Early Childhood Educators Exploring New Ways to Create STEM Experiences
The SPLASH conference hosted by Frog Street Press is the summer gathering place for over 2,000 early childhood educators each summer. For three days, the Texan Gaylord Hotel and Resort is overflowing with experts who teach early childhood educators how to reach, teach and inspire young learner with purpose and play.
Over 800 conference attendees joined me for a 2-hour make-and-take session as part of the SPLASH pre-conference event. The goal was simple and direct… to create the most engaging ways to make young children fall in love with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). One of the biggest threats we face today in education is the loss of a child’s natural curiosity. Without curiosity, children lose their desire to wonder, discover and explore. The end result is a lack of critical thinking, problem solving and innovation for years to come.
If you want to reach the children, you need to start with the teachers. That’s why our make-and-take session was a chance for teachers to be a child once again… to roll up their sleeves… conduct a few experiments… get a little messy… and to share a few laughs while learning how to create those “best day ever” experiences for the young learners in their classrooms.
I’m forever grateful to my longtime friends at Frog Street who invited me to speak at one of their first conferences in the mid-90s and many years later honored me with a Lifetime Achievement Award that has a special place on the mantle at home.
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Learn more about Steve Spangler’s Everyday STEM workshop for K-8 teachers or STEM for Little Sprouts for early childhood educators.