Evidence Behind the Principle

Even though I've claimed through personal experience that STEM education benefits early childhood education, evidence from experts is equally important to understanding the true mission behind Planting the STEM. According to Dr. Brian Stone at Northern Arizona University, "...cognitive development in STEM activities is influenced by the creation of a positive identity in STEM subjects. STEM identity is a key to building a strong scientific literacy (Brown et al., 2005)" (2025). When a child is introduced to STEM as a fun, interactive subject so early on in their life and associate it with play, the concepts will stick. It is believed that this early introduction to science and triggering of scientific literacy is often a key factor in scientific intrigue that leads to futures in science education.

Not only does STEM education enhance scientific literacy, but it also can enhance problem solving skills by directly pursuing it with lessons and questions. According to Ashlyn from STEM Child Care, when children are given household/random items, it triggers problem solving and cognitive development (2024). Despite the niche-sound of this activity, many activities that preschool-aged children partake in are puzzles to them. Simply writing their own name is a puzzle, as they have to figure out how to use the writing utensil in their hand to copy down the letters precisely enough so it reads out their name. And these seemingly trivial tasks directly relate to STEM learning by triggering the critical thinking skills needed for mathematical and scientific learning.