings 200 times per second.
13. A teaspoon of healthy soil holds up to 100 million bacteria.
14. If all glaciers melted, sea levels could rise by 82 feet, flooding major cities.
These insights support hands-on learning around ecology, biology, and climate education!
PS: What About AI?
As AI in education transforms how students think and engage, it’s essential to offer resources that blend curiosity with conceptual clarity. Get access to STEM-aligned learning solutions from Twin and make real-world science approachable and active in your classroom!
Amazing Facts About the Human Body
What fun biology facts can enhance student understanding of life sciences?
15. The human body is made up of 50–65% water.
16. Humans share 99% of their DNA with each other and 96% with chimpanzees.
17. An adult human heart weighs 250–300g; a newborn’s heart is about 100g.
18. The human eye can distinguish about 10 million colors.
19. The brain receives 25% of all oxygen in the body.
These help students engage with anatomy and support AI literacy when paired with teacher AI tools that visualize biological systems!
Interesting Facts About Computer Science & Technology
How can tech history fuel excitement for coding and edtech?
20. Electronic computers began in the 1940s. ENIAC (1945) weighed 27 tons.
21. Leonardo da Vinci sketched an early robot in 1495.
22. Alan Turing’s 1936 paper introduced the foundations of modern computing.
23. Moderate video gaming can improve memory, logic, and spatial reasoning.
24. The internet connects global systems via wired and wireless networks.
These are great conversation starters when introducing coding, robotics, and edtech platforms in the classroom!
Facts About Women in STEM
Which pioneering women can inspire future innovators in your class?
25. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space (1983).
26. Margaret Hamilton wrote the code for the Apollo 11 mission.
27. Amelia Earhart completed record-breaking solo flights across oceans.
28. Gladys West developed algorithms that led to GPS technology.
29. Grace Hopper invented COBOL, a foundational computer language.
30. Florence Nightingale reduced death rates during the Crimean War from 42% to 2% using data and hygiene principles.
Incorporating these stories supports gender equity in STEM and introduces role models for diverse learners!
Conclusion: Use Facts to Build Futures
Why should teachers bring short science facts into everyday instruction?
Because well-framed facts open windows to larger concepts. They trigger inquiry, fuel curiosity, and activate cross-disciplinary learning—from astronomy to AI. Get your classroom started today with hands-on AI learning solutions from Twin. Spark discovery. Support STEM. Nurture young minds ready to shape tomorrow.
Mindfulness is a great tool for us adults to find balance in our hectic life – but what about the little ones? Surely you don’t have to talk to children about the deeper, complex philosophical foundations of Buddhist and Hindu teachings. However, there are proven benefits to starting early.
The key is to choose age-appropriate methods that will help them enjoy the practice. What does that entail? What do we mean when we talk about mindfulness for kids? Keep reading to find out and discover fun mindfulness activities for kids!
What is mindfulness for kids?
Emotional and mental self-regulation skills are learned at young ages, and this is where mindfulness activities for kids come into the picture. Mindfulness for kids is about teaching them how to pay attention to the present moment, to their body and their surroundings. It equips them with tools for self-awareness, self-acceptance, and confidence, and how to shift their attention amidst the distractions of everyday life.
Simple mindfulness meditation exercises can support children’s healthy development and set them up for success in their adult life.
Importance of Mindfulness Exercises for Kids
The overall positive effects of meditation on psychological and cognitive well-being have been proven in clinical trials and research. But what about the importance of mindfulness for kids?
Research suggests that the same benefits apply to adults and children alike. Here are some of the myriad benefits of mindfulness that can help you and your children:
Here is a fun mindfulness exercise consisting of mindful breathing and a bit of mathematics! Ask your child to inhale deeply while counting up to 4, then pause for another 4, and exhale up to a count of 4. Finally, count to another 4 after emptying the big breath to complete your “square”.
If you want, you can increase the count for a deeper, more engaging breath. This exercise is especially great when they are feeling stressed or dealing with a difficult emotion. (It also helps us adults when our wounded inner child takes over!)
Mindfulness Walk in Nature
Taking long walks in the nature has proven benefits on the mind. It’s a great opportunity to let the mind take a break and indulge in the calming effect of natural surroundings. Especially when we are stuck in our routine commute between work/school and home, confined between four walls for the majority of our days!
Plan a “scavenger hunt” list beforehand, with goals to notice certain kinds of animals and plants on your walk. This will help your child be more attentive to their surroundings, and make it a fun, gamified exercise. You can even encourage them to keep a journal and write their observations regularly.
Engage the Five Senses
Holistic mindfulness exercises help ground the mind in the body and the physical environment. A great way to do this is targeting the five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, and sound. There is no single recipe to do this. But the essential idea is to stimulate the senses, and perhaps isolate one sense at a time.
One example is a blindfolded taste test, trying to guess the flavour by smelling and eating the sample. The blindfold can be kept on and used for the similar experience, but with sounds. Have your child guess the source and location of a sound inside the house (or perhaps outside).
Mindful Poses
You probably heard of “power posing” and how it can boost your confidence and mood. Why not encourage your child to give the art of mindful posing a go? You can try classic yoga poses such as the warrior(s), happy baby, child’s pose. Or the “superhero” pose—let them stand tall with their feet a little wider than hip-width, with hands placed on their hips or reached to the sky. Ask them if they notice any changes in their mind afterwards, and watch them unleash their inner superhero!
Scan the Body
The body scan meditation aims to bring mindful attention towards the body, and helps release tension. You can opt for this exercise especially before bedtime to offer your child a calm, peaceful sleep. It consists of laying down in a silent room, taking deep breaths and focusing on different parts of the body one by one.
Guide them to focus on the feet, legs, belly, chest, hands, arms, the back, neck, shoulders, face, and finally head. For extra relaxation, you can ask them to gently squeeze the muscles they are focusing on, hold for a few seconds, then release.
How do you practice mindfulness in children?
You might be thinking, “I can’t even them to sit through a feature film, how can I introduce my child to mindfulness?” It surely takes patience, but there are many ways to teach mindfulness to kids. With their ever-curious minds, they are naturally inclined to focus on details of the present. All they need is a little guidance.
The question is, then, not whether they can practice mindfulness, but how to encourage mindfulness in kids. Let’s go through some of the best practices to guide your child in building a habit of mindfulness:
Lead by example
Children are like mirrors of their caretakers. They see the adults around them as embodying the ideal ways to go through life. In other words, what you do is what you will get. Especially for smaller children, how you act in your everyday life, how you approach emotionally challenging situations can have a moulding effect.
Even if it is small breathing exercises or stopping for a moment of gratitude meditation, make sure that you integrate mindfulness in your daily life. Whenever possible, explain to your child what you are doing and how it may help.
Make it a routine
The mind, like the rest of the body, is essentially all muscle. To maintain the muscles in good condition, you need consistency. Just like regular exercise is essential to keep up the overall condition of the body, mindfulness exercises also work much better with regular practice. Allocating a specific time in the day, for at least 5-10 minutes, will ensure a healthy regularity. The key is to show up for it, even on difficult days.
Do it together
Families that practice mindfulness together, stay serene together! When it comes to trying out new things, children love being supported by family members. Take this opportunity to make it a fun activity for some quality family time. You can try parent-children yoga or meditation classes, or try out simple exercises at home together. Reflecting on the experience afterwards will create space for deeper conversations and bonding.
Support the practice with games, videos, apps
Children nowadays have an attention span that’s hard to capture, and it may be a good idea to get support for the exercises. There are plenty of great resources created and curated by experts in mindfulness for kids. Guided meditation apps and videos and mindfulness games appropriate for their age can be very useful.
Recognize and validate emotions
To make mindfulness a consistent part of everyday life, you should encourage the practice of emotional self-acceptance and validation. The way caretakers respond to children’s emotions shape their inner responses. Hence, if you want your child to listen to their body and mind, accept it as it is, you should practice the same thing in your relationship. Make it a regular routine to check on your child’s emotions, talk about them and recognize them. Let them know whatever they feel is valid, and that they are worthy of love and acceptance as they are.
In today’s world, the importance of STEM education goes far beyond classrooms, laboratories, and workplaces designated for these branches. Our daily life and relationship with the world are predominantly determined by the insights of STEM.
The four letters and the disciplines they represent (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) may seem intimidating. One might think, sceptically, at first glance: “How can younger children who don’t yet know basic mathematical concepts be introduced to STEM?”
Where there’s a will, there is a way! And especially in the case of the powerful cross-disciplinary universe of STEM, there are plenty of ways. Whether they have just started preschool or they are heading towards middle school, all children can build a fun and nurturing relationship with STEM.
In this article, we will take a look into what STEM education means for kids, how it can be applied in the learning processes of younger children, and the importance of STEM education in elementary schools and preschools.
What is STEM education for kids?
STEM education includes all sorts of professional and preparatory training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For adults, this means a more pragmatic and professional skills-oriented kind of education. When we talk about STEM education for kids, it’s a slightly different story.
Surely every child is unique in their interests and talents. But a universal feature shared by children of all ages and backgrounds is a natural curiosity. For kids, STEM education precisely targets this. It nurtures children’s curiosity into an organic interest in science and builds the foundations of mental and motor skills that can later be matured into professional STEM expertise.
What does STEM stand for in preschool and primary education?
STEM stands for the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. As with all other educational journeys, the best time to start STEM learning is in early childhood. The first five years of human life are especially critical for cognitive development.
Of course, this does not mean teaching Java or other coding languages to preschoolers who don’t yet have any literacy skills. The importance of STEM education in elementary schools and preschool comes from laying the foundations for more advanced STEM skills. In fact, STEM education for primary school students starts from real-life scenarios and easily accessible materials which will help them relate to and get engaged with more complex topics.
With an amalgamation of learning and play, children are introduced to basic STEM concepts and encouraged to adopt a scientific mindset. Hands-on learning experiences enable younger kids to ask questions, explore the answers through trial and error, and build analytical skills such as problem-solving and reasoning.
Why is STEM education so important?
STEM education benefits pre-elementary and elementary stage children in so many ways. A well-rounded education is expected to prepare children to succeed and prosper later in life. For 21st-century individuals, STEM is no longer just a field of expertise, but very much embedded in daily life. Even in today’s world, basic STEM competence and digital literacy are among commonly sought features in the skilled workforce.
The United Nations have included STEM education and literacy as a key factor in accomplishing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is thus fair to say that the importance of STEM education has been recognized as a motor for global sustainable development and prosperity, especially in the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, science and maths continue to be compelling courses for many primary students who have a hard time enjoying the abstract concepts and relations between the ideas. With quality STEM education, these obstacles in earlier school levels can be overcome, and the creative potential of students can be unlocked.
Importance of STEM education implementation in elementary schools
STEM education is a lifelong journey that should start as soon as possible. According to the US National Research Council, the core ideas specific to disciplines and the cross-disciplinary concepts of STEM need to be taught from kindergarten through primary and secondary schooling, continuing later in higher education.
How is an integrated STEM education different from the already existing science and mathematics curricula? Elementary STEM education for kids draws connections between science, technology, and mathematics to help children develop an interdisciplinary mindset.
Whether children will end up pursuing STEM-related careers or not, through integrated STEM education at early ages, they gain 21st-century skills of spatial reasoning, problem-solving, being proactive, creative, and unafraid to experiment through trial and error.
Different STEM Activities for Children Between Ages 7-12
We have mentioned how STEM education is not limited to classrooms. Children are already prone to asking “why” and “how” questions about the world, and most of them can be answered via observation and experiment.
This means that parents can play a supplementary role for K-12 STEM learning with different activities. There are plenty of ways you can help encourage kids with STEM learning, but in a nutshell, it comes down to an approach combining play and work–a hands-on minds-on active learning process. Here are some activity ideas to acquaint early elementary children with STEM:
Outdoor scavenger hunts
Scavenger hunts are the epitome of the hands-on, minds-on approach. Setting up different challenges and goals (for example, a spring scavenger hunt for specific plants and animals) will motivate children to explore and appreciate their environment, and get closely acquainted with nature like true scientists!
Scavenger hunts are especially great for cultivating skills such as problem-solving, communication, following cues and rules, creative thinking, spatial memory, and learning through observation.
DIY STEM Projects
A key feature of STEM is that it allows for creativity, inventiveness, and innovation. Remember how you would play with ordinary objects for hours as a child, making armours from blankets and rocket ships from cardboard boxes? Even with the simplest home items, you can encourage your child to explore their inner engineer, working towards building a certain product and solving a certain problem.
In fact, you can do so even without using any materials. You can play a brainstorming game, such as “The Shoe Factory Mishap”—imagine a shoe factory that produced 100 unpaired extra left shoes. What could be done with these shoes? Come up with 100 ways to use them! Here’s the first one: a very avant-garde vase.
Experiments in the kitchen
The kitchen can turn into a perfect home laboratory for young curious minds. Think about it from their perspective: myriad ingredients leading to different reactions when combined, measuring, mixing, using heat, boiling, cooling, and exploring matter in all states—liquids, solids, gases!
Even the simplest recipe, your go-to cake, for example, can be astonishing as you go through the steps. For younger children, this is an opportunity to learn by doing, and see how biochemistry plays out in daily life.
Online STEM courses and games
Thanks to our highly digitized world, you no longer need complicated and inaccessible equipment to teach your children STEM skills. There are plenty of online STEM education tools and resources, as well as STEM sets for children to guide little ones through an interactive learning process.
Twin app offers thousands of free STEM-related trivia and ideas for fun STEM experiments and activities to try at home. Children can also share their creations with their peers and share their passions with one another, while parents are offered monthly reports to track their child’s progress, areas of interest, and areas of improvement.
How to Use Twin Sets as Part of STEM Education
Twin’s minds-on, hands-on education with STEM kits and app offers a holistic hybrid learning journey for ages 7-12. The Twin STEM sets are tailor-made with the insight gained through fieldwork with 20,000+ children, aiming to instill the love of science in children.
The Twin Coding Kit features magnetic LEGO-compatible modules which, combined with the Twin mobile app, introduce children to the world of coding! For younger children and for those with an artistic side, the Robotic Art Kit combines the LEGO-compatible technological modules with endless creative possibilities. Twin Curiosity Kit is the perfect STEM starter kit for kids who want to get into robotics and try their hand at making innovative inventions.
Last but not least, the award-winning Twin Autonomous Vehicle Kit allows children to design self-driving vehicles powered by artificial intelligence, and control the car through the app themselves!
There are over 1000 projects on the Twin app, some of which use the modules in the STEM kits, and others that can be easily completed with everyday objects found at and around the home.
What’s more, Twin’s online STEM education and coding lessons for kids employ a double-winged approach that combines STEM learning with a sense of ethical duty toward the world. Not only do children develop STEM skills and explore the limits of their imagination, but they also learn about current global issues and come up with solutions, from climate change to alternative, sustainable energy sources and zero waste.
Start your child’s online STEM education journey today, and give them the gift of skills they will use for a lifetime!
Science and children have an organic bond, since children are naturally equipped with a curiosity towards the external world and how things work. The important thing is to nurture this relationship by integrating science into early childhood education, and keeping them interested in science as they grow.
As most parents and educators know, children’s attention span can be volatile. Teaching science to preschoolers and primary school students requires extra care and reinforcement through fun elements to keep their enthusiasm alive.
In this article we will talk about ways to instill a love of science in early childhood that will last for a lifetime!
How to get your child involved in STEM
Take walks in the nature
All great innovations and scientific breakthroughs involve a curious pair of eyes closely observing the world. Exceptional scientists and innovators come out of those with an exceptional bond with nature. What better way to encourage the same relationship between science and children than spending quality outdoor time together!
You can collect leaves and flower petals and identify the species, make some non-human friends, and talk about natural phenomena while you hike, and keep an exploration journal to note down what struck their interest, and reflect on your experience.
Visit science centres
Science museums and centres can provide a complete immersive STEM experience for your little ones. For example, London’s 150-year-old Science Museum houses the Wonderlab interactive gallery, which offers live experiments, a fun maths zone, giant slides, and the opportunity to stargaze.
With a wide variety of hands-on activities and informative sessions, such visits are perfect for creating experiences of science and technology for kids to remember and cherish for a lifetime.
Watch videos and documentaries
Humans are primarily visual learners. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. This is great news, since we live in an era with access to so many quality nature, science, and technology content both on TV (e.g. Discovery, National Geographic) and digital video platforms such as YouTube and Netflix.
In fact some of them are specifically tailor-made for teaching kids science. SciShow, TheBackyardScientist, and Crash Course Kids are very popular on YouTube among kids interested in science. There are great shows on Netflix to kickstart science education for kids such as Emily’s Wonder Lab, Street Genius, and Explained.
Play video games
If you’re battling with screen addiction at home, maybe it’s time to revise your strategy and come up with healthy ways to use your kid’s screen time. Is your child interested in playing video games? This is actually a great opportunity to ignite an interest in science in early childhood.
Video games that are suitable for children and have world-building, creative, and analytical elements can support STEM learning in kids.Endless Ocean offers an underwater exploration adventure, Minecraft promotes creativity and engineering skills, and the famous strategy game Civilization both improves analytical skills and encourages critical engagement with world history.
What is the best way to get kids interested in science and technology?
There is no single recipe to get your kids interested in science and technology – the one and the same method can be met with one kid’s indifference, and another’s enthusiasm. What you, as a parent or educator, should do is opt for a diverse, well-rounded science education rooted in everyday life and fun!
Conduct experiments at home
Experiments and hands-on science activities for children are a great way to jump directly into the world of science in early childhood. And no, you don’t need a fully-equipped laboratory for that. As long as you put in the effort and guide your kid, there are infinitely many ways to carry out experiments and STEM activities at home.
Don’t know where to start? Check out the wide range of challenges on the Twin STEM games appwith detailed how-to guides! Most of them are easily replicable with materials at home and minimal effort, yielding great fascination and a sense of achievement in children.
Integrate science into play
If there’s one thing that all children love and never get tired of, it’s play! Effective integration of science into their world of play (or making science “child’s play” in a double sense) is the key to igniting sustainable interest in science and technology for kids.
Nowadays there are many STEM toys tailor-made with expertise for the purpose of science education for kids. One such example is the award-winning Twin Science STEM kits offering endless ways to explore, create, and invent for kids.
Not only do they support the development of fundamental 21st century skills for kids such as programming, engineering, AI & robotics, problem solving, scientific thinking, and creative thinking, but they also come with LEGO™ compatible modules easily attached with magnets.
Talk about the science of everyday life
Remember how we talked about the scientific mindset above, ofestablishing a curious relationship with the world? For us adults, most things have lost their mystery and fascination, but it’s not the same with fresh minds – always inquiring about why and how things are the way they are!
When you’re mixing ingredients in the kitchen, explain what you’re doing and which materials have which purposes. What makes the cake batter expand and become fluffy? Where do the sugar grains go when you stir them in a liquid? Always be welcoming and encouraging of inquiry, and make space for them to explore the answers themselves whenever possible.
How do you make STEM learning fun?
We have talked about how to spark interest in science and technology, but how do you create an overall sustainable STEM learning journey? What can you do to adopt an effective and fun science education for kids?
The earlier you start, the better, as is the case with all types of learning. You may be wondering how complex concepts and ideas in the STEM field can be introduced to younger children in a consistent manner. We have a one-stop-shop solution for this: Twin’s hybrid plan.
Not only will children benefit from the guided interactive tools and resources in the app that gamify learning STEM skills, but also get all 6 STEM kits for a full hands-on experience. The hybrid plan is specially tailored for STEM education for ages 8-11 that complements the UK, US, and IB school curricula.
STEM education with Twin’s kits and app also proves useful in teaching science to preschoolers. Children between ages 5-12 can benefit from the Robotic Art Kit and Curiosity Kit under the guidance of an adult, participate in the STEM challenges in the app, and even try out the rich catalogue of STEM trivia.
Shop the STEM kits or try out the hybrid plan to get all 6 kits and unlimited access to the app at a special discounted price!
