Little Sparks - Scienceworks - Melbourne - Review
Kate and her little ones had a very interesting morning yesterday when they headed to Scienceworks to checkout the Little Sparks workshop which runs once a month for children 3 to 5. Thank you Kate for this great review. xo Catherine
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
From birth, children are curious. We can build on that natural curiosity by developing their interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
The Little Sparks workshops at Scienceworks explore different STEM topics in a play-based learning setting. With different themes throughout the year, each 50 minute session is suitable for children aged 3-5 years and combines stories, songs and hands-on STEM challenges.
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Our session ‘Mapping Our Place’ explored maps; what they are, how to use them and how they help us figure out our place in the world.
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Led by Scienceworks educator Owen, the children were given a map of Melbourne and stickers to highlight some of their favourite places. The poppets were very excited to find our suburb on the map and very quickly both maps were filled with stickers representing important places - a fire truck for Eastern Hill Fire Station, a football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, dogs along the bike track next to Collingwood Children’s Farm and a cat at their grandparents’ house.
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
The second half of the workshop saw the children using the Scienceworks Visitor Map to navigate their way outside of the Stem Lab to find Dot (the adorable main character in the Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together exhibition, who was named after Dr. Dorothy Hill, the first female fellow of the Australian Academy of Science) who was lost and needed help. Following Dot’s clues we eventually found her outside near the Amphitheatre where she was waiting to have a selfie taken with the little explorers.
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
Photo credit: @kateflatman for @busycitykids
The Little Sparks workshops run once a month, with each date having two times to choose from, morning or afternoon. Children aged under 3 are welcome to attend the workshop with their participating older sibling and parent/carer. Parents/carers are expected to participate in the workshop with a a maximum of two children per parent/carer recommended.
For more ideas of what to do with the kids in Melbourne, checkout our Website, our Daily Spots List, CBD Spots or Blog.