Facilitating is a key element of the Little Makers

STEM play with young children provides opportunities for observing, exploring, asking questions, seeking answers, making predictions, and sharing discoveries. By allowing a child to follow their natural curiosity, we allow children to come to their own conclusions.

Facilitation is the key element of the Little Makers program. Facilitation mostly boils down to modelling behaviors for the caregivers that will instill a sense of agency in the child and an interest in their own learning. Facilitators model language, patience by allowing the child time to think and organize their thoughts, praising behaviors and asking open-ended questions.

When we notice a child beginning to have difficulties, instead of intervening and solving the problem for them, we help them along the path to self-discovery. For example, during one of our programs on circuits, a child was having a hard time getting a light bulb to light up. No matter what battery she connected it to, the light bulb would not light up! We encouraged the parent to give the child time to figure it out. Then rather than supplying an answer by saying, "Maybe that light bulb is burned out," the facilitator said, "Can you think of a reason why that bulb may not light?" When the child exclaimed that the batteries did not work, the facilitator prompted the child to think deeper by asking, "Do the lights ever go out at your home? Why do you think that happens?" The child focused on the bulb rather than the batteries or connections. There were many bulbs of varying colors spread around the table. She pointed to another bulb and said, "Can I try that one?" The facilitator said, "Of course, why not try all of them to see what happens” and wondered aloud about if they would all work.  

The girl spent another ten minutes trying out the bulbs and found out some did not work. She began sorting them and was quite happy to see that it was not the connections she had made, but a burnt-out bulb that was the problem. She quickly overcame her initial shyness about trying the other bulbs on the table that were in in front of others.  She also helped another child complete a circuit so they could work together to test objects. The facilitator continued to encourage them by praising their behaviors, challenging them and asking higher-level questions such as, "Do you think you could make more than one bulb light up at once and how do you think you could do that?”