4 Skills You Didn't Know A STEM Summer Camp Could Help Your Child To Build

What will your child learn in a STEM summer camp? The acronym STEM might seem like the answer to this question—but science, technology, engineering, and math concepts aren't the only things your child will learn. Take a look at how a STEM-focused summer camp can help your child to grow and build new skills in different developmental or academic areas.

Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving skills are exactly what the name implies. This type of cognitive ability helps your child to solve problems. The steps of the scientific process, researching theories, troubleshooting an engineering or structural project, and solving math equations, all play into this growing developmental ability.

Even though STEM areas rely heavily on problem-solving, this ability can transfer to other types of academic content and can also help your child to build valuable life skills. The focus, creativity, and recall skills your child needs to solve problems translate into literacy-based learning (reading, writing, and communication), the arts, and activities of everyday life such as shopping for food or cleaning a house.

Creativity Skills

Creativity closely aligns with problem-solving. These skills develop and mix together, helping your child to grow cognitively and emotionally. While science, technology, engineering, and math may seem like the opposite of what you typically think of as creative areas, STEM requires plenty of creativity.

A summer camp that focuses on STEM topics can help your child to think outside of the box. Whether it's designing a blueprint for an architectural marvel, solving complex math problems, coding, or hypothesizing their own scientific theory, STEM camp activities will jump-start your child's creative side and encourage them to think in new or different ways.

Social Skills

Like creativity, social skills aren't something that everyone thinks of immediately after hearing the words "STEM camp." But this type of summer program can help your child to develop socially.

The group setting of a STEM program provides opportunities for children of all ages to interact. This allows the children to work on social skills such as empathy, social problem-solving, using verbal and non-verbal cues, sharing, negotiating, and communication. Your child will also get the chance to make new friends who share common interests in science, technology, engineering, or math.

Physical Skills

STEM areas are hands-on and will require your child to participate in ways that go well beyond sitting, listening, and watching. Whether your child engages in a science experiment, builds an architectural model, or explores another STEM activity, they will need to use their small and large muscle groups. This type of summer program can help your child to develop fine (small muscles of the hands and fingers) and gross (large muscles) motor skills.

Reach out to a STEM summer camp program near you to learn more.