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STEM Bins are a wonderful way to engage and 鈥渨ake up鈥 those little brains each morning, This is also a great time to allow students to collaborate with partners. Instead of being just 鈥渂usy,鈥 students are engaged in creative, complex tasks and are encouraged to think like inventors. All types of learners will love exploring the different possibilities for the building materials. I've always hated paper and pencil morning work, which is why I flipped things up last year and had kids come in and start playing math games. It not only helped with their math skills, but with the social emotional adjustments of coming back to school. Students love STEM bins because they think they are just playing and building and sorting, but their brains are doing so much more. As they build they are engineering and persevering. They are critically thinking about what will go where. They are analyzing and making changes to their designs and structures, it's all so engaging and exciting. Whenever given the opportunity to work with manipulatives, students will immediately begin building towers, structures, and patterns without being prompted. They will communicate with their peers about their creations, maybe even combining materials to build something taller or stronger because engineering is already part of the DNA of young learners...it comes natural to them, so why shouldn't we nurture that? I would love your help in giving my kiddos some new, fun and creative ways to engage their little growing minds!
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