Building STEAM Skills With Princess Forts

Posted November 26, 2018 by Fort Magic

Increase the confidence level of your little princess and empower her for a successful future. We can’t think of a better way to give your child the hands-on learning of STEAM skills than with one of our Fort Magic kits. Let’s take a look at STEAM skills and why you should care about them.

The Importance of STEAM Skills

STEM is a word we see popping up all over the place, especially in our children’s schools. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Beyond this, more and more educators are realizing the value of adding the arts to our children’s education, which created what we know of as STEAM.

STEAM skills play more of an important role than just educating our children. Studies have shown that children who engage in STEAM building-play grow into more confident adults. STEAM emphasizes hands-on learning and will equip your children with real world problem-solving skills.

Fort Building Prepares Children for the Future

Studies have also shown that one of the most beneficial skills to have in the job market is creativity. Fort building helps our children to develop their creative skills and prepare future designers and engineers. Educators are starting to see the value of STEAM skills in preparing our children for the future.

STEAM play encourages our children to collaborate with others, problem solve, take risks and learn from failure, and even feel as though they are a part of changing the world by creating something from nothing.

Princess Forts Build Future Leaders

One of the most critical parts of STEAM learning is that you equip your learner with all the necessary tools and then allow them to take over. You want them to jump in, start building, ask their own questions, and guide their own learning. To create this environment, challenge your little learner to construct their own princess fort.

You will want to gather all of the necessary materials such as scarves, LED lights, and a Fort Magic building kit. After that, it’s time to brainstorm with your child to see what vision they have for their princess fort!

How to Guide the Process

There are a few different ways to approach the STEAM skills process in learning. It’s all going to depend on your child. Most children just starting out might have trouble with the free form that STEAM learning takes. That’s why we suggest you start with a more structured environment.

You can do this by using your computer or library books to research with your child about princesses. Do you want to learn about modern-day princesses, Disney princesses, or princesses in medieval times? Take a look at the castles associated with these princesses. This will help to give them an impression of the style or time period they would like to go for. Next, choose a fort design and let them start building!

Take a Hands-Off Approach

This may be hands-on learning for your child but for the adult, it means hands off. It’s going to be tempting to jump in, especially when you see them struggling. The most important part of building STEAM skills is that the learner is the one making the mistakes and using these mistakes to guide future decisions.

This provides a great opportunity for lots of encouragement from the sidelines. You can also jump in, with specific instructions from your child. This will help build their confidence and leadership skills as they are the one guiding you.

Change Your Approach as They Learn

The first fort is always the hardest, as they work on getting a feel for how everything works. As their confidence builds, you can change your approach. You can start letting them gather materials on their own and even design their own forts.

Soon, your child will be bringing you to see the fort they constructed all on their own. All you’ll have to do is celebrate all that hard work with a tea party or a grand ball for your little princess!

Photo Credits:

Meri Cherry:  The Meri Cherry blog is a tremendously awesome resource on all things creative, artistic and beautiful in the world of kids crafting. Full of gorgeous, fun and inspiring ideas for your family playtime, you’ll simply love the hands-on-learning ideas she posts each week.

Play At Home Mom Blog:  This super-amazing blog is definitely one of our favorites.  Loaded with fun ideas for DIY playtime, with an always-present educational spin.

Fort Magic Customer Photos via Facebook:  Visit our Fort Magic Facebook page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.

Fort Magic Customer Photos via Instagram:  Visit our Fort Magic Instagram page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.