Sheryl Jackson

The importance of science for society and our understanding of the world cannot be ignored. UNESCO describes it as our “greatest collective endeavor”, and there is no time like childhood to develop a love for and an interest in the sciences. Likewise, successful STEM Education states “Studies have identified the elementary years as the period when students form their interests in STEM identities and careers—much earlier than many people probably believe to be the case”. As parents and careers, everything we can do to impact our children’s views of science positively is essential.

A poll by NPR found that nearly 25% of parents and careers do not believe their child’s school emphasizes science education enough. It is therefore worth considering what more you can do as a family to promote science and to encourage a love of the subject in your kids.

Some parents may worry about their child’s ability and whether scientific information is actually sinking in. However, research carried out by the Bay Area Discovery Museum, The Roots of STEM Success: Changing Early Learning Experiences to Build Lifelong Thinking Skills, brings together a range of studies of children aged ten and under. It finds that while younger children may not be able to sift through information and share it effectively, they can understand complex scientific concepts and draw valuable conclusions. Children can do more than we think, so it is our responsibility to provide them with the scientific experiences they need to maximize their potential.

The Benefits of Scientific Education in Childhood

The earlier you introduce scientific ideas and theories into your children’s lives, the more they stand to gain. There are a wide range of benefits that come from prioritizing scientific education.

These include the following:

1) Foster a Lifelong Love of the Sciences

Children are naturally explorative. They want to learn and discover new things. Tapping into your children’s natural predisposition for discovery and experimentation will help to set the ball rolling for a lifelong love of science. Classroom-based learning can have a positive or negative impact on children. So, the more foundations you lay, the better the chance of a positive outcome. Nurturing a positive attitude to scientific learning positions your kids positively for their future education.

2) Provide the Base for a Scientific Mind

Scientific and critical thinking is a valuable skill across all areas of life. Simple day-to-day activities give many opportunities to introduce scientific ideas and a scientific approach to thinking. Encouraging and directing children’s natural curiosity and bringing basic scientific vocabulary into play at an early age makes this feel more natural and intuitive for your children as they grow.

3) Enrich Wider Learning and Education

A good basis of education in science has many transferrable skills and opportunities. Children have the chance to develop and practice a wide range of skills and attributes. For example, as already mentioned, scientific language can help boost their vocabulary. Similarly, other core skills such as communication, collaboration, and perseverance are developed in examination and investigation-based tasks. Once your child shows an interest in any area of science, you can nurture and push this forward with additional support and wider-related activities such as reading and literacy tasks and math-based exercises linked to the science.

There are many different ways of introducing science in day-to-day activities or planning days out to engage your kids with the science all around us.

Proactive Ways to Get Kids Engaged with Science

It is possible to be overly regimented and to expect too much of young children. If you have a passion or interest, it is natural to want to share this with your children, but different approaches may be suitable for your children to help ensure they enjoy the process. Keep these points in mind:

Process over Results

Introducing scientific concepts and engaging your children in scientific tasks is more about the process than results and correct answers. There should be no pressure on children to perform, and while you want them to gain some scientific understanding, the activity itself is the focus. Focus on channeling their curiosity and building their investigative skills.

Encouraging Child-Led Activities

Early science education is all about giving your children the chance to explore. Organizing activities is great, but if things go off on a tangent and the kids want to explore something else, let them go with it. Providing the opportunity to learn and investigate in their own way is much more likely to be a success than rigid classroom-like activities.

There are many everyday ways you can bring science into your home and introduce it to your kids. One option is to buy them a simple science kit or one you can go all out with some of the wonderful ideas discussed below. 

1) Make a Mess

Children of all ages will delight in the chance to make a huge mess, and there are scientific ways of doing so. With a couple of shrewdly-selected materials, mess-making can become a scientific project and activity for kids of all ages. For example, the youngest kids can enjoy shaving foam play, giving them the chance to touch, feel and mold the foam. In addition, you can ask questions to encourage their scientific thinking, such as:

• What does the foam feel like?
• What shapes are you making?

You can make it even more fun and explorative by adding food coloring and looking at the paths the colors make through the foam. Kids will love the chance to make a huge mess.

Exploring the popularity of slime and the online craze it has generated is the kind of scientific project older kids will love. Making slime involves a range of different scientific processes. There are hundreds of recipes online as well as ready-made slime making kits that test the kids’ abilities in measuring and mixing. You can also use it as an opportunity to ask questions about the slime. What makes it slimy? What makes it gooey? These kinds of questions get the children’s scientific minds whirring!

2) Explore Water

Water play can be enjoyed from birth, and as children grow, you can begin taking a more scientific approach to things. A few toys, plastic bottles and a bowl full of water is enough to engage young minds and will prompt them to approach water from a new scientific angle.

Playing with water in its different forms helps children understand and get to grips with what it is and how we use it to determine our understanding of other materials. Water is the easiest way to introduce children to the concept of liquids, solids, and gases. As you freeze and boil water, you can show them how it changes into its different forms.

A bowl of water is also a fantastic way of teaching children about floating and sinking. Test different toys and objects and make predictions. Which will sink and which will float? You can also ask why and see who is right. With your water bottle, you can cut a few holes and test the speed of water trickling through. As the water levels drop, what happens to the speed of the trickle? These are just some ways you can make the most out of a day’s water play.

3) Build Ramps

A building activity always gets the kids excited, and structural engineering counts as a science. Building ramps is a chance to explore motion, gravity, and planning. You can build ramps from anything you like – LEGO sets, cardboard, or a dive in the recycling trash should be enough to get everything you need. Once made, get a ball or marble to roll down the ramp. Challenge the kids to use what they have to create a fast, smooth surface for the ball to roll down. See who can get their ball moving fastest and for added scientific value, let them record their findings with your cell phone. This creates even more opportunities for discussion and interest.

4) Count Electrical Objects

Give the kids a lesson in both science and history with the story of Benjamin Franklin. In 1752 Franklin made his scientific breakthrough combining a key and a kite in a storm. Definitely don’t attempt to replicate his work, but you could look around the home and see how many items require electricity to work. Explain to them the history of our understanding of electricity, Franklin’s work and also see if they can begin to consider life without any electricity at all! That will surely be a challenge.

5) Explore building designs on a neighborhood walk

Architecture is another area of science that could be a way to get the kids talking. Take a drive or walk around the neighborhood and look at the different buildings. Show them the differences between different types of structures. For example, skyscrapers rely on specific building elements to ensure they can withstand strong winds, and coastal properties are often built high to avoid waves. You can show them different types of structures, and after the walk or drive, you can replicate the structures you’ve found at home. Whether you take another dive in the trash, bring out the building blocks, or simply draw, the kids can create their favorite style of structure at home.

6) Play sports and discuss physics

Not all kids are sporty, but those who love the chance to get stuck in can also take a great scientific lesson from their endeavors. Ball sports are great for teaching the principles of physics and discussing ranges of motion. Different sports also allow you to introduce anatomical science and discuss the different muscle groups in action in various games. Baseball, for example, involves a range of different core muscle groups, including anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, abdominals, obliques, quadriceps and pectoralis major. While you may not want to list the muscles in action during a big game, it is a great way to start a scientific discussion while training or playing at home.

7) Look around you and explore nature

A walk in the country is a great learning opportunity as well as lots of fun. It’s the perfect way to introduce the kids to a wide range of different types of trees, plants, insects and animals. You can introduce them to your local and indigenous wildlife and compare this to different areas when you vacation or visit family. You may know of local nature trails in your area, and national parks are a great place to experience nature and find new types of plants and animals.

Something as simple as turning over logs or rocks in the park can be a great starting point for a science project. What creatures can you find? Do you know the difference between various types of bugs? Bright days are perfect for sunbathing in the yard and looking at the different clouds in the sky. Can you tell your cirrocumulus from your cumulonimbus?

8) Bring biology to life with a fruit and veg garden

If you have space in the yard, then give your kids the gift of gardening. It’s an excellent way for them to experience basic biology principles in action, and you can introduce a range of scientific concepts as the garden begins to grow. Whether you opt for flowers or vegetables, the kids have a chance to learn about photosynthesis and the lifecycle of a plant. You can also introduce meteorology and weather, with weather predictions and forecasts built into their gardening plan and how they plan to organize their garden.

9) Take time to understand medicines

Next time the kids have a cough or need paracetamol, take the time to look over the bottle and explain just how this medicine works. The chance to understand at an early age can spark an interest in this area for some kids, and it can also help to convince them that taking their medicine is a good idea. If they do show an interest in medical science, you can introduce further concepts such as vaccinations and their importance, how x-rays work and how the body can heal itself after many types of injury and illness. This could be your first step in nurturing a future medical professional.

10) Talk chemical reactions over soap making sessions

Practical experiments are always the most effective, and as you’re always asking the kids to wash their hands, why not give them a lesson in the history of soap? Written down, it doesn’t sound very interesting, but a soap making session is a great way to introduce some basic chemistry. Soap making consists of chemical reactions that can be great fun when taught. For example, bringing together fat or oil, water, and a choice of alkalis soap begins the saponification process. When you make your own, you can also discuss bacteria and how to prevent the spread, another great scientific message to get across. 

A lifelong love of science and developing a scientific mind is something you can foster from an early age. These are just some of the ways you can introduce scientific concepts to your kids before they even start school and help encourage scientific learning for later life.

No parent wants to think about their child being vulnerable to predators of any kind, but ignoring the fact is much more dangerous than being aware and proactive. This is especially the case when it comes to protecting our kids online and with one third of the world’s internet users being under 18, parents have to play a part in protecting their kids and helping them understand the risks of our increasingly digital world.

As many as one in five US teens who regularly use the internet admits to having received unwanted sexual solicitation via the web and younger children can also become targets. It is important parents act accordingly and help children understand the risks of internet usage and learn to use it responsibly from a young age.

Understanding Online Grooming

While parents of under 18s in 2022 are much more au fait with the web than older generations, none of us is immune as technologies develop so quickly. Grooming or sexual grooming is the act of befriending and/or influencing a child with the aim of preparing them for sexual activity. Online grooming simply uses the internet as a key tool for this process and it can result in non-contact and contact sexual interaction between the instigator and the child. The worry this brings to any parent’s mind cannot be underestimated but being afraid and not preparing our kids is much more dangerous than hoping it simply won’t happen to them.

A Note about the Law and Online Grooming

The relative new nature of the idea of online grooming means laws in this area are not necessarily as clear as they should be. Few taskforces target the crime on a global scale and the main body for dealing with grooming, as opposed to sexual acts which follow, is the Convention on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. At the time of writing only two states across the country, Illinois and Arkansas, have specific statues in place to address the problem of online grooming and experts in the field, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children assert grooming should be considered an “offense-specific process” rather than preparation for the true crime. While this can sound quite complex and make a worrying issue even more worrying, it is important as if your child were to be groomed, you’d want justice, even if it hadn’t got as far as a physical act.

There is also the Violent Crimes Against Children International Task Force in place which brings together 68 online child sexual exploitation investigators from 46 countries around the world. This is a highly specialized unit who can and do help in many circumstances and they have annual case coordination meetings for task force members to pool resources and support each other in their shared battle. Understand the dangers of online grooming and what it actually is, really does matter for parents so they can spot signs and act appropriately in the worst-case scenario.

How does Online Grooming Begin?

Most grooming will begin on a popular app or social network which children are already using comfortably. It may even happen through games, including many high profile cases involving the games Roblox and Minecraft. This doesn’t mean children should be banned from using technology, but transparency is important and helping your child understand the basics of how to protect themselves is too.

Online grooming often begins with someone discussing the game or getting to know a child on their level, talking about school, sports and other common areas of interest. Many predators choose to mask their age so they can easily get close to children online and become their “friends”. Gaining trust before introducing any sexual or dangerous element is a common pattern and one which children may not easily identify.

Social networking sites are particularly popular with perpetrators as they can access a wealth of information about children with relative ease. Children are often shockingly open with strangers online, especially if they’re enjoying games together or believe they’re talking to another child and unfortunately, predators are more than aware of this and are able to manipulate the situation to their advantage.

Recognizing Signs of Online Grooming

Many kids are regularly rebuffing grooming attempts and we don’t even know about it. As mentioned, many teens have turned down sexual advances online and not even thought to talk to their parents about it, which has made it seem a normal occurrence which can make it even more of a danger. Some of the clearest signs of online grooming may seem like typical teen or preteen behavior but it’s important to remember – you know your kid, so if there is a change in their behavior – take it seriously.  Below are some of the most commonly recognized signs of online grooming to watch out for:

• Asking to spend more time on the internet or actively doing so
• Switching off screens or changing tabs when you check to see what they’re doing
• Being secretive around their online activity
• Discussing new friends you aren’t aware of or haven’t heard of before
• New electronics being “given” to them and no explanation of why or how
• Use of sexual or explicit language you wouldn’t expect them to know or don’t consider age appropriate
• Mood swings and volatile emotional reactions

All of these may not be signals you recognize and some genuinely might be typical or hormonal reactions you expect from your child. However, if anything seems unusual it is worth delving deeper and keeping closer checks on their behavior and activities online.

Grooming and inappropriate sexual online behavior isn’t something we ever want to think about but it is something we can be aware of and help our children understand is wrong before it becomes a problem for them. Below we’re looking closer at what you can put in place to prevent grooming and to protect your children as they become confident internet users.

Grooming Prevention Strategies

It’s a sickening reality that no child is too young to be groomed and so no child is too young to be taught how to understand what is right and wrong when it comes to others and their body. These simple strategies can be implemented as early as you feel is appropriate with your own kids:

1. Body Safety

Children can be taught body safety as early as three years old. Children should know the correct words for body parts, what appropriate touch is and the importance of consent. If they say no, it means no and any child can be made aware of this as soon as they begin to use the word appropriately themselves.

2. Grooming Behaviors

While its scary, it is important to teach children about grooming behaviors such as isolating them from their friends, using sexual and inappropriate language and encouraging them to keep secrets from their parents and people they trust.

3. Reporting Gifts and Alone Time

Any unsolicited gifts a child gets, you should be told about. This can be hard for children to understand as presents are great and if they’re told “Mommy won’t like that I’ve given you this” they may be scared to tell. The same goes for snacks, treats or even one-to-one time they spend with adults who aren’t you, as this is something you should be aware of, even in the most innocent of situations.

4. Remove Blame Culture

Kids are scared of getting in trouble with their parents, but when it comes to this issue, you need to ensure they feel 100% comfortable with you and how important it is to tell you anything that is worrying them. Don’t minimize their feelings or their fears and let them know they will never get in trouble for telling you about any worries about people they’ve spoken to online.

5. Be Open and Honest

No one wants to terrify their kids or give them the idea that they’re not safe, but it’s a hard fact and by telling them, you’re protecting them. Never be afraid to talk to your kids about difficult issues and help them protect themselves.

Get Web Savvy to Protect from Predators

As we’ve said, the parents of today’s under eighteens are fairly internet savvy themselves, but there are new apps and technologies launched every week and online predators make it their business to know them as well as any kid. As well as ensuring your kids have strategies in place to protect themselves from grooming, put the following in place to ensure you are doing enough with the web to protect your kids as much as you can too:

1. Understand Privacy Settings

Spend time with your children exploring the privacy settings on their favorite apps and chosen browsers. Ensure they understand the absolute minimum levels of privacy you expect and to always assume anything new has public as its default setting, so take time to set it to private. Many of the most popular social media apps want things to be public, so drill it into them to check every app or even do it yourself, a condition of them being able to download it at all.

2. Review and discuss apps, games and website choices

While your children are going to want some privacy, the internet really isn’t the place to find it. A condition of having their own cellphone, tablet or computer should be you are allowed to have full access to check in their app and website use and ensure it is safe and secure. Setup your own accounts on their favorite apps so you can keep an eye on their usage but also ensure you have a good understanding of the apps functions. Younger kids may be begging for Snapchat or Instagram but you should also respect the age limits on these sites and consider one of the many child-centered social networks instead like Gobubble or Popjam.

3. Know Their Friends

If you have a good understanding of who your children’s friends are, you’ll notice if a new name pops into the mix. You can also make sure they understand how powerful the internet can be for making you feel like someone really is your friend, but in reality, you don’t know them as well as you think. It’s very easy for anyone to become quickly connected to someone who seems to share all their interests online but consider why someone would mirror your exact likes and dislikes and what this could mean. Being suspicious of online friends may seem extreme but it helps set a useful precedent and ensures your children understand the importance of their own online safety.

4. Keep Personal Information Private

Usernames should never include your child’s real name and if they want to talk about themselves online, they should avoid real places, times and dates. Obscuring every detail about themselves may seem false, but it ensures no one lurking online with ulterior motives captures anything of their real identity. Opt for fun cartoon images and favorite characters for profile pictures over family photos or anything which identifies your child.

5. Encourage Open Communication

As our kids enter their teens they often feel less comfortable speaking to us about personal matters. If something makes your child uncomfortable or scared online then ensure they know there are people they can talk to, and it doesn’t have to be you, as there are many charities and resources ready to help and provide that listening ear.

Online safety is a topic which many people switch off from, especially teens who think they know best. However, if you are sure to instil a healthy and cautious approach to online friendships and behaviors from their earliest internet usage, you should have additional peace of mind about the choices they might make. Transparent and open communication in the home is essential for protecting your kids as they grow up using the net on a daily basis.