The_STEM_Mum

The_STEM_Mum An IT Professional and Mum of 7-years old munchkin, with passion for Science, Technology, Engineerin

There are many things about lockdown that could be hard for kids to deal with; being out of routine, not being with thei...
17/01/2021

There are many things about lockdown that could be hard for kids to deal with; being out of routine, not being with their friends(especially on occasions like Birthdays🎂) and having to suddenly learn at home! However, every challenge, every adversity, contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth🌱. COVID-19 has led to a distinctive rise of innovative digital initiatives to enable kids(and their parents) to adapt to the new "normal".

One such amazing concept we came across recently is Virtual Quests! My little one had a fab time attending quests designed by Questime (www.questime.co.uk). As a new fan of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, she thoroughly enjoyed the "Superhero: The Case of Dr Physicus" quest, exploring Physics while breaking into the Superhero lab of Dr Physicus. Questime also offer fun and exciting quests for birthday parties/playdates via Zoom, educational online quests to enrich school curriculum and printable quests for a fun treasure hunt at home. Fun, engaging and informative - I highly recommend it!❤

14/01/2021

The goal is to create the journey🛣 Experience the power of gravity and discover how the laws of physics affect the journey of little balls in this action-packed marble-run building system - GRAVITRAX from Ravensburger . Marble runs have never been this elegant!🙌

My daughter absolutely loves this super-fun STEM kit, full of endless possibilities and creativity! It combines the joy of track building with problem-solving. Ideal for building STEM skills, the kit teaches kids to leverage gravity, kinetics and magnetism to maneuver marble down a track.

Kids can also download the free GraviTrax app and create their own virtual builds before putting them together in the physical world. Another great feature is that the system can be expanded with various accessories that increase the complexity and interest of the tracks.

09/01/2021

Joy doesn't exist in the world, it exists in us ❤ ~Benjamin Franklin

Shadows are all around us! Shadows are important historically, for they provided early evidence that light travels in straight lines. For centuries, people have used sundials to tell time based on sunlight’s changing directions and its effects on shadows. Because shadows reveal much about an object's extension in space, they are often used to enhance the illusion of depth in a painting!

Do check-out the cute wikiHow tutorial (www.wikihow.com/Make-Shadow-Puppets) to inspire the little ones become Master Shadow Puppeteers!

Do you know about the unusual phenomenon which happens twice a year in certain parts of the world when there are no shadows because the sun is directly overhead? The Hawaiians call this phenomenon the "Lahaina Noon". Watch the amazing video on “Lahaina noon” by Physics Girl on YouTube. I learned something new today 😀

04/01/2021

How fast is your brain? 🧠🤯

The famous "Stroop Effect" is named after J. Ridley Stroop who discovered this strange phenomenon in the 1930s. The Stroop effect is our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to spell the name of a different color🎨. When the meaning of the word is incongruent with the color, such as "BLUE" written in red color, it causes interference between between the two brain processes - word-recognition and color-recognition.There are few theories that may explain the Stroop effect💡
1️⃣ Speed of Processing Theory ➡️ Words are read faster than colors are named.
2️⃣ Selective Attention Theory ➡️ Naming colors requires more attention than reading words.
3️⃣ Automatic Word Recognition Hypothesis➡️ After we learn to read, recognizing words becomes an automatic behaviour for the brain.
The Stroop test can be combined with others to measure a person’s selective attention capacity and processing speed ability.

I hope you had a good brain workout🏋️‍♂️🏋️‍♀️! How did you fare against your family members😉?

01/01/2021

Ingenious ideas made real💡! My little one had oodles of fun reading "The Little Inventors Handbook" @ HarperCollins Children's Books UK , by Dominic Wilcox and Katherine Mengardon 🙌

With this step-by-step guide, Chief Inventor Dominic Wilcox takes the Little Inventors through the process of coming up with new ideas, including problem solving, ways to make objects better, and thinking about the ways people use things. Be inspired by drawings of scarf helicopters, ladybird umbrellas, and ghost wash'n'dry machines!

Connect with your inner-inventor... What will YOU invent?

30/12/2020

Indeed a very special first guest to please as a junior chef 👨‍🍳👩‍🍳 at the world's famous Lello restaurant - Kid Chef Amazon Alexa skill!

Children make choices everyday; some of them are inconsequential and others have a big impact! Hone their decision-making skills with these fun Alexa commands ▶️

1️⃣ "Alexa, Open Animal Rescue" ➡️ As a caretaker, your job is to take care of an orphaned baby panda. Answer questions and make the correct decisions until the panda grows to become an adult and is released back into the wild.

2️⃣ "Alexa, Open Tricky Genie" ➡️ Think you can outsmart the Tricky Genie? Try this problem-solving Alexa skill! Alexa will tell you a quick story about one or more characters that get themselves into a predicament. The tricky genie will appear holding three sacks. One sack contains the very best solution to the problem.

3️⃣ "Alexa, Open Kid Chef" ➡️ Put your decision-making skills as to the test as junior chef by planning the tastiest menu before cooking each dish to perfection. Impress the guests and please the scary Head Chef Antoine to win the game!

Alexa isn't just a digital assistant for playing music or controlling your smart home, it also offers many skills to keep children entertained.

🔆Tip🔆 If you don't have an Echo device, you can download the Alexa app and log in with your Amazon account. On the home screen, select the speech icon and then invoke the name of Alexa skill.

As we all know that Technology is here to stay, so let's learn to use it wisely!

27/12/2020

Our No Sew T-Shirt Tote Bag is ready👜! Thanks to the YouTube tutorial by What's Up Moms... Please excuse my poor scissor skills✂️ though🙈!

Plastic is one of the most persistent pollutants on Earth. This immortal super villain🦹‍♂️ often lasts for 400 years or more. Inspired by one of the UN Global Goals(Number 14: Life Below Water) stressing the disastrous impacts that plastic pollution has on our environment, Kids Against Plastic, a campaign set-up by sisters Amy and Ella Meek, aged 15 and 13, was born.
Checkout their website (www.kidsagainstplastic.co.uk), which is meant to help people become Plastic Clever by avoiding single-use plastics through EDUCATION(learning) and ACTION(doing).

It's very important for our children to learn about climate change and how they can make a difference! Head over to NASA Climate Change website(https://climatekids.nasa.gov) for games, activities and articles that make climate science accessible and engaging for kids!

"Each one of us can make a difference. Together we can make a change."
- Barbara Mikulski

22/12/2020

Science to the Rescue⛑! Even Mr.Claus can do with some help applying science and engineering practices💡

Introduce young kids to the idea of simple machines in the following amusing ways:

1️⃣ Play the Simple Machines Game and help the adorable-but-lazy Twitch do his work in the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago workshop (www.msichicago.org/play/simplemachines)

2️⃣ Listen to the catchy "The Simple Machines Song" by Scratch Garden on YouTube!

Can your little munchkins think of other simple machines to help Santa🎅 fill the stocking🎁? A Catapult, May Be😉?

21/12/2020

Great Conjunction 2020! Skywatchers across the world 🌎 are preparing for an end-of-year treat 🌌🔭

This rare astronomical event, dubbed as the "star of Bethlehem", happening today also coincides with this year's 'Winter Solstice'. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture the dance of two planetary giants.

Do look out for the Christmas Star! ⭐🪐




• • • • • •
Here's an end-of-year treat for skywatchers. Over the next few nights, the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer and closer together in the evening sky, culminating on the night of Dec. 21, when they will appear almost to touch, in an event called a great conjunction.

Jupiter and Saturn won't really be unusually close to each other – they’ll just appear to line up from our point of view here on Earth.

Here's how to see them during the next few nights:

✨ Find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright, so they can be seen even from most cities.

✨ The planets can be seen with the unaided eye. If you have binoculars, you may also be able to see Jupiter’s four large moons orbiting the giant planet, and with a telescope you may be able to see the rings of Saturn.

✨ An hour after sunset, look to the southwestern sky. Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible. Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21, when Jupiter will overtake it and they will appear almost on top of each other. In the following days, they will reverse positions in the sky as they continue to move in their respective orbits.

Mistakes❌. All of us make 'em, none of us like 'em! 🤦‍♀️"Beautiful Oops!" is delightful interactive book by Barney Saltz...
21/12/2020

Mistakes❌. All of us make 'em, none of us like 'em! 🤦‍♀️

"Beautiful Oops!" is delightful interactive book by Barney Saltzberg, a vibrant reminder for everyone that it's OK to make mistakes! When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful!

“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts.”
- Nikki Giovanni

Messing things up is a crucial part of learning! Our performance based education system may not be helping, but studies shows that by embracing errors, children may actually learn more. Take chances, make mistakes! 🙃


"The possibility of creation from paper is infinite." - Akira YoshizawaOrigami is derived from two Japanese words: Ori(f...
21/12/2020

"The possibility of creation from paper is infinite." - Akira Yoshizawa

Origami is derived from two Japanese words: Ori(folded) and Kami(paper). It helps kids develop spatial skills, learn geometry, refine hand-eye coordination, as well as improve concentration. It's also an effective tool to develop mindfulness as it enhances the ability to be aware of what is happening in the moment.

I absolutely love the intricate and delightful origami designs by Jo Nakashima. The big 🎄 tree is my first Origami attempt, based on "Origami with Jo Nakashima" YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/user/jonakashima).
The little 🎄 tree is made by my little one, based on Art for Kids Hub YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub). It's a wonderful channel for younger kids to learn drawing, painting & origami in a fun & exciting way!

Legend says that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their wish come true! Feeling Lucky?🍀

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