‘Can we go to the park, it’s a nice afternoon?’ says my child.  

I have already spent 2 hours this morning supervising my kids in the local swimming pool and I have a mountain of chores to do. 

‘Errm, well you have been to the pool already, and I’m not sure I have the time now’. 

‘Aww, so what shall I do?’ says child. 

How much I hate those words. In fairness, my kids are pretty good at amusing themselves, but they always seem to want my attention when I’m short of……..TIME!  Now there’s a thought! 

What to do?

I dig out the list of STEAM challenges that I collect for these very occasions. Some challenges require lots of my time to assist, but others like a good old poster competition are far less intensive.

Do you see the theme that’s emerging? Time. And by happy serendipity, that’s the theme for this year’s British Science Week! 

While still at my desk I locate the British Science Week website and brain dump the theme and guidance to my kid. The website suggests many possible topics on the subject of time: Evolution, seasons and time zones, lifecycles, lifespans, clocks, sundials, engineering, science in the future and lots more. 

After a few minutes of discussion, my kid says, ‘I know, I’m going to do a poster about what my school will look like in the future’. 

‘Good idea, maybe you can show a classroom in the past AND a classroom in the future. Maybe have a blackboard and chalk in the old classroom?’, I suggest.  

‘What’s a blackboard?’ says my child. I am stunned and feel very old. They walk off to get some paper and pens and have a chat with Google. I’m assuming it’s about classrooms of the future. 

I go back to my in-tray and get over an hour of peace and quiet…perfect! 

When my kid comes back, they are carrying a half decent drawing of a past and future classroom complete with flesh and blood teacher in the past and full-on robot educator in the future.  

C’mon I say, let’s go Google for some fun science stuff to write on the drawing.  

Result!

The final result looked like this, and I didn’t think it was half bad considering it was a pretty autonomous activity: 

Thank you, British Science Week! I got some peace and quiet, and my kid now knows what a blackboard is as well as some fun facts about AI, robots, 3D printers and VR headsets. 

As a little extra fun, we asked our AI friend Image Creator to create the same image, and this was the result. We loved it but we thought human generated original was better! What do you think? 

Note that the closing date for entries to the poster competition is 6.00 pm on Thursday 28 March 2024, and there are loads of wonderful resources on the British Science Week website to get you started and to inspire your little ones. 

The post STEAM Challenge – British Science Week Poster Competition first appeared on Conflicted Parent.

February half term can be a dreary affair if you’re not basking in the warmth of a holiday somewhere other than the UK. On the upside, I’m in London, so there are lots of things to do with the family. On the downside…it’s crowded…very, very crowded. Fortunately, there’s a gem in the city that offers a refreshing alternative to the busy South Kensington Museum mile: Tate Britain.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Natural History Museum, but shuffling around the Dinosaur Exhibition with half of London (the ones that are not on holiday)… well, can we go somewhere quieter instead? Of course, this was not what the younger members of my family wanted to hear, but this free art gallery turned out to be a great day out.

The journey begins with a train ride, always a hit with 7-year-olds. Arriving at Vauxhall, a quick 10-minute walk over the bridge leads to the Vauxhall riverwalk, offering a perfect pitstop at a cafe with a creative seat-cum-play area. A quick coffee for the grown-up and a re-enactment of ‘The Floor is Lava’ for the kids and it’s time to explore Tate Britain. 

Tate Britain, housed in a beautiful building, showcases 500 years of British art and its stories. The staff are sweet and after seeing my large bag of snacks remind me that eating isn’t allowed in the galleries – but there’s a spacious cafe downstairs with lots of seating where we can. Blissful words for a parent!  

Navigating art galleries with my children usually involves a routine: let them draw for a bit, feed them, and then allow a brief exploration for the designated grown-up. Tate Britain helps with that as the staff hand over Tate-themed sketch books and pencils to the kids and tell us that the play studio, story space and Tate Draw are open.

The play studio is amazing – filled with art materials, kinetic sand, books, toys, and even a massive green screen. Under the guidance of encouraging staff, an hour later my young artists emerged proudly displaying their masterpieces. 

But the highlight for the kids came with Tate Draw, where digital pads allow them to create drawings showcased on a giant digital gallery wall. They were giddy with excitement as they experimented with backgrounds, pixelated art, and free draw options before getting their artworks projected larger than life above their heads. 

Finally, the actual gallery exploration begins, and surprisingly, Tate Britain is welcoming to young art enthusiasts. It has lots of interesting pieces – and my kids turn out to be brutal art critics. Turners are dismissed as ‘gloomy’ while unusual works like Damien Hirst‘s sheep or Barbara Hepworth’s shell-like sculpture get the thumbs up. Some of the artists they’d even heard of like Andrew Gormley and Bridget Riley – thanks to Olaf Falafel and Trixie Pickle. ‘Oooooh look – a penis!’ in response to Gormley’s ‘Three Ways: Mould Hole and Passage‘ and ‘Oh, that’s makes me feel dizzy’ on Riley’s black and white OpArt.

I’m largely amused by the commentary until we hit a Francis Bacon. ‘I do NOT like that!’ one child pronounced loudly pointing to a large painting of 3 very ‘melty’ looking figures (Triptych August 1972). I can’t say I disagreed, but was mortified at spotting a very serious looking chap sitting on a bench in front of said artwork who appeared to have been ruminating on it for quite some time. He didn’t seem to notice – or was very polite. I encourage critical thinking in my kids but maybe I should introduce diplomacy too? 

In total, we spent about four hours at Tate Britain, with a significant portion dedicated to exploring the artworks. My kids would happily go again, and I would highly recommend it to other parents who want to find the fun in typically more grown-up public museums and galleries (and avoid the endless dinosaur queue in the ‘other’ museum). And it’s free! What more could you ask for? 

P.S. As a side note, a quick Google search led to a Guardian review last year from a seasoned art critic that was in humorous contrast to my opinionated kids. He hated everything!! Maybe the gallery just isn’t intended for Guardian critics anymore? Make way for the new generation of art enthusiasts! Hey Guardian (art and design) – can my kids write an article for you? 

The post Tate Britain: Arty Fun for Families  first appeared on Conflicted Parent.

For the past few years, during “Biology Week”, the Royal Society of Biology has launched their BioArtAttack 3D competition, inviting people of all ages to fuse biology and art to create biology-themed artworks inspired by the natural world. These can be anything from collages to models, sculptures or animations. 

We only found out about this competition a short while ago, while the Conflicted Parent was trying to find new ways to channel the kids’ creativity into activities that also provide learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths. This yielded a whole list of STEAM challenges (the ‘A’, for art, is critical), but we only had a few days left to enter BioArtAttack 3D. What to do? 

Having a naturally expressive creative child helps. Over the past several months, week in, week out, they’ve been attending art classes at our local art-K studio. This has resulted in a huge profusion of artworks using different media, materials and techniques. The theme of the Great Barrier Reef pretty much suggested itself as they had covered it in school while discussing ecosystems and there were already some relevant pieces (a beach/sea scene and a sea turtle).

The process of creating a 3D artwork is a valuable STEAM activity for parents to do with their children. It encourages children to think creatively and critically, while also developing their scientific knowledge and skills. To create a 3D artwork, children need to plan, design, and build their creation, which also involves a range of skills such as problem-solving, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills. It’s the full package! 

The complete vision of how to take all these elements, create and add a few more and then combine them into a 3D ‘diorama’ of the Great Barrier Reef just seemed to spring fully formed into the Conflicted Parent’s child’s mind. This is one of the aspects of creativity that always astounds the Conflicted Parent. Did we all have this ability as children, and if so, how/when did we lose it? 

We spent the rest of the afternoon researching and then recreating the various creatures and plants to add to the scene: sea stars, clownfish, anemones and coral. They repurposed some cardboard out of the recycling bin with some blue paint as the base and put everything together. 

The competition submission needed some labels and lists of materials. We could have done this by hand, but the afternoon was turning into evening and the submission date loomed, so the Conflicted Parent made good use of their ICT skills to do this digitally. 

In conclusion, we all had a fun time researching and building the final artwork, while learning things almost without noticing. I’d say that was a job well done, wouldn’t you? 

The post STEAM Challenge: The Great Barrier Reef in 3D  first appeared on Conflicted Parent.

Endless wonderful organisations fund or run school programs, provide free resources and set up and fund exciting STEAM challenges and competitions to inspire our children – but parents must know that those resources are out there – and, crucially, engage with them. 

Engaging is the tricky part as everyone is time poor, so the important points are that it should be child driven and minimum hassle for busy parents. We’re just trying to stretch our child’s interests, not create a whole new curriculum for us to teach! (Unless it’s AI – but that’s a discussion for a future post).

For example, the Conflicted Parent’s kid loves to paint. It’s their thing, and they’re always asking for drawing ideas. Now, instead of racking my brain for projects, we’ve stumbled upon these awesome STEAM challenges. It’s like a creative boost without the extra hassle. 

My child gets to dive into their art, and I get a breather because there’s already a theme in place. Plus, it’s not just about making art; it’s about making art that means something. The challenge ties everything together, weaving in some learning without them even realising it. 

And the best part? They’re not just working on a piece; they’re part of a whole community. They check out other artworks, get inspired, and even pick up a few tricks. Throw in some certificates, online gallery love, or the wild idea that their art might end up in space, and you’ve got a seriously exciting experience.  

As a bonus, my child is more likely to finish the project rather than abandoning it halfway through. It’s this whole journey that keeps them motivated, engaged, and proud of what they create. It’s like magic—creative, community-building magic. And give yourself a put on the back my parenting friend, you’ve just exposed your child to a whole bunch of those 21^st Century Skills right there! 

In future blogs the Conflicted Parent will put their money where their mouth is and share their experience of engaging with some of these initiatives. 

In the meantime, some of my favourites are listed below – try some and have fun:

• BioArtAttack 3D – Entries- (3D pieces of art using any combination of materials and media) can take inspiration from any part of the natural world or biological concepts.
• Science without Borders Challenge – This annual competition inspires students to be creative while promoting public awareness of the need to preserve, protect, and restore the world’s oceans and aquatic resources.
• British Science Week poster competition – Posters on an annually changing STEM topic showing creativity in approach, while being clear, accurate and informative.
• The European Astro Pi Challenge: Mission Zero – Write a simple program to take a reading from a sensor on an Astro Pi computer on board the ISS, and use it to set the background colour in a personalised image for the astronauts to see as they go about their daily tasks 
• The Big Bang Competition – Create solutions to real world problems using STEM.
• TeenTech Awards – Innovation competition: brainstorm ideas, clearly identify an opportunity or a problem, suggest a solution and research the market. 
• BIEA Youth STEAM Competition – Annual STEM competition with teams of up to 5 kids aged 6-18.
• Young Minds Prize – Essay competition designed to provide students with an opportunity to engage in debate and hone their writing skills.
• Moon Camp Challenge – Education project using innovative learning technologies to challenge students to design their own Moon settlement with a 3D modelling tool.
• Mission X – Train like an Astronaut – Free educational and inspirational project that challenges students to train like an astronaut through physical exercises and scientific investigations, helping them learn the key elements to keeping fit and staying healthy in space and on Earth.
• UK CanSat Competition – Students are tasked with designing and building their own simulation of a real satellite, integrated within the volume and shape of a soft drink can.
• Space Gallery Competition – Every month ESA Kids is looking at a different theme in more detail. Themes include everything from orbits and planets to astronauts and asteroids.

The post Unleashing Creativity: Exciting STEAM Challenges To Inspire The Family first appeared on Conflicted Parent.

If, like the Conflicted Parent, you want to help your child learn at home but are not quite sure how to start then you’ll want to experiment with the free stuff first. The Conflicted Parent’s Top 5 eLearning Resources are established organisations with great quality teaching resources all aligned to the UK national curriculum. They all cover a range of subjects and levels and are designed to make learning fun and engaging.

• Twinkl is a website that provides over 600,000 educational resources for teachers, parents, and children. It covers all subjects and stages, from Early Years to GCSE. The lovely Twinkl is worth checking out for free high-quality resources – as well as optional premium resources for a reasonable subscription. The Conflicted Parent is not affiliated with Twinkl in any way, but it is our go-to destination for everything from printable worksheets to interactive games. The only criticism (and it hurts me to criticise Twinkl) is that there are so many materials that sometimes it’s hard to find what I am looking for. Twinkl – Perhaps you need an AI to help your users to search for exactly what they need?  
• Oak National Academy is an online classroom that provides high-quality video lessons and resources for pupils from Reception to Year 11. It covers all the core subjects as well as some specialist subjects such as Art, Music, and Languages. It also provides support for pupils with additional needs.  Aimed primarily at teachers but with a wealth of resources for parents to easily use to supplement their children’s education, aligned and regularly updated to the national curriculum. As with many things in education (or indeed the world at large), it is not without controversy. However, The Conflicted Parent is not partisan – Oak’s wonderful video resources have been invaluable in supporting and reinforcing KS1 Maths skills in the Conflicted Parent household. 
• National Literacy Trust is an amazingly creative charity that aims to improve literacy skills and outcomes for children and young people. It offers a wide range of free resources for parents and teachers, such as reading and writing activities, book lists, podcasts, live events and competitions.  
• STEM Learning provides resources and support for teaching and learning Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). It offers curriculum-linked activities, experiments, videos, and games for primary and secondary pupils. It also provides online courses and webinars for teachers and parents.  
• BBC Bitesize  No introduction needed – who doesn’t love Auntie Beeb? You can find videos, quizzes, games, podcasts and activities on maths, English, science, history, geography and more. BBC bitesize is aligned to the national curriculum and follows a structured learning path.  

Dive in and see what you can find – and don’t forget to let the Conflicted Parent know your thoughts and your personal favourites!

The post Top 5 Free eLearning Picks to Inspire Home Learning first appeared on Conflicted Parent.