Parents
To all the wonderful parents around the world!
There are many things you hear from your child’s school or read an article online about ‘STEAM,’ ‘21st-century skills,’ ‘playing is learning,’ and ‘problem-solving skills.’ Can you teach these at home? The answer is yes!
We participated at one of the largest digital conferences organized discussing ‘The New Normal’ in education post #COVID19! You can watch the entire T4 conference online here. So what is the new normal and how can you prepare your child to pick up 21st-century skills and adapt to a world of rapid changes in technology?
One thing we all agree on - the new normal won’t be that teachers get replaced by a screen and we want to promote richer learning opportunities at home!
Click to reveal full letter
At Strawbees we believe play is the rocket fuel of child development and an essential way to foster the skills required to thrive in a changing world. We encourage you to engage in positive, playful experiences with your child(ren)!
Creativity is super important to us - we add the ‘A’ (Arts) into ‘STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths). STEAM learning can be developed through play and hands-on activities. Much of our activities follow the approach of the creative process -- Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect, and Imagine -- using the Creative Learning Spiral from MIT Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group to encourage lifelong learning at school and home!
Strawbees is great for limited-to-no screen time fun. As a family take on the 100+ challenges of the Pocketful of Ideas where it’s imagination over instructions.
Do you need to know how to code? No! You can start by simply uploading the template code we recommend everyone to start with! As a parent, you can get easily involved too, by simply using snippets of code published online for everyone and learn side-by-side with your child. All of Strawbees kits are a great tool for your child not just to push the right buttons or select the correct sequence to move a robot across the room but design thinking and learning by trying. As a result your child grows to understand that it is okay to fail and gains confidence in finding creative solutions.
So what about inventing a family game with robot bowling, building a target for your own built catapult or a robot race with family and friends in-house or outdoors weather permitting? So yes you get your child(ren) to use the computer as a tool for creativity and empower them by taking their ideas out of their minds, and make into the real world!
For questions, you can jump online by emailing Support or Facebook messaging us!
We have a fantastic library of activities you can get started with on this page including free resources and inspiring projects by parents who love Strawbees!
We can do this! It might feel like a long road ahead, but the hardest part is getting started.
Join along with many other parents with our mission - let kids create!
Strawbees Education Team
Below is a short introduction video that shows what Strawbees is about:
Learning with Strawbees
Hands-on
Let kids create!
Encourage motoric skills and stimulate many senses: sight, hearing and touch.
Screen free
Prototype ideas
Enable kids to take their 2D thinking into the 3D world - prototyping ideas.
Play
Playful learning
Having fun, experimenting and creating.
Creativity
Imagine...
Daring to do something new, like a musician experimenting with a new music style.
What parents say
★★★★★
STEM fun in a low-tech solution!
Mum of 3 kids, Sweden
This product has been great to help my child feel more confident in STEAM activities. I love that there are guided cards to inspire the creations and to get kids started with the activity. This is also a product that can involve several kids or parents and kids to work on as a group activity.
★★★★★
Fun thinking activity
Mum of a girl, South Korea
My 9 year old son played with these at school for STEM. Was so excited to have his own set!
★★★★★
Great STEM building activity!
Mum of 1 boy, UK
Fun activities to do at home
Build the Platonic Solids
Build the shapes that have intrigued philosophers, mathematicians and scientists for centuries.
Create a Robot Racer
Build a robot that walks and then try to make it run.
Build a Robotic Crane with BBC micro:bit
Use the Robotic Inventions for micro:bit to automate the mechanical movements of a crane.
10 days online activities
Learning activities created with kids encouraging complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity at home.
Free digital resources
All products come with the free Strawbees Learning platform, with lesson plans & activities and the Strawbees Code app, that works offline.
How to use white connectors and same length straws
The kits we offer to schools are different from the kits you can buy for your home but the building process is the same.
Award-winning
STEAM education delivered to your doorstep
Get started with STEAM learning at home with lots of captivating creative activities. Great for 1-2 kids at home, or a starter kit for educators.
Start building!
Start coding!
Other resources
- Can I Let My Child Be Bored? How to effectively handle your child's boredom
- The Trouble With Boredom Or How To Help The Under-Engaged Child
- Parents Don't Need to Be Coding Experts, Just Willing to Learn With Their Children - By Madhu Govind and Marina Umaschi Bers
- Making screen time productive for children - By Mark Baker, UK Tech News Editor
