QUESTION OF THE MONTH : How Do You Inspire a Child's Interest in STEM?

All of the choices are good things to do. I think more cool role models would inspire more kids. There needs to be more than just Bill Nye, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Iron Man.

Real world experience: I have 3 - now age 26, 27 and 28 - children. They all had the chance to experiment with what 's available at home. Two of them did. None ended up studying anything close to STEM.
I'm OK with that. They deliberately chose an other profession.

edit: 29. It's my oldest' birthday today

I wasn't spending much time tinkering while my kids were growing up. Of my 3, one is an accountant, that is as close to STEM as any got.

As a kid I just loved tinkering with things.

Eventually that led to my going to tech school, which led to a BS in computer engineering and eventually a masters in computer science.

In my experience, engineers are born, not made.

So there is a limit to what you can do to inspire non-born engineers.

You can provide the environment, but only that inner driven desire will see them continue on.

I think it is really a combination of above choices.

For me as a very young child (and beyond), I loved nothing more than to receive old broken things that I could take apart and study.  Once I understood what the parts were, I would attempt to fix them.  I continued to receive old radios, toasters, watches, etc.  Each new thing was a great adventure. I would have loved to have been guided along this path or encouraged to learn more.

As I got older, I started directing any money I received to Radio Stack electronics projects. I had teachers who were mentors and help me discover Museums and Science centers.  Around that time, I started participating in science fairs.

With my grandkids, I have bought them robot kits and helped them assemble them.  I have tried to encourage and engage them by asking them questions or getting them to try to experiments (like simple changes to the functionality, i.e. change LED colors or sound prompts).  My eldest grandchild is entering junior high school and has applied to and been accept to a special STEM and advanced training program next fall.  All of her classes will be advanced placement and will include programming instruction towards video gaming.  So far, she appears to have been inspired. 

Any and all forms of encouraging a child will help them to be inspired in STEM.

I'm looking forward to doing projects with my grandson but he's too young (2 1/2) so it will be a while.  He has pointed out to me that the lights on some of his toy cars don't work (they're just plastic) so I think that maybe I'll let him watch me modify a few of them to add LEDs, batteries and button switches.  He really like remote controls and enjoys using an RC car that I got him but hasn't quite mastered using both joysticks at once.

I like the STEM/STEAM programs they have in schools nowadays.  Of course, I'm okay with whatever he chooses to do in life.  I'm really hoping that he likes fishing .

I teach US history to 6, 7, and 8th grade. You have to let them have fun. Take little ones out to places with plants and animals if you want to inspire biology sciences, take them to where things are built to see how gears and mechanical stuff work, and to make it successful, you have to explain in their terms what is happening. The earlier you do this, the brain will reserve space with neurons for later information. Think of it as you are building storage drives, and very little will be stored on them. All they need is the basic knowledge they can comprehend at their age. Synapsis' pruning occurs between 2 and 6. If it detects empty neurons not being used to develop the brain, it will throw out unused neurons. Let the kids explore and learn on their own (with your encouragement) as their interests develop in the outside world.

Please don't overdo it. Just take a five-minute walk and stop when you see something you haven't talked about before. Ask them a few questions like "How much can an ant lift? 10 times its own weight!"

These little lessons keep the brain developing and building the network, and it slows the pruning process. Plus, getting kids off the phone and from in front of the TV for real exercise and fresh air is good for their health. Raise them to love math from a very early age. They don't have to understand it, just introduce them to it. Why? Because all of the sciences, engineering, coding, and other vocations need mathematicians. Math is the most important skill you can teach, and tie it to fun projects. 

Fun.  It's got to be fun.  The younger the child, the more tactile it has to be.  And as Mikeatencio stated... short attention spans.  STEM is planting seeds.  It's expanding their perspective on life.  It could be laying a foundation - or it could be just something they did for a season.  Try to make it social.  The group is more important than the project, even up to early teens.  STEM is preparing youth for life, not this year's trophy.  On that note, it's also about time.  Your time invested in their lives.  Kids want attention - and they'll do something that they don't think is going to be fun just to get that attention.   Back to "short attention span".  They are spending time with you.  Don't make it feel like they're doing time by being with you.

To use Mikeatencio analogy... I have to agree with DAB when it comes to Engineers.  The "knack" resides in the ROM, not the RAM or the hard drive.  The little ones come preprogrammed.  It takes some serious trauma to corrupt the Bootloader.  Unfortunately, it does happen.  Some children are intrigued by stacking rings and blocks and other have no interest.  Yes, children can also be molded by their environment - but how many Engineers do you know that never took something apart as a child?

On "take your kids to work" day I would go get some broken stuff, old printers, PCs , etc and give them to the kids with a few hand tools and let them take it all apart. It always gets them to wonder how stuff works.