{"id":1774,"date":"2018-03-20T14:09:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T19:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2018-04-07T08:34:09","modified_gmt":"2018-04-07T13:34:09","slug":"t-toddler-t-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"T<\/em> is for Toddler, T<\/em> is for Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no doubt that a STEM education can begin with very young children. The early childhood years, especially the toddler years, are a perfect time for parents, caregivers, and teachers to expose kids to STEM concepts.<\/br>
\nThis education helps establish essential skills for success in school and in life. When toddlers have opportunities to better understand the world around them, their understanding of math, science, and reasoning will be heightened as they continue to grow and develop. And there are so many opportunities for caregivers to use books, toys, and common household materials to teach toddlers about science, engineering, and math.<\/p>\n

But\u2026what about technology?<\/p>\n

That pesky \u2018T\u2019 in the STEM acronym can really puzzle the parents and caregivers of toddlers. I know that was the case for me when my daughter was a toddler.<\/br>
\nI asked myself, \u201cAren\u2019t I supposed to limit the about of time she spends with technology, especially screens?\u201d and \u201cIsn\u2019t overexposure to technological advancements bad for her developing brain?\u201d I even pondered simply ignoring the \u2018T\u2019 in STEM until she turned 5 or 6.<\/br>
\nI frequently turned to studies that showed the negative impacts of media technology on toddler development. The Mayo Clinic<\/a> and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children between 18 and 24 months not have access to screens for entertainment. Additionally, they recommend that media screens not be used for children 2 to 5 for more than one hour a day of only high-quality programming. So with all the advancements in technology, and the research that shows the multi-faceted benefits of STEM learning, I really felt stumped on how to introduce my toddler to technology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But then one day I read something that smacked me in the face. I had been defining \u201ctechnology\u201d all wrong.<\/p>\n

Numerous early childhood experts agree that the \u2018T\u2019 in STEM has nothing to do with electronic technology. The Boston Children\u2019s Museum<\/a> defines \u201ctechnology\u201d in early childhood learning as being completely separate from smartphones, computers, tablets, or screens. Instead they define \u201ctechnology\u201d as simply, \u201cusing tools and developing fine and gross motor skills.\u201d<\/br>
\nThe types of technological tools that toddlers can use to begin exploring technology are simple, and are most likely already available in your home or classroom. When I realized this, I felt so much more capable of exposing my daughter to technology through simple activities and play. Instead of focusing on electronic technology, I used these types of tools to boost my own daughter\u2019s STEM interests and abilities when she was a toddler:<\/p>\n

Small Shovels<\/h2>\n

Encouraging toddlers to use small shovels or a scoop to transfer material is a great introduction to technology. While playing in a sandbox, toddlers can shovel sand from one container to another.<\/br>
\nMy daughter and I did this with a large plastic tub (sensory bin)<\/a> filled with rice and dry beans. This type of play enhances a child\u2019s understanding of a shovel or scoop as a tool and also enhances their hand-eye coordination.<\/p>\n

Safety Scissors<\/h2>\n

Begin showing your toddler how to correctly hold a pair of safety scissors, then how to cut paper. Have your toddler, with your supervision, practice cutting a straight line.<\/br>
\nYou can then help her progress to cutting shapes out of paper. Scissors are not only a practical tool, but they also strengthen a toddler\u2019s hand and finger muscles. I noticed that once my daughter had mastered using scissors, her drawing and early writing abilities also improved.<\/p>\n

Water and Small Containters<\/h2>\n

Let your child explore technology with water! Teach toddlers how to pour water from a small pitcher or container into smaller cups.<\/br>
\nDuring this play, emphasize the concepts of empty and full, encouraging toddlers to use the larger container as a tool to fill the empty cups. In our family, bath time was the perfect time to experiment with these tools.<\/p>\n

Art Tools<\/h2>\n

Let toddlers experiment with various tools to make different artistic and colorful creations. By providing access to art tools like markers, crayons, paint\/paintbrushes, eyedroppers, and stamps, you can encourage toddlers to see how different tools create different strokes, patterns, and effects.<\/br>
\nSimply putting out a variety of materials and a large sheet of paper is all you need to do!<\/p>\n

Magnifying Glass<\/h2>\n

A small plastic magnifying glass is a great tool for toddlers to use to begin exploring the outdoors<\/a>. Encourage toddlers to use the glass to investigate rocks, dirt, flowers, or trees. Our small plastic magnifying glass accompanied our family on hikes, walks around the neighborhood, and trips to the playground.<\/br>
\nTake the opportunity to ask questions as your child investigates: \u201cWhat can you see with the magnifying glass?\u201d and \u201cWhat can\u2019t you see without it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

These are just some of the fun and simple ways I overcame the fear of teaching the \u2018T\u2019 in STEM to my toddler. The technological tools my daughter used at this time were fun, simple, and didn\u2019t involve any screen time.<\/br>
\nAnother tip: throughout your technology play with toddlers, remind them that the tools they\u2019re using were designed (or engineered) by someone to accomplish a task or make something easier to do. By explaining this, you\u2019re also injecting the \u2018E\u2019 of STEM into your toddler\u2019s play!<\/p>\n

\n

If you found this article useful, please share our infographic:
\n\"Five<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no doubt that a STEM education can begin with very young children. The early childhood years, especially the toddler years, are a perfect time for parents, caregivers, and teachers to expose kids to STEM concepts. This education helps establish essential skills for success in school and in life. When toddlers have opportunities to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nT is for Toddler, T is for Technology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no doubt that a STEM education can begin with very young children. The early childhood years, especially the toddler years, are a perfect time for parents, caregivers, and teachers to expose kids to STEM concepts. This education helps establish essential skills for success in school and in life. When toddlers have opportunities to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Learning to STEM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-20T19:09:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-07T13:34:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/dtrip.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@learningtostem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@learningtostem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/\",\"name\":\"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-20T19:09:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-07T13:34:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e3daca79ac70748a6a849383d5a636c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/\",\"name\":\"Learning to STEM\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e3daca79ac70748a6a849383d5a636c\",\"name\":\"Brian\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7045a0d9f4346b48d663596e84a182b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7045a0d9f4346b48d663596e84a182b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian\"},\"description\":\"Brian is an engineer, librarian, and general STEM enthusiast who hopes his daughter one day conquers the world. Even if it is just one of her own creation.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/author\/ltsby\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology","og_description":"There is no doubt that a STEM education can begin with very young children. The early childhood years, especially the toddler years, are a perfect time for parents, caregivers, and teachers to expose kids to STEM concepts. This education helps establish essential skills for success in school and in life. When toddlers have opportunities to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/","og_site_name":"Learning to STEM","article_published_time":"2018-03-20T19:09:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-07T13:34:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/dtrip.png"}],"author":"Brian","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@learningtostem","twitter_site":"@learningtostem","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/","name":"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-03-20T19:09:04+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-07T13:34:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e3daca79ac70748a6a849383d5a636c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/t-toddler-t-technology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"T is for Toddler, T is for Technology"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/","name":"Learning to STEM","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e3daca79ac70748a6a849383d5a636c","name":"Brian","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7045a0d9f4346b48d663596e84a182b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7045a0d9f4346b48d663596e84a182b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian"},"description":"Brian is an engineer, librarian, and general STEM enthusiast who hopes his daughter one day conquers the world. Even if it is just one of her own creation.","url":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/author\/ltsby\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1774"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1874,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774\/revisions\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}