5 Simple Ways to Introduce Robotics, Coding, and STEM for Elementary Students
STEM robotics provides an engaging platform that challenges young learners to think critically and solve problems. Through robotics, children engage in planning, designing, and building, helping them develop essential skills like critical thinking, computational thinking, brainstorming, collaboration, and problem-solving. By bringing robotics and STEM for elementary students early, they develop these essentials skillsets from their formative years and into adulthood. And the best part? They have fun while doing it!
Hands-on, collaborative, and screen-free technology offer a playful way for young learners to acquire these essential skills. By adding art and music, STEM projects can be transformed into creative masterpieces.
STEM robotics offers much more than just a robot to code. Programs like the screen-free KIBO robot, backed by 20+ years of research, provide proven benefits:
Why Integrating STEM for Elementary and Early Education Matters:
- Fosters Creativity: Integrating robotics and STEM for elementary, and within young learners’ current curriculum, opens endless possibilities for creative and meaningful learning experiences.
- Encourages Experimentation: Young learners are naturally curious, and coding with robotics give them the freedom to experiment creating their own “cause and effect.”
- Supports Teamwork: The collaborative nature of robotics in groups helps children develop teamwork, communication and other important social-emotional learning (SEL) skills.
- Develops Problem-Solving: Teachers can present real-world challenges, allowing children to apply the skills they’ve gained through STEM robotics.
- Fun and Engaging Activities for Young Learners: Incorporating STEM into the classroom doesn’t have to be difficult! Below are some hands-on activities with KIBO that you can use to make STEM come alive for your elementary students.
Related Post: Empowering Future Innovators: 5 Reasons to Introduce Early STEM Education Robotics to Your Elementary Learners
5 Playful Activities to Incorporate Robotics and STEM for Elementary Students:
1) Adding and Subtracting with KIBO
In this lesson, students will create a coding program to move their robots to model mathematical concepts – counting, adding, and subtracting. Students will create algorithms through programming for their math challenge and watch KIBO travel along a physical number line to solve their math problem!reative and meaningful learning experiences.
Bring addition and subtraction to life! – KIBO moves forward 3 and back 1. Where is KIBO on the number line?
2) Create Your Dream Car with KIBO
Inspired by the book If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen, students become engineers and follow the engineering design process to create their own “dream cars” out of craft and recycled materials. They will scan a short programming sequence to get their cars moving!
Design and build your Dream Car with KIBO! – Vroom! Vroom!
3) KIBO Craft and Build Drop Test
Engineering is about persistence and grit. Today the students will become engineers, learning the steps of the Engineering Design Process. They will create models out of craft and recycled materials, then they will test the sturdiness of their models by dropping them from ankle height. If the models don’t survive, the students can follow the engineering design process to revise their designs. Finally, they can attach their sturdy constructions to KIBO robots to make them move.
Engineers keep trying! – Bring robotic and STEM for elementary students and watch them become little engineers. We will test and improve our creations until they survive a fall!
Related Post: Robotics in Early Childhood Education – The Engineering Design Process Develops Grit and Perseverance
4) Let’s Program Each Other!
We can use programming to communicate, share, and tell stories. In this lesson, children will learn about sequencing in programming and about the symbols that make up a programming language like KIBO’s. Students will create their own programming symbols and act out programs with their own movement. Finally, they can translate these movement programs into programs for KIBO.
A program is a story! – Let’s be programmers and robots! In this robotics curriculum, learn how to create a sequence of instructions that your friends can follow.
5) Measure and Predict with KIBO Bowing
Crash! How far does KIBO have to move to get from the start of the bowling lane to the pins? You can create a single straight lane or a more complicated path. Students will use estimation and measurement to create a program to travel the length of the lane. They’ll test how far a single forward block carries KIBO, then improve their programs using the Engineering Design Process.
Who can knock their pins down the fastest? – Use KIBO to teach kids coding by creating a program to travel the length of the lane. Let’s get bowling!
By combining play with learning, bringing robotics and STEM for elementary kids opens endless possibilities for creative and meaningful learning experiences.
