*AD – Gifted. Contains affilialate links.

Well, here we are again back to the homeschooling malarky! While our kid’s schools are absolutely brilliant at giving out work and projects for them to complete, I like to add a few things of our own in that align with their personal interests and strengths. For Alex in particular, that’s STEM.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. There is a huge focus on it at the moment because, let’s face it, so many jobs now and in the future rely on these skills to function. There is a particular focus on getting girls into STEM, because GIRL POWER!

One of my favourite kids brands, Clementoni, have a whole range of STEM toys that are not only getting kids to use these skills but are incredibly fun top, and that to me has to be a priority, particularly at the moment.

The first Clementoni STEM toy that we were sent was this rather fabulous Action Reaction. Imagine something a little like a marble run, but that encourages you to think about building, gravity, forces, levers and all things physics. Harrison and Alex did need a lot of help to supervise putting it together – and it does take up some room, but my gosh, the fun that we all had with it.

The other product that we were sent was the Mechanics Buggy and Quad kit. Now, this one is a lot more intense than the Action Reaction and definitely needed adults to help out. Kids learn about gears, suspension and other physics-related stuff. I’m not going to lie – it was way out of my skill zone but Graham has enjoyed it with Harrison. We haven’t quite got round to completing it yet because of an inquisitive toddler, but I will share pics on Insta when it’s done. It’s actually been lovely watching Graham and Harrison having a bit of male bonding time together, chatting about it and working together on it.

These are really great products, and are superb value for money. They are recommended for 8 plus, although when set up, with supervision, Ben (6) loved playing with the Action Reaction set.

We can’t leave Elizabeth out though, can we? As I said above – there is a big push on getting girls into STEM, and as far as I’m concerned, they are never too young. Diddybeth loves building and stacking with blocks, and like every toddler, she (unfortunately) loves the phenomenon that is Peppa Pig. She also really likes vehicles. Put these three things together and you have incredible fun.

Featuring two chunky, easy to hold characters and a selection of the soft building bricks, the car holds the bricks and has ‘moulds’ (is that the right word?) on top to use as a base. We were sent some of the Clementoni soft building blocks back when Diddy was a tiny baby, and they’ve been a firm favourite, so this extends that perfectly.

The prices are incredibly reasonable for these toys – the Peppa Pig bus has an RRP of around £14.99 and is available from Smyths and other toy stores. The Action Reaction is around £19 from Amazon and the Mechanics Laboratory toy is around £29.99 on Amazon.