[ExI] Do STEM toys actually teach kids science and math?

[Tristan Linck]

On 2020-10-03 02:54, John Grigg via extropy-chat wrote:
> "With a rocky year of pandemic-related educational disruptions ahead, 
> many parents are looking for ways to help their kids learn at home. 
> Toys advertised as teaching _STEM_ 
> <https://www.livescience.com/43296-what-is-stem-education.html> might 
> seem like one way to fill the gap. But do they really work?
>
> The answer is yes, research shows that toys can indeed teach science, 
> technology, engineering and _math_ 
> <https://www.livescience.com/38936-mathematics.html> concepts — but 
> don't focus on advertising or fancy labels to find the best bets. 
> There's no minimum educational requirement that toys must reach to 
> label themselves a "STEM toy," so almost everything on the market is 
> untested. Instead, experts say, look for toys that encourage 
> open-ended, active play and problem-solving. Some proven winners? 
> _Tinkertoys_ 
> <https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=74387&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTINKERTOY-Model-Super-Building-Set%2Fdp%2FB00JRGVEG2%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dlivescience-ph-7892809415931558000-20>, 
> board games, decks of cards and _building blocks_ 
> <https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=74387&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMelissa-Doug-Wooden-Building-Blocks%2Fdp%2FB000068CKY%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dlivescience-ph-1804693012485567700-20>." 
>
>
> I'm curious what list members think are among the best toys and games 
> for developing young minds. I have a little one on the way, so this 
> really matters to me...
>
> https://www.livescience.com/how-stem-toys-teach-math-science.html
>
>
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I was homeschooled for a fair chunk of early childhood and, other issues 
aside, I got a solid STEM education for that level. The proven winners 
in the list were all present, no argument to any of those. We had one 
game involving a pair of dice and a deck of cards, using the cards to 
generate target numbers where we had to choose the right operations to 
reach the target using the numbers on the dice. In terms of STEM toys 
per se, the big one was Capsela. I learned things from those sets about 
that my engineering school classmates were learning 20 years later. 
Mechanical, electrical, color theory, enough for a solid grounding. I 
don't know if they're still a thing, but if they are then that would be 
a good way to go. Outside of that, and maybe a couple years further on, 
just a lot of cheap appliances from yard sales, taken apart and put back 
together.

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