Pre-KG 2025/ 26 Blog 27 Pre-Kindergarten STEM Adventures

 Pre-KG 2025/ 26 Blog 27

Pre-Kindergarten STEM Adventures

The last 4 days before the spring holidays was the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) week at DSKI and what an exciting time the Pre-Kindergarten class, their friends from Playgroup and the whole school community had ! STEM learning is a whole curriculum experience and it can take place throughout the day.

So here are all our adventures:

1) The Magnetic Shape Challenge

Magnetic shapes for open-ended play not only help develop fine motor skills, but they are excellent tools for STEM as they foster creative problem solving as well as understanding of 3D structures and the children can experiment with different shapes, patterns and designs. 

The Pre-Kindergarten children showed a lot of imagination and came up with interesting structures which they proudly showed to Ms.Nini and their other teachers.

2) The ICE Melting Experiment

In a previous experiment the children had discovered that ice melts when in contact with warmth (the hands), but this experiment took the question a bit further: do all bodies of ice melt at the same speed ? After Ms.Anita had frozen one tray with water in rectangle shapes and a second one with animal figurines (Unit !) immersed in the water, she took them out and put them into separate basins. The Pre-Kindergarten children then took turns pouring warm water over the ice. Alas, the ice around the animals melted faster ! Why ?

There is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon: Ice containing figurines melts faster than solid ice primarily due to the increased surface area (voids and cracks), enhanced heat transfer (better thermal conductors) and the reduced mass of ice. 

While these facts are big ideas for our little ones, they could witness it happen which is an important experience.

3) The Movement of Balls

For the next experiments the Pre-Kindergarten children made a little excursion to the nearby Kobecco Play Center.

Roller coaster toys are very popular in our classroom, but here was a different type which made the balls disappear from time to time. The children moved the balls faster and therefore learnt about momentum and acceleration.

The huge ball bath was also a big hit with the children where they floated, sank, counted balls and identified colours, all of which are STEM activities. And they absolutely loved this sensory experience which showed in their laughter and smiles.

4) A Balancing Act

This Play center also offers a nice array of soft shapes for balancing and the children challenged themselves to walk or run across which was a fun and not always easy activity.

The children learnt through trial and error that they need to adjust their body (center of gravity) to the changing shape of the support and this helps develop their spatial reasoning! Great job balancing, Pre-KG children.

5) AI (artificial intelligence ) Presentation

K1 Misha's father, Mr.Kamenev, held a very interesting presentation about AI which gave a good insight into the pros and cons of this tool. The Pre-Kindergarten children listened carefully and even though they were a bit too young to understand, they enjoyed Mr.Kamenev's performance of a robot who wants to put butter on bread, but only follows the instructions fed to him which were given by the children and the older ones probably understood the downsides of AI.

6) The Magic Dough Demonstration

Every good baker knows that if you mix flour with water and kneed it enough, it becomes solid dough. Really ? What if it turns liquid when you release it? 

Cornstarch and water are called oobleck which becomes solid when pressured (starch particles lock together) and liquid when you stop applying pressure. This made for a fascinating demonstration by Ms.Kotomi for the children who are used to playdough or baking and for a fun and messy aha! moment experiment.

7) The STEM room activities

On the last day of the STEM week Mr.Jordan had set up some fabulous stations with activities for the children to explore and discover. The Pre-Kindergarten children loved the shape bubble wands, the treasure hunt for dinosaurs, the balloon static experiment and especially the shadow puppet theater. They were fascinated by the fact that the cardboard figures came alive in the light and changed size according to the distance. The Playgroup children and parents were lucky that this event was held on a Thursday which is our Playgroup day, so everyone could join the fun and discoveries!

What a wonderful STEM week we had at DSKI where the school community could learn so much about this topic in an engaging way !

Please make sure to try some of the activities at home or outdoors, it does not take much preparation, but the results and learning for the children are amazing.

Have a beautiful spring break full of fantastic discoveries !

With kind regards, mit freundlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY GFL & Deutsch      

German Saturday School homeroom teacher