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Chicago Tribune
04-08-2025
- Science
- Chicago Tribune
Build skills early with top-rated STEM toys
Are you looking for quality STEM toys for your toddler — toys that will nurture an interest in science, technology, engineering, or math? Some of the best STEM toys are actually the simplest toys. Electronic toys that are labeled as educational often do not provide the early STEM educational benefits that simple toys can provide. In fact, studies suggest that electronic toys that make noise, light up, talk and play music can inhibit communication between the child and the parent or caregiver. When a child plays with an electronic toy, he tends to tune out other things and people in the room. Adults tend to interact with the child less as a result. Therefore, the best STEM toys are not necessarily electronic toys. And that makes sense, because early STEM education is actually not about the electronics and tablets and screens. Rather, it is about exploring, creating, learning, testing, critical thinking, and innovating — all of which can be fostered at a young toys Simple toys that encourage a child to build creatively are always a hit with kids. LEGO offers a wide range of toys for multiple ages. For example, LEGO idea sets offer some of the most challenging projects. For younger kids, you may want to consider a LEGO-compatible table for free imaginative play (and easy storage, too). K'Nex are another line of buildable toys that offer something fun for all ages. If you're shopping for a baby or toddler, you may want to start with something even simpler, such as a set of stacking blocks. The mere act of creating simple structures plants the seed for important math and geometry skills as babies experiment with shapes and sizes and use trial and error to assemble and fit objects together. Building blocks are great for older children, too, and you can make playtime even more challenging by introducing additional concepts. For example, ask the child to build a simple pyramid and then knock it down. Next, ask the child to replicate the structure from memory. See if they are able to use their engineering skills to figure it out. Playing with construction materials is also a great way to introduce STEM vocabulary. Talk about the sizes and shapes of the blocks and structures. Talk about what is bigger, smaller, wider or thinner. For older children, verbally direct them to build structures using spatial terms. You could say, 'Stack the red block on top of the blue block. Then, put the triangle beside the blue square.' See if they can identify the shapes by name, follow simple directions, and sequence the activity. Water toys Water play is great for early STEM education, and there are several inexpensive toys that lend themselves to this activity. Items such as eye droppers, turkey basters, stacking cups, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and small plastic toys are great for water play. These toys can be brought into the bathtub or used in a baby pool outside, in the kitchen sink or in a basin on the floor. During water play, encourage younger children to fill containers and dump them out. Talk about volume, and use words such as 'full'and 'empty.' You could build on this activity by filling small cups with water, then using food coloring to dye the water different colors. In so doing, you will introduce a whole new world of science by mixing colors! Encourage older children to make predictions or hypotheses during water play. For example, you could mix two colors together to see if the water turns the predicted color. Include a cup of milk for a base color. Books Books are great for teaching early STEM skills. Begin reading to babies as soon as they are born — or even before they are born, as a baby can hear Mommy's voice resonate through her body in utero. While reading, incorporate math concepts by counting items on the page. Touch each item with your finger to teach your child that each number represents an item. Say, 'There are three kitty cats on this page. Let's count them. One, two, three.' You can also use books to explore things that are similar or different and to point out patterns. Perhaps you could look at a picture and say, 'This man is wearing a hat; this man is not. The next man is wearing a hat; the man after him is not. That makes a pattern.' Books can also be used to hone the scientific skill of making predictions. For example, you can ask your child what she thinks will happen on the next page. Then, read the next page to find out if she's right. Other toys In addition to construction sets, water toys, and books, there are lots of toys on today's market that encourage STEM skills. Puzzles Wooden puzzles are excellent early STEM toys because they teach spatial skills and require some engineering to put together. Whether it's a basic shape puzzle for a baby or a hundred-piece puzzle for a young child, manipulating the pieces taps into geometry, engineering and simple trial and error. Magnifying glass A magnifying glass provides a world of exploration. Encourage your child to look at flower petals, spots on a ladybug, and the rainbow in a droplet of water. Talk about how the size changes from small to large when under the magnifying glass. Talk about textures, designs, and colors. Build your child's observational skills by asking a lot of questions about what they see. For example, ask, 'Why do you think the leaf has lines in it?' Household items Some of the best toys aren't marketed as toys at all. Encourage banging on pots and pans, matching containers to lids, and making a fort out of an empty box. Perhaps most importantly, remember to talk to your child all day long to help him process the new information he learns. Studies show that the best predictor of future academic skills is the quantity and quality of personal interactions between a child and their parent or caregiver. It's not just about STEM exposure; it's about the adults that foster STEM exposure and the personal interactions that take place. BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Daily Record
14-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Record
Renfrewshire twins scoop top prize at prestigious engineering competition
Lucy and Abbie Davis, of Howwood Primary School, were crowned winners of the West of Scotland champions in the Young Engineer Competition Renfrewshire twins came out on top in a prestigious engineering competition after impressing judges with their designs. Lucy and Abbie Davis, of Howwood Primary School, have been named West of Scotland champions in the Young Engineer Competition, which is part of the annual Glasgow Science Festival. The winning duo came first out of 6,700 pupils from 350 schools across the region. After successfully progressing through classroom, cluster, and regional rounds, Lucy and Abbie claimed victory at the grand final of Creating Engineers 2025, held at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. Throughout the competition, they had to build models of a working windmill, a rollercoaster, a watermill with a bucket on a pulley system, and an ambulance with a steering mechanism – showcasing their talent and creativity. On the day of the final, pupils were given a surprise challenge to build K'Nex designs. Lucy and Abbie impressed the judges with their teamwork, ingenuity, and engineering skills. Shirley Ormond, headteacher of Howwood Primary, said: 'Lucy and Abbie have shown a natural talent for engineering and teamwork. 'They also worked extremely hard to practise a variety of skills and aspects of engineering which resulted in their fantastic win in the Glasgow Young Engineers Competition. 'The whole school is very proud of them — they have certainly shown how ambitious our pupils are to achieve great things.' The winning designs from the pair of Howwood pupils were proudly on display at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow throughout the science festival's run in June. The Young Engineer competition, which has been running for nearly 20 years, is open to primary five and six pupils across the West of Scotland and aims to inspire the next generation of engineers through fun, hands-on challenges. Councillor Emma Rodden, convener of Renfrewshire Council's education and children's services policy board, added: 'This is a phenomenal achievement for Howwood Primary, and a testament to the high standard of STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] education in Renfrewshire. Competitions like this are vital in sparking young people's interest in engineering and innovation, and I'm delighted to see our pupils leading the way.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Local students compete in 11th annual STEM Design Challenge
About 160 students from school across Berks County got a chance to show off their science, technology, engineering and math skills this week. The students, making up 40 teams, competed in the 11th annual STEM Design Challenge at the Berks County Intermediate Unit. Azariah Ongwae, left, and Adalynn Woodward, both 11 and both fifth graders at Greenwich Elementary in the Kutztown School District work on a pollution separator during the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The contest was broken into two age groups, with students in fourth and fifth grades competing Tuesday and sixth- and eighth-graders competing Thursday. The challenge was a hands-on event, with students designing and using K'Nex or Engino pieces to build a prototype that addresses a real-world problem related to infrastructure, transportation or urban development. Elementary school students participate in the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The contest focused on industry, innovation and industry, and the students sought to develop innovative solutions for more efficient, sustainable and accessible cities, roads and systems. The purpose of the competition is to expand STEM-related educational opportunities for students at the regional and state levels while highlighting the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. As the Sweet Read City Transportation Authority, students create a simulated city during the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. From left are Maddy Hall, 10; Hailey Winslow, 9; Patrick Hannigan, 9; and Eva Weaver, 10, all fourth graders from Brecknock Elementary in the Gov. Mifflin School District. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The winners of the competition were: Grades 4 and 5 First — Sweet Read City Transportation Authority, Brecknock Elementary School. Second — K'Nex Creators of Cumru, Cumru Elementary School. Third (tie) — STEM Gems, Oley Valley Elementary School. Third (tie) — Artistic Architects, Oley Valley Elementary School. Fan Favorite — Beauty & Brains, Whitfield Elementary School. Grades 6-8 First — Wind-Assisted Vehicle Engineering, Twin Valley Middle School Second — Infrastructure Initiators, Oley Valley Middle School Third — Flood Fighters, St. Catharine's School, Mount Penn Fan Favorite — Adventure Bay Inventors, Wilson Southern Middle School.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Toymakers brace for Trump tariffs: 'It's killing our mojo'
The business of the North American Toy Fair, an annual showcase of the latest in silly putty, monster trucks and board games, is fun. But this year at the convention center in New York City, tariffs were killing the February, US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on products made in China by 10%. Then last week, with little warning, he announced an additional 10% border tax, which has now come into force on Tuesday, along with tariffs on Mexico and Canada. In the toy industry, which estimates that about 80% of toys sold in the US are made in China, the rapid-fire announcements have stunned businesses, leaving them scrambling to figure out how to swallow a sudden 20% rise in moves are the first of what Trump has threatened will be far wider action, making it a preview of the upheaval that could be coming for companies around the world. "It's the first thing we talk about and the last thing we talk about," toymaker Jay Foreman said this weekend from his booth at the trade show, where classic hits such as Lincoln Logs, Tonka Trucks and K'Nex were on business, Basic Fun!, makes 90% of its products in China and had been planning to counter the cost of the initial 10% tariff with a mix of higher prices for customers and lower profits, both for his firm and for his manufacturing partners. He presented the strategy to his board on Wednesday, ahead of the toy show, only to have to rip it up the next day, after Trump's later announcement. He will have to shoulder the tariff costs for products headed to stores this spring, he said, but is now expecting to raise prices for many items by at least 10% later in the year. "The reality is that tariffs will raise the cost of toys for consumers," he said. "If a customer says, 'Then I can't buy it', then I can't sell it, because I can't produce to lose money." Tariffs are a tax on imports collected by the government at the border and paid for by the companies bringing in the Trump's first term, China was the main target of the measures, with more than $360bn worth of products sent to the US getting hit by the the time, toys and many other consumer products were Trump has now applied the duties across the board, hitting almost 15% of the imports into the US each actions have been overshadowed by tariffs on products made in Mexico and Canada - America's top two trade partners, which have long operated under a free trade agreement with the US. And they fall short of the "up to 60%" tariff that Trump called for on the campaign trail last year. But with the latest move, businesses say the costs are getting too big to average effective tariff rate on imports from China now stands at roughly 34%, with recent actions amounting to a rise roughly twice as large as the increase during Trump's first four-year term as president, according to estimates by Goldman Sachs. "10% - it's something we can somehow live with. 20% is a different ball game," said Yaron Barlev, chief operating officer of Clixo, a Brooklyn-based maker of magnetic building toys which started about five years ago and signed a deal last year to start selling its toys at Target later in manufacturing in China now under way to satisfy that order, his firm, which employs 18 people in the US, is expecting to have to shoulder the costs of the border duties, scrambling its plans for profits. He said he hoped Trump would offer some kind of reprieve for toys but was not feeling especially optimistic."It's much less predictable now than he used to be so I really don't know." Trump has said his actions will help boost manufacturing in the US, by making it less cost-effective to make products overseas. But toymakers like Clixo, which had hoped to do its manufacturing in the US, say high costs and limited manufacturing capacity in the US make that idea a string of weaker economic data has raised concerns that the uncertainty due to the tariff talk is starting to cause wider economic paralysis. Basic Fun!, which employs about 165 people and does roughly $200m in sales each year, had been looking to grow. But with the threat of tariffs bearing down, Mr Foreman recently put plans for acquisitions on hold, unsure how to calculate what a business would be worth in such a changeable environment. "[A tariff] sounds good - 'Let's stick it to them!' But the ripple effect is unbelievable," Mr Forman said. The Toy Association, a business lobby group, says it is trying to make the case to the White House and Congress that toys should be exempt from tariffs, as they were before, warning that higher prices won't go unnoticed by a public already upset by the jump in prices in recent years. President Greg Ahearn said his members are largely small businesses with profit margins barely as large as the tariffs that are getting under way. "We think we have a very strong point to make and we're hoping they're going to be open to listening," he said. The Toy Fair is his organisation's marquee event, drawing businesses from around the world who line New York's convention center with cheerful displays of blocks, high-contrast baby books and spiky coloured balls. But worry about tariffs pulsed through the gathering this year."It's killing our mojo," said Mr Ahearn, noting that it was his members' top concern. From their booths, toymakers greeted questions about Trump's moves with head shakes, grimaces and disbelief. "20% is a lot," said Ada Luo, sales director for Wonderful Party, a manufacturer in Shenzhen, China, which makes Christmas light necklaces, leis and New Year's hats. "10% maybe... between the supplier and the buyer we can share, but 20%? We don't have a clue."
