cute toddler playing with wooden rattle
Parenting Toys

STEM Toys

What are STEM Toys and Should you Buy Them for your Little One?

If you’re like me, you want to raise the smartest little kid you possibly can. And with access to all of today’s technology you think that would be an easy thing to accomplish. You can just turn on some scientific T.V. show or YouTube video and let your little son or daughter just take it all in. But in our house, we are trying our damnedest to keep Jameson away from screens and all of that technology for as long as we possibly can. In this day and age it’s going to be hard, and with me literally trying to run a blog from my phone, it can be a little difficult at times. Jameson is only seven months old and he has already figured out how to call his Oma (grandma) on video chat if Bea is talking to her on the phone. So how do we keep him entertained without the distraction of technology while also trying to get him to learn, explore, and get that sensory play he needs. 

Now, if you aren’t sure what STEM is let me break it down for you. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and its been around for about 20 years. The aim of STEM is to integrate the teaching of four separate subjects into one class of learning. Basically turning it into one subject that focusing on several disciplines. Even though the concept and teachings have been around for awhile it’s still not an everyday subject that people know about. I know when I was in school we didn’t have a STEM program, so now that we get a chance to play with these kinds of toys with Jameson I’m going to take full advantage of it.

By now you’re thinking, how does a seven month old participate in STEM activities? Well, it’s not how you would think. At this age it all starts with sensory play, so different textures, colors, sounds. These things are made to start getting your child to think and engaged with the toy, some of these toys even connect to each other to create even more engaging creations. Jameson’s favorite toys come from the brand Sassy Baby, which we found completely by accident on our first trip to the Orthopedic specialist for his helmet. The first toy from Sassy we got was the Wonder Wheel and he would just stare at that toy, figuring out how it spun around and really engaging with the patterns and colors. Then on a trip through BuyBuy Baby we found half an aisle full of different Sassy Toys and gave Jameson his pick of what ever he wanted. Out of all the selection he chose the bend and flew ring rattle. He can chew on the soft textures part, it has rings that move and it has a rattle that he can make sound with. And it is now the we never leave home without it toy.