Small Hands, Big Ideas: How Tinkering and Making Build STEM Thinkers

What does a child learn when they take apart a broken clock, build a ramp out of cardboard tubes, or figure out why their block tower keeps falling?

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), quite a lot.

NAEYC's Teaching Young Children journal dedicated its entire Fall 2024 issue to tinkering, making, and engineering in preschool and kindergarten — a signal of just how central these hands-on experiences have become to best practice in early childhood education. The research is clear: when young children tinker, they are not just playing. They are doing science.

Tinkering is open-ended, exploratory making. It is what happens when a child is given materials — cardboard, tape, rubber bands, wooden spools, fabric scraps — and the freedom to see what they can build, fix, or discover.

It is different from a craft project with a predetermined outcome. There is no "right" finished product. The process is the point.

NAEYC author Cate Heroman, in her article Small Hands, Big Ideas: Exploring STEM Through Tinkering, Making, and Engineering, describes tinkering as "a playful pathway toward STEM learning" — one that builds persistence, creativity, and the willingness to try again after something does not work.

That last part is critical. The willingness to try again is the foundation of every scientific and engineering breakthrough in history.

When a child tinkers, they are naturally practicing all four pillars of STEM:

Science — They observe, predict, and test. "What happens if I put the heavier block on top?"

Technology — They use tools (even simple ones like scissors, tape, and rulers) purposefully to solve problems.

Engineering — They design, build, evaluate, and redesign. The ramp that does not work becomes the ramp that does.

Math — They measure, compare, count, and reason about space and quantity without being asked to.

NAEYC researchers Claudia Caro, Mike Petrich, Karen Wilkinson, and Luigi Anzivino note in their article Making Time for Tinkering that this kind of playful, self-directed exploration is not a break from academic learning — it is one of the richest forms of it.

NAEYC's Cate Heroman also tackled a challenge that many parents and educators face: the persistent myths about STEM that lead well-meaning adults to underestimate what young children can do.

Here are three of the most common ones:

Myth 1: STEM is for older children. The truth is that STEM thinking begins in infancy. A baby dropping a spoon off a high chair tray — again and again — is running a physics experiment. A toddler sorting shapes is doing mathematics. The brain is most receptive to STEM concepts in the first five years of life.

Myth 2: STEM requires special materials or equipment. A cardboard box, a roll of tape, and a handful of craft sticks are enough. The most powerful STEM learning happens with everyday, open-ended materials that children can manipulate freely. Expensive kits are not required.

Myth 3: STEM is about getting the right answer. STEM is about asking good questions and learning from what happens. A tower that falls teaches more than a tower that stands on the first try. Educators and parents who celebrate the process — not just the product — raise children who are not afraid to take intellectual risks.

One of the most beautiful examples of early STEM in action comes from NAEYC author Ihuoma Iheukwumere, who documented a classroom investigation into light and shadows in her article "The Sky Is Orange!" Reflecting on an Investigation of Light and Shadows.

It started with a child's observation — a simple, curious remark about the color of the sky. The teacher, rather than redirecting to the next activity, leaned in. What followed was a weeks-long investigation involving flashlights, shadow puppets, outdoor observation, and rich scientific conversation.

This is what NAEYC calls "following the child's lead" — and it is one of the most powerful things an educator or parent can do. When a child's natural curiosity becomes the curriculum, engagement is not a problem. It is a given.

NAEYC's Winter 2025 issue of Teaching Young Children focused on equitable STEM learning in preschool and kindergarten — a topic that matters deeply to us at Palmetto Future Scholars.

Research consistently shows that children from under-resourced communities have fewer opportunities for rich STEM experiences in their early years. This is not because of any difference in ability or curiosity. It is a difference in access.

High-quality early learning programs that intentionally build STEM into every day — through tinkering, making, outdoor exploration, and inquiry-based conversation — are one of the most powerful tools we have for closing that gap before it widens.

Every child deserves to grow up believing they are a scientist, an engineer, a builder of things. That belief is formed early. And it is formed through experience.

At Palmetto Future Scholars, our approach to STEM is grounded in the same principles NAEYC champions:

• Open-ended materials available every day, not just on "science day"
• Educator-guided inquiry — teachers who ask "What do you think will happen?" instead of giving answers
• Documentation of learning — capturing children's theories, predictions, and discoveries so they can revisit and build on them
• A culture of trying again — where mistakes are celebrated as information, not failures

We believe every child who walks through our doors is already a thinker and a maker. Our job is to give them the time, the materials, and the encouragement to prove it.

Further reading from NAEYC:

• Small Hands, Big Ideas: Exploring STEM Through Tinkering, Making, and Engineering — Cate Heroman, Teaching Young Children, Fall 2024
• Debunking Seven Myths About STEM — Cate Heroman, Teaching Young Children, Fall 2024
• Making Time for Tinkering: A Playful Pathway Toward STEM Learning — Caro, Petrich, Wilkinson, Anzivino, Teaching Young Children, Fall 2024
• "The Sky Is Orange!" Reflecting on an Investigation of Light and Shadows — Ihuoma Iheukwumere, Teaching Young Children, Fall 2024

Opening Fall 2026 in North Charleston, SC. If you want your child to grow up thinking like an engineer, we would love to meet your family. Join our interest list to receive early enrollment access and updates.