How to Encourage Curiosity in Early Childhood Education
Preschoolers are naturally curious, and great early childhood programs build on that natural curiosity to inspire the wonder of learning in our earliest knowledge seekers. Early childhood education is a wonder-filled time where children love to play, tinker, and explore how things look, feel, taste, and even smell! Although most early childhood education programs are play-based, there is very little purposeful incorporation of STEM. How can we build on that as educators to help foster a love for problem solving that we know STEM provides?
1st Maker Space has developed a series of lessons and support resources to make it easy for classroom teachers to add STEM and making as a learning experience for children as young as preschool. The 1st Maker Space Early Childhood STEM & Maker Curriculum is designed around the NAEYC STEM Framework and is aligned to the Indiana Early Learning Foundations. Although this curriculum is hands-on, every lesson begins with a book that is linked to the theme of the challenge or problem. This series of 45+ lessons provide a foundation in tinkering, making, engineering, and service learning for children ages 3-5. All unit plans are one page in length (back and front) and include student resources, including printable journals for student use for Making, Engineering, and Service Learning lessons. All lessons use common materials (like beads, cardboard, glue, etc.), and a materials list is included. A list of books is also included with each lesson. Every unit includes additional extensions and modifications for English Language Learners.
In the Animal Adaptations Unit, students will construct shelters for animals who have adapted to hiding from the sun. Students will first read Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart to provide examples of animals that hide from the sun. Students next build a lizard out of UV-sensitive pony beads to explore how the beads change when exposed to the sun. Through this lesson, students are able to experience heat both visually and kinesthetically. In day 3 of this unit, students build a shelter for the lizards they created using cardboard materials and other recyclables. View this lesson below by clicking on the image to download the lesson.
The 1st Maker Space Early Childhood Maker Curriculum is available as a digital download ($999) or as a hard copy set of laminated lesson plans ($1,249) as a one-time purchase. Customized professional development is also available. To learn more, contact 1st Maker Space at info@1stmakerspace.com.