Takeaways from Starting a Kid Science Business.
My first science party
Welcome to my very first blog. I’ve been doing science parties in the DC metro area for over eight years and recently decided to start journaling my experiences as a STEM business owner. I hope that by sharing resources & ideas and showing my behind the scene methods and tools, you'll get to see what goes into planning such an event.
I'll share my planning, execution, and delivery of my services to happy parents and STEM partners in the Washington DC area, and hopefully, this should inspire you and offer some insight on what it takes to run a STEM-focused service business.
Let me tell you a quick story about how I got started. In 2012 as a new mom, I was looking for cool stuff to do with my kids. They were curious about science experiments. I wanted to expose them to fun and cool experiments where they would be learning through interactive play and immersive project-based learning activities. As Andrew Miller writes in this excellent article ( https://www.edutopia.org/blog/pbl-and-steam-natural-fit-andrew-miller ) - project-based learning techniques enhance students' skills in collaboration creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Getting kids involved young ensures that they grow up with a scientific mindset and prepares them for more advanced and sophisticated learning opportunities in their later education journey where STEM subjects are tackled in more robust and technical methods.
Back then, the closest science museum was about an hour away, and the hustle of traveling regularly that far wasn’t too enticing. With my science background, I researched a few experiments that could do at home with readily available supplies for pre-school-aged kids. I wanted to experiment with my kids, and kid feedback on what sparked their curiosity, and I studied how they responded to some of these activities. These included simple experiments like slime, elephant toothpaste, and elementary engineering projects that helped with dexterity. That was before Youtube took off, and the insane amount of slime videos had not blown up online as it has in the last few years! Seriously, ask any kid between 5 and 11 if they've searched "how to make slime" on youtube!
(I think youtube alone is a separate blog and case study on the role of learning in the last few years!) It has changed the dynamic of information sharing and learning to a rapidly internet-savvy young generation.
My organic and simple get together playdates, in the beginning, were the start of my business. They were so popular that we had to schedule these science playdates in our mom calendars regularly.
What inspired me..
My inspiration for STEM Kids (the company) arose from a need I didn’t even know existed until I started looking and identified a gap. Think of any situation where you been looking for a service or product. If nothing is available, this is always an excellent opportunity to build something that can fill the gap (or offer a solution with an alternative solution) and add value. The first step is usually researching online, identify your focus area and goals, and start executing your plans.
The thing I really want you to take away from this is how I used kid science activities to create a cool/fun alternative to parents looking for unique birthday party ideas and schools and organizations looking for STEM programs.
From my experience, project-based and interactive, immersive play create the most memorable experiences for kids.
In conclusion, I’m asking you to consider or rethink kid parties and events. Step out of the box and plan activities that encourage curiosity, wonder, and lust for learning.
If you are an educator or teacher - evaluate gaps in your area or industry and troubleshoot how you can add value or create unique experiences for kids.
Here is a short checklist of STEM-based kid party ideas that should get your juices going!
Slime birthday party
The science of bath bombs
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs food science party
Chocolate Factory party - the science of chocolate
Ice cream science party - learn about molecules
Science puzzles escape room
Clockmaking or (horologist) party
Robotics (simple robots
