Science? Its’s kids play

Children are blessed with an almost infinite degree of curiosity about the world around them. It’s why they leave Lego bricks lying around so they can learn interesting new words from their parents. It’s why they stick things into plug sockets and eat creepy crawlies. 

Why not harness that curiosity and help them develop an interest and essential skills in science, technology, engineering and maths? STEM toys sneak in a lot of learning under a huge amount of fun. 

The good thing is it’s never too early to start sneaking science into play. Janod’s Four Seasons Magnetibook will help your child learn about weather, seasons and nature while creating mess-free pictures with the shapes. You can find it at kidly.co.uk 

Smartmax do some entertaining toys for those aged three and above, including Roboflex Create which lets kids assemble their own robots from flexible magnetic components. As well as concepts like symmetry and engineering design, your kids will find magnets fascinating, so you may need to google how they work beforehand. You can find the range at smarttoysandgames.co.uk

Kikkerland have a new range of cardboard kits called Newton’s Lab. Their appeal is two-fold because not only do you – sorry, your children – get to build something, you then get to play with it. There’s a hydraulic claw set that’s ideal for budding mechanical engineers and a painting pendulum that proves science is an art. You can often find Kikkerland’s range at local garden centres. 

Edx are great for toys which help younger children learn counting and basic maths skills. There are measuring and balancing scales, sorting toys and some great activity kits. Their Monster Counters Activity Set is suitable for ages three and up and lots of sorting, matching and counting activities using six different types of cute little monsters. They also do some superb early maths kits for 4-5 year olds that build numeracy, problem-solving and logic skills. You’ll find the range at shopedx.co.uk

For those at school, MEL Science’s subscription service is amazing. Each month your child will get up to three experiments to do at home. Not only
do these tend to be dramatic, but they make learning really fun, especially when you add in their live science lessons complete with augmented and virtual reality. You can choose from STEM subscriptions for those aged 5-9, Physics for 8-14+ or Chemistry for 10-16+. One month your child could be building a wooden printing press, the next codebreaking creating crystals, exploring earthquakes or learning about magnetic levitation. Discover them for yourself at melscience.com/GB-en/

All you need now is a very small lab coat and you could have the next Einstein or Madame Curie on your hands!