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I’m sure by now you have heard about how beneficial “STEM activities” are for children, but many of you may be wondering what that means or entails. STEM activities are anything that promotes curiosity and growth in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

Although those topics may sound pretty advanced for a preschooler or young child, there are many easy ways to incorporate a love for these concepts in the early years! Curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking are at the heart of STEM! These are traits that the youngest child can be encouraged to explore.

One fun topic that we’ve been interested in lately is coding! I would have never imagined that my three and 5-year-old would be excited about something that I thought was so complex, but boy was I wrong. Their fascination began when we started playing with various imaginative play toys to teach them coding, our favorite being Botley the Coding Robot. They were instantly intrigued by the reactions that resulted from the commands they typed in!

I loved watching their little minds click as they realized that each command change would create a different outcome. To foster their new love for this concept, I began providing additional screen-free activities to help them become better at following patterns and various steps. Here is a fun, holiday-themed coding activity you can easily create for your little one.

Coding Candy Canes!

Pipe cleaners, pony beads, paper, and markers. Cut each pipe cleaner into three pieces and bend them into a candy cane shape. Next, select the colors or beads that you want to use. I recommend 2-3 colors for younger children, but you could use as many as you wish for an older child. Because the activity was for both of my daughters, I chose only red and green.

Lastly, take your paper and draw various candy canes on it, adding colored “bead dots” with your markers in the patterns or order you want your child to mirror.

Provide your child with pipe cleaner candy canes, beads, and paper. Ask them first to sort the beads into different color piles. Then, instruct them to create candy canes that match the ones on the paper. My girls loved this activity, and we hung the finished candy canes around our playroom as festive décor.

So there you have it: an inexpensive, low-prep, and screen-free way to introduce coding to your child! I hope that you found this informative and that it sheds some light on just how fun and easy STEM activities can be.

Think learning has to take a vacation over the holidays? Think again! With a little twist here and a little tweak there, traditional holiday activities can become fun learning opportunities for your kids. For inspiration, we turned to the Busby family of TLC’s Outdaughtered. Danielle & Adam Busby are dedicated to helping their quintuplet daughters and big sister Blayke learn through play every holi-day!  Danielle tells us how:

There’s no way I will get all five of my little ones to sit quietly while I teach them about the alphabet. So I love dreaming up ways to bring the ABCs to life for them actively. This year we’re decorating our Christmas tree with the letters of the alphabet. The girls love playing with their Alphabet Acorns from Learning Resources. Each is printed with an upper- and lowercase letter of the alphabet and has a toy inside that starts with that letter. I’m going to attach ribbons so the girls can hang them on the branches of our tree. We might even sing “L-M-N-O Tannenbaum” while we decorate!

Five kids under age three can create chaos in the kitchen! So when I want to do my serious holiday baking, I will set up a station for the girls stocked with the Learning Resources Pretend & Play Bakery Set. I’ll show them how I measure ingredients, count them, and follow steps in a sequence. They can keep busy doing what I do, but with their own safe, unbreakable, kid-size measuring cup, measuring spoon, rolling pin, and more. The treats teach shapes, colors, numbers, and more.

To keep the kids entertained in the car, we like to unplug and encourage their creativity by adding twists to classic holiday songs. Our version of The Twelve Days of Christmas says, “On the first day of Christmas, Ava gave to me... an alligator in an apple tree.” “On the second day of Christmas, Olivia gave me... 2 octopuses….” Everyone is giggling by the fifth day of Christmas, when “Parker gave me five porky pigs,” and the girls make pig noises and snort! It’s a fun and funny way to reinforce numbers and letters and develop their memories as the song builds.

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At every moment right now, everywhere on the globe, billions of people are making their holiday preparations and plans, keeping the traditions of their culture alive. During this season of merrymaking, let’s take look at holiday customs celebrated on each of Earth’s continents – with special assistance from our Puzzle Globe and Buddy Builders!

Joyeux Noël, France!

More than 66 million people live in France, a country located on the continent of Europe. On Christmas Eve, children put their shoes out near the fireplace in the hopes that Père Noël (Santa Claus) will fill the shoes with gifts. It is no surprise with all the delicious French food that most of the holiday is centered around the Christmas Eve meal, or “Le Réveillon”. Sometimes the Christmas Eve dinner will go late into the night – maybe past midnight! Those who prep for such grand meals spend lots of time at the holiday markets – open-air shopping experiences for food pop up in major cities across France during holiday time.

Shubh Deepavali, India!

Located within the continent of Asia, India is home 1.32 billion people. Diwali is a colorful, light-filled feast for the eyes, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists, both in India and around the world. Typically falling between mid-October and mid-November, Diwali is the triumph of good over evil or light over darkness. It is the time of year to wear new clothes, visit friends and family, and share food, gifts, and sweets, all held over the span of five days. Homes are colorfully decorated and candles are lit to celebrate the light. And what better way to bring in the light than fireworks! Amazing pyrotechnic shows captivate Indian cities during the nights of Diwali.

Happy Hanukkah, United States!

The United States, situated in the middle of the continent of North America, blends lots of cultures and traditions. Millions of Jewish people in the U.S. celebrate Hanukkah, or “Festival of Lights”.  Reciting prayers, lighting a menorah with candlelight, and eating lots of traditional food stretch for eight nights during Hanukkah. Kids play games with a dreidel, a spinning top marked with letters in Hebrew. They also exchange gifts and sing songs. Traditional food for Jewish families are latkes, a type of yummy potato pancakes topped with applesauce or sour cream.

Nkwagaliza Sekukkulu, Uganda!

In Uganda, an inland country within the continent of Africa, Christmas is referred to as Sekukkulu. Held over December 24 and 25, this holiday is about food and family. Many food traditions are centered around chicken, which is often wrapped in banana leaves to steam it, giving it a special flavor this time of year. There is far less emphasis on giving gifts during Sekukkulu, rather an emphasis on sharing food and time with family and friends. However, new clothes, especially for children, are important part when stepping out to church on this holiday.

Feliz Navidad, Venezuela!

Christmas time in the country of Venezuela, located on the continent of South America, is a very joyous and religious time, lasting nearly a month! Like many families across the world, Venezuelans’ big celebration is on the night of Christmas Eve, where all go to church to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The center of many household decorations this time surprisingly not a Christmas tree, rather a pesebre, or nativity scene depicting the manger in Bethlehem. And in Venezuela on Christmas morning, most roads are closed off for the holiday. Many take to foot to head to church, being awoken by bells or firecrackers to signify the start of the celebration.

Merry Christmas, Australia!

Australia, both a continent and country, is located in Earth’s southern hemisphere. Grab the sunscreen because it is actually summertime in Australia during the holidays! Since Australians love to be outside, Christmas Day is typically spent at the beach, swimming or sailing. When Australians head out to sing their traditional “Carols by Candlelight”, they often change the traditional lyrics about snow and cold to fit their climate. The Aussies also celebrate Boxing Day on December 26, a day to recoup from the holiday, and to shop major sales from local retailers.

Happy New Year, Antarctica!

Antarctica, otherwise known as the South Pole (the literal polar opposite of where Santa hangs his hat), is the southern most point in the entire world. It also is the locale of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, home to nearly 200 scientific researchers. To ring in each New Year, the scientists go out in the tundra and physically adjust the marker for the Geographic South Pole, to pinpoint the Earth’s axis of rotation. Because the South Pole itself sits onto of a sheet of ice, it moves about 30 feet every year. All the world’s flags involved in the South Pole Station surround it. What a way to ring in the New Year

The story of Thanksgiving Day is also the story of America. You see, a long time ago, the king decided which church his people would attend in England. Some people wanted to choose for themselves and left England to find a place where they could pick their church. 

After traveling around for a while, these English families got on the Mayflower boat and sailed from England to America. They were hoping to land in Virginia, but the weather was terrible, and they had to stop sailing, so they landed in Massachusetts instead. 

Massachusetts can be cold in the winter when the pilgrims landed there. Their trip took 66 days, so they were also exhausted and hungry, besides being cold. Very, very hungry. 

Lucky for the Pilgrims, the Native Americans had already lived in America for a long time. They knew how to grow food, hunt, and fish and shared their food with the starving Pilgrims. Without their help, the settlers would have died. 

The following spring, two very special Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to use fish to prepare their lands so they could grow crops like corn, pumpkins, beans, and peas. These Native Americans were called Abenaki and Tiasquantum and were part of the Samoset tribe. 

The Pilgrims and the Samoset tribe were friends and decided to join to protect each other from other Native American tribes who might attack them. 

That November, the Pilgrims harvested the foods the Native Americans had taught them to grow. They had so much food that they decided to celebrate their harvest and went out to hunt for deer to eat at their feast. The Native Americans heard the Pilgrims’ guns and got worried that they would break their deal and attack them, so they sent their men to find out what was happening. 

When the Native Americans learned what the Pilgrims were doing, they joined in the hunt. The Pilgrims invited them to their feast to say thank you for all that the Native Americans had taught them. All in all, 53 Pilgrims and 91 Native Americans were at the First Thanksgiving! Can you imagine having 144 people at your house for Thanksgiving? Instead of turkey, biscuits, and pie, the Pilgrims and Native Americans ate deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. 

Are you excited about the fall? Cooler weather, changing colors, and leaves and seeds on the ground make for a great time to get outside and explore nature. Bring a nature inside and set up a discovery table. Today I’m sharing five tools for your fall discovery table. These items will help your little scientists make observations and use real science tools in the process.

Questions to ask:

• What do you notice about the different leaves? (colors, shape, size) 
  
• What time of year do trees like sycamore and maple lose all of their leaves? (fall/autumn) 
  
• Pine cones and pine needles come from evergreen trees. They lose their needles a little at a time; not all at once. Compare the green pine needles to the brown ones. What do you think the difference is? (time – the green needles fell more recently than the brown needles, the brown needles are older/drier) 

Observations to make: 

• What do you notice about the different kinds of bark? (color, texture, etc.) 
  
• Look at the inside of the walnut. Compare it to the outside. 
  
• How is the small pine cone similar to the large pine cone? (look at the cone scales, or seed scales) 

Measuring is a science and math skill that is important to practice. Once you’ve taught your child how to use a ruler or tape measure properly, set them off to compare the sizes of different nature items. We used the tape measure and ruler. My kids love finding the objects on the card and then measuring them. Taking the tape measure outside on your next nature walk would also be fun. Measure the distance between trees or the length of a large rock. The possibilities are endless. 

Questions to ask: 

• How many leaves will it take to balance a walnut? 
  
• Which is heavier: a pine cone or an acorn? 
  
• Which weighs less: a hickory nut or three orange leaves?