Looking for STEM Experiences? Meet Annedroids!

annedroids, amazon tv, STEM toys
Annedroids on Amazon TV

We didn’t fail, we just found another way if doing it wrong. – Anne from Annedroids

Over the past few years, there are lots of big changes in the toy realm and in the educational space. People are talking about STEM, STEAM and STEM toys for girls and boys.

S.T.E.M. is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Super long story short, there is a shortage of engineers, especially girls. Engineers know it. Companies are now more aware, because these brilliant thinkers are making serious advances in changing the future of all children and promoting a path towards these rewarding careers at very early ages.

Educators and engineers are working together to launch a powerful maker movement. They are crafting experiences and designing toys for kids that give our children opportunities for hands-on learning through trial and error exploration.

Exposure could be through summer camps, educational programming on television, or playing with toys and electronics, in the comfort of their own homes or in the confines of their neighborhood communities.

Thankfully the boring, rote memorized science I knew as a kid has been replaced with hands-on learning.

Over the past week, we learned about a show exclusive to Amazon Video, Annedroids. Anne is genius scientist who, in her backyard junkyard, with the help of her friends, builds android robots. Kids are learning about STEM and being empowered to want to get out there and create. Win or lose, success or failure, it’s about the process not the product.

Annedroids is a live-action adventure series, in its 3rd season. If you are new to the series, like we are, there are plenty of episodes to keep the family entertained. I enjoy it because it has allowed us to transition out of animated episodes and into a show the family can watch together.

Just the other day at a Maker event at our local science center in our community, my 6-year-old, under the supervision of an adult, used a screwdriver to customize a drone, then fly it in a parking lot.

Kids now have the tools and the power to construct, design, create, engineer and imagineer. They are being taught how to build robots and drones, create circuits and code software. Complicated scientific principles are being taught to children in a way that is fun and even addictive.

Take your kids to events in your community, inspire them with these educational experiences. You will witness the sparks igniting and gears shifting in their minds.

Be patient. It is so hard not to do, but do not jump in and solve the problem for them. Let them them use trial and error with their actions. Be amazed at the questions they ask, watch them figure problems out. Let the leaders guide them. Allow frustration and failure to be the driving force to motivate them to succeed.

Raising a child in our socially, over-connected world of apps is not easy. Our lives are over-scheduled with sports and school. Downtime is a challenge in our home because, we work hard and play hard. If you allow television, we have found some great, entertaining and educational programming available that can keep inspiring kids when we are powering down.

Annedroids episodes are on-demand through Amazon Video and free for those with an Amazon Prime subscription. If you do a lot of traveling like us and stream on the go, the episodes can be accessed through the Amazon Video app as well.

 

Follow us on social media for more STEM fun and let us know if you love Annedroids on Amazon Video, too!

 

 

Looking for more STEM toys, here are some resources of articles I created for About.com Toys in my role there as the Toys Expert.

Disclosure: We received a CHIBI Lights LED Circuit Sticker kit for free to provide inspiration to create in our home. In addition we were notified about the new episodes of Annedroids on Amazon Video. We pay for our own Amazon Prime subscription and I did not receive any other compensation to share this information with readers.

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