A Day of Discovery: STEM, Creativity & Play
At La Maison Academy, every day is filled with meaningful, immersive learning experiences that go beyond simple fun activities. Today, we combined STEM exploration, storytelling, early literacy, movement, art, and cultural learning—creating a rich environment where children discover, think critically, and express themselves in multiple ways.
STEM Exploration: Circuits, Robotics & Coding for Toddlers
Our focus today was early STEM, where children got hands-on experience with electrical circuits, coding concepts, and engineering skills through playful discovery.
Propeller Circuits: Learning Speed, Power & Cause-and-Effect
Our young scientists explored how circuits work by connecting plus (+) and minus (-) wires, flipping switches, and adjusting spin speeds to make a propeller fly.
At first, they carefully turned the switch on and adjusted the speed—watching the propeller spin slowly. Then, when the speed reached the maximum setting…
🚀 WHOOSH! The propeller took off into the air!
The excitement was contagious as children experimented, eagerly anticipating the moment their propeller would fly.
This hands-on experience introduced key STEM concepts, including:
✔ Understanding how circuits work
✔ Learning cause and effect by adjusting speed and observing results
✔ Practicing fine motor skills while connecting wires
Studies from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child show that hands-on experimentation helps young children develop executive function skills, which are crucial for problem-solving, memory, and learning persistence.
Programmable Train: Toddler-Friendly Coding Basics
Next, we introduced coding concepts through a programmable wooden train that follows color-coded command tiles. Each tile represented a different action—speed, turn, or play a sound—allowing children to experiment with sequencing and problem-solving.
🚂 “Let’s see what happens if we place this tile here…”
🎉 “It goes faster!”
Through this activity, children practiced:
✔ Logical thinking & sequencing by placing tiles in order
✔ Pattern recognition through color-based commands
✔ Trial and error problem-solving as they adjusted the tiles to change the train’s path
Building & Expressing Emotions Through Robotics
Our robot assembly activity engaged engineering skills, creativity, and emotional intelligence. Instead of simply snapping pieces together, children:
✔ Matched puzzle-like pieces to correctly fit the face, arms, legs, and wheels
✔ Chose facial expressions—a smiling face or neutral face—to personalize their robots
✔ Matched colors by selecting the same color for both robot eyes and wheels
To make the robot experience interactive and meaningful, we used them as puppets to explore emotions.
🔵 When children touched blue, the robot laughed.
🔴 When they touched red, the robot cried.
“Why is the robot crying?” I asked.
A child responded, "Because we touched red."
Then I asked, "What should we do to help the robot feel better?"
The child said, "Touch blue!"—demonstrating early emotional awareness and problem-solving.
Research from Yale’s Child Study Center highlights that early exposure to emotional role-playing helps children develop self-regulation and empathy, essential for future emotional intelligence.
Extended STEM Activity: DIY Giant Robot Costume & Role-Play
Taking the robot theme further, we created a giant robot costume using a cardboard box!
✔ We cut out construction paper buttons in red and blue
✔ Children colored and glued buttons onto the box
✔ We cut out holes for the head and arms so they could wear it
Once the costume was ready, we played an interactive robot game, where children acted as programmable robots following simple commands. This activity blended STEM, creativity, and movement, reinforcing:
✔ Cause and effect – following different “commands”
✔ Gross motor skills – moving like a robot, balancing, and running
✔ Collaborative play – engaging with friends to complete challenges
Note: AI Generated Image - We missed the photo opportunity for this activity!
Science in Action: Little Doctors in Training
After our engineering exploration, we continued our STEM-focused day with a hands-on science lesson through imaginative pretend play! The children became little doctors, diagnosing toy patients and applying problem-solving skills to find the right treatments:
✔ Sunburn? Cool it down with an ice pack and soothing lotion.
✔ Headache? Check the temperature and take pretend medicine.
✔ A toy owl with a broken wing? Carefully sew it back together.
✔ Broken bone? Wrap it with a soft bandage for healing.
✔ Small cut? Apply a band-aid for quick recovery.
Through this engaging medical role-play, children explored cause-and-effect reasoning, problem-solving, and empathy, all while reinforcing their understanding of how the body heals—a perfect blend of science, creativity, and hands-on learning!
Storytime: A Kitty's Journey in Making Friends
Today’s interactive storytelling session featured a charming story about a little kitty boy at school trying to make friends.
Rather than just listening, the children took an active role in the story, making choices based on their own interests. As we read, they:
✔ Identified colors, objects, and animals in the pictures
✔ Chose where they would sit in the classroom based on their favorite colors and activities
✔ Decided which character they would be or which animal friend they wanted to play with
This immersive approach encouraged decision-making, language skills, and social-emotional learning, helping children connect literature to their own experiences.
Language & Cultural Learning: Japanese & French
🌊 Today’s Japanese & French Lesson:
We practiced ocean animal names and played a memory game to reinforce them. We also learned and practiced saying:
ありがとう (Arigatō) – "Thank you"
Numbers were introduced first in English, then in Japanese, followed in French, helping children make connections between languages.
🎶 We also practiced a Japanese song, 森のくまさん (Mori no Kuma-san) Mr. Bear of the Forest, making language learning playful and engaging.
Exploring Language Through Storytelling & Writing
For our English lesson, the children practiced writing the first letter of their names. While reading about the kitty boy in our story, we talked about what he will do tomorrow, introducing future tense in a fun and engaging way.
We also explored past tense by recalling real experiences. The children remembered yesterday’s weather and a few weeks ago when it snowed. They excitedly shared how cold it was, how we built a snowman and a snow bunny, and how much fun it was to jump on the bunny and crash it in the end!
Through these conversations, they naturally connected past and future events to their own lives, making language learning meaningful and interactive.
Beyond STEM: Art, Movement & Pretend Play
🎨 Art & Fine Motor Skills
We colored in command buttons for our DIY robots on white construction paper.
Practiced cutting shapes: blue circles and red triangles, reinforcing shape recognition and scissor skills.
⚽ Outdoor Play & Movement
Practiced catching and kicking a ball outside, building coordination and teamwork.
Why These Activities Matter
Maria Montessori said:
"The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one—the period from birth to the age of six."
These early years shape how children think, explore, and engage with the world. Today’s activities helped them:
✔ Develop problem-solving & logical thinking through STEM
✔ Strengthen fine & gross motor skills through art and active play
✔ Grow emotional intelligence & self-regulation through role-play
✔ Expand language skills through bilingual learning
At La Maison Academy, we create an elite, well-rounded early learning experience where children are inspired, challenged, and nurtured every day. Today’s STEM-focused exploration was just one example of how we bring learning to life through curiosity, discovery, and fun.
