Eleanor Duckworth once said, “The essence of science is the struggle to find out about the material world.” She went on to say, “This struggle entails both the ability to solve problems which are already articulated and the ability to find problems not yet articulated."
The struggle to find out the material world through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) begins at birth. Lucky are the infants and toddlers who have observant, caring adults who support STEM learning from the start.
This is the second in a series of four blog posts written by Dr. Jill Uhlenberg who will describe four types of effort adults can employ to nurture STEM from the beginning.
Toddlers and STEM Experiences: Adults as Curriculum Organizers
Dr. Jill Uhlenberg
In the previous post, we examined the role of adults as liberators. The second kind of effort needed is for adults to be the curriculum organizers. People who work with toddlers often seek ideas for curriculum in places that are not connected to toddler experiences. That is, curriculum becomes an external device inserted into the day to pass the time. When toddlers are not interested in these kinds of external experiences, or when limits are tight because adults are directing how the experiences progress, that curriculum often fails. That is when we hear adults bemoan the short attention span of toddlers or that they are experiencing the “terrible twos” or they are making a mess. 
Curriculum that grows out of toddlers’ everyday experiences with different materials provides opportunities for engagement and lasting interest. My example of Lacey and her painting is one example. Lacey’s teacher shared another experience about the toddlers in her group. Oscar was enjoying his crackers and drink at snack time when his sippy cup tipped over. He watched the water drip out of the lid slowly, then he picked up the cup upside down and continued to watch the water drips fall onto the table. Again, this toddler teacher could have told him to stop, taken his cup away, or any of several other limitations. Instead, she gathered up extra sippy cups and the next day placed them in the water table so that Oscar and all the children could explore how the water acted in sippy cups. The toddlers spent the entire week examining the cups, filling and emptying the cups repeatedly until they were satisfied.Another example is the Contents and Containers experience developed by Regents’ Center staff. These experiences utilize common materials found in a kitchen (containers) and objects to place inside them. Toddlers love to place objects inside any container and carry them around. Allowing them to explore multiple kinds of containers and contents leads to extended play and investigations of what fits or doesn’t, how materials nest or don’t, and many other spatial relationships.
For toddler teachers who don’t know what to provide for their groups to experience STEM, I suggest beginning with what the toddlers are already doing. Much of what toddlers are engaged in is essentially STEM related. Observe them and explore their perceptions of the world around them rather than providing adult-initiated and -directed experiences that may only demonstrate to toddlers that they need a liberator. Dr. Rheta DeVries noted, “If there is nothing for the children to figure out, then it may not be worthy of their time.”
[For a fuller explanation, see Uhlenberg, J. (2016). The four roles of a master toddler teacher. Early Education and Development, 27(2), 240-258. DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2016.1088313]
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