COVID homeschooling ideas for mini engineers
Millions of parents across the UK had to become used to the idea of homeschooling this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic left schools sometimes closed and frazzled parents trying to keep eager young minds engaged at home.
Suddenly, it became clear how much hard work teaching actually is – especially for STEM subjects, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
If you’re looking for homeschooling ideas for these subjects, we’ve gathered together some of the best here.
Even if your little one is too young to have expressed much of an interest yet – and all you want are some little projects which will keep everyone entertained – these are still some exciting (and largely free) educational resources:
Science and engineering homeschooling ideas
1) Lego and Duplo
The only non-free option on this list, this classic range of children’s building blocks is still going strong. More than a few freshly qualified youngsters taking up civil engineer jobs have a cupboard full of Lego hidden somewhere at home.
It’s in Lego’s interest to encourage people to use their blocks in interesting ways, so it’s no surprise that you’ll find a whole bunch of ideas all over their website and social media.
For slightly older kids – perhaps budding mechanical design engineers interested in the jobs of the future – there is also the Lego Technic range which uses some basic engineering ideas.
2) Starters for STEM
Starters for STEM are some great resources offered by STEM Learning, an organisation dedicated to the furtherance of STEM education in the UK.
Over at stem.org.uk you can find 10 weeks’ worth of exciting activities to keep young minds engaged and interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Plus, you only need what you can usually find around your home to make most activities work for you.
3) The IET offers free packs
Check out the Institute of Engineering and Technology for completely free resources for all school ages and abilities.
From gentle starts suitable for 4 years and up through to theories of codes and codebreaking, you’ll find a huge wealth of things to do here.
4) Neon
EngineeringUK’s Neon website is part of the not-for-profit organisation’s ongoing work to inspire young engineers.
This carefully curated list of resources has something for children of all ages. Each is designed to promote “positive and contemporary messaging about engineering and engineering careers”.
5) NASA
Why not shoot for the stars? If your little one enjoys space-related activities, head on over to NASA’s website for things to make and watch and experiments to conduct – all in STEM or STEM-related fields.
A career in engineering?
A career in engineering can be an exciting and rewarding one. Plus, engineering jobs are going to be in high supply in the coming years. It’s been estimated that the industry will need engineering recruitment to the order of 1.8 million new qualified professionals by 2025.
From chemical engineers to software engineers to metallurgists, recruitment is going to be growing in the coming years.
It might just be playing with toys today. Tomorrow it could be a whole career full of engaging challenges.
Looking for your own job in an engineering field?
Ernest Gordon is a specialist engineering recruitment company. Contact us today and let’s chat about the opportunities we can find for you.