Children’s museum Play Africa has announced an update to their innovative educator resource chatbot on WhatsApp to make playful STEM lessons freely accessible to educators anywhere.
Educators can now easily access Play Africa’s free, easy-to-adapt playful STEM resources, Real Science and STEM Seeds, via the automated chatbot from wherever they are 24/7, with the aim of enlivening and enriching STEM learning in the classroom through playful activities.
The Real Science resources supported by 3M bring fun & practical science learning and climate change awareness to life in the classroom, making STEM learning easy through our easy-to-follow Science At Home Activity Books that can be downloaded, printed, or used directly from a mobile phone. The Science at Home activity books make learning fun with engaging and educational DIY science experiments for children ages 6-12.
There are easy-to-follow illustrated steps and directions with each activity, as well as enjoyable colouring-in opportunities.
These simple, at-home experiments conducted by 3M scientists use common household items and are designed to reinforce core scientific principles, making learning fun!
The STEM Seeds free, open-source resources aim to support educators and give them the confidence to initiate playful STEM activities in their classrooms. The STEM Seeds resources are designed for ages 3-10, using everyday, low-cost materials that can be accessed easily.
Empowered, confident and resourceful early educators are the key to equipping South African children for the future. STEM Seeds helps South Africa’s early education sector as a whole by introducing playful, age-appropriate STEM and climate change education at a young age.
The curriculum support for early educators can help children develop new capacities for deeper learning, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving through playful learning. It can also help ignite a love of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) from childhood, thereby unlocking new pathways to STEM careers.
Additionally, it has the potential to empower girls by promoting gender equity in STEM education and careers. Ultimately, this initiative fosters greater pluralism and social inclusion in South Africa’s economy by promoting racial equity in STEM education and careers.
“We are excited to be adding the Real Science and STEM Seeds resources to our Play Africa chatbot and make playful STEM learning more accessible for educators and learners everywhere. We developed the Play Africa chatbot to reach educators wherever they are, on WhatsApp which is the most popular messaging service. By doing this we hope to bring vital STEM learning to children in every school across the country”, says Mfanafuthi Mbongwe, MD of Play Africa
Any educator or ECD practitioner in South Africa can access the Play Africa chatbot by saving the number +27 600 42 0000 as a contact and then sending a WhatsApp with the word PLAY to the number. Alternatively, click https://wa.me/27600420000 or scan the QR code below to start chatting.