COMMUNITY STEM
Community STEM Programmes
for Children in Singapore
Use STEM to understand and respond to the world around us.
Explorer Junior designs Community STEM programmes that connect science, engineering and purposeful making with real places, environments and situations children encounter around them.
WHAT IS COMMUNITY STEM?
STEM Starts With the World Around Us
Community STEM begins with something children can notice, investigate or care about in the world around them. It can be a place, an environmental question, a community need or a system they encounter in everyday life.
Children use science, engineering and design to understand what is happening, explore why it matters, and create or test ideas based on what they discover.
Instead of technology, the starting point begins with something worth understanding.
01
REAL WORLD
Start with something meaningful
An objective, a place, environment, community situation or everyday system gives children a reason to investigate.
02
UNDERSTAND
Investigate how it works
Children use science, engineering and design to ask questions, gather information and understand what is happening.
03
CREATE
Make with purpose
Children apply what they discover by developing, building or testing an idea of their own.
HOW CHILDREN EXPLORE
From Noticing to Making a Difference
Community STEM gives children a reason to look more closely at the world around them. They move from noticing what is happening to understanding it, creating ideas and learning through testing and improvement.
What is happening around us?
Observe a place, situation or challenge and identify something worth exploring.
What can we discover?
Ask questions, investigate and use STEM ideas to understand how and why something happens.
What could we make?
Turn what has been learnt into an idea, design or prototype with a clear purpose.
How well does it work?
Try the idea, observe what happens and gather useful feedback or evidence.
What could we change?
Use what was discovered through testing to refine the idea and make it work better.
What did we learn?
Explain the thinking, discoveries and ideas to others.
WHERE COMMUNITY STEM CAN BEGIN
Real-World contexts become starting points for STEM
Community STEM can begin with an environmental question, a place or community, or a system children encounter around them. The context changes, but the purpose remains the same: help children understand their world and create with purpose.
01
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
Explore our relationship with the environment
Children investigate the natural and built environment through questions around biodiversity, waste, food, energy and environmental conditions.
02
PLACES & COMMUNITIES
Discover the stories and needs around us
Places, neighbourhoods and communities become contexts for exploring heritage, public spaces and how people interact with the environments around them.
03
SYSTEMS AROUND US
Understand how everyday systems work
Children investigate the infrastructure and systems that shape everyday life, from mobility and accessibility to how technology can help communities function.
COMMUNITY STEM IN PRACTICE
Community STEM in different contexts
Community STEM can take the form of school STEM programmes, community workshops, public-learning experiences and CSR initiatives, shaped around different audiences, objectives and settings. Here are three examples of children using STEM to understand something in their world and create with purpose.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE
Exploring the Singapore River through STEM
A parent-child programme connected the changing story of the Singapore River with environmental science and purposeful making.
View Case StudyCORPORATE CSR PROGRAMME
Connecting Sustainability With Digital Making
A corporate community-impact initiative brought sustainability, digital literacy and hands-on STEM together in a repeatable programme for children.
View Case StudySUSTAINABLE YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS
From Ideas to a Real Sustainable Marketplace
Children explored sustainability through designing ideas for a real audience, bringing together STEM thinking, making and purposeful creation.
View Case StudyDESIGNED FOR DIFFERENT CONTEXTS
Community STEM across Schools and Communities
Community STEM can be shaped around different audiences, objectives and settings. From classroom learning to public programmes, cultural spaces and corporate community initiatives, we have designed experiences for different settings.
01
Schools & Educators
Connect curriculum and enrichment with real-world questions through workshops, CCAs and longer learning journeys.
02
Government & Community Organisations
Turn community priorities and public-learning objectives into accessible STEM experiences for children and families.
03
Museums & Cultural Institutions
Use places, collections, stories and environments as starting points for investigation, making and discovery.
04
Corporate & CSR Partners
Translate sustainability, community-impact and family-engagement objectives into meaningful STEM experiences for children.
FIND THE RIGHT FIT
Start with what you Need
You don't need to have the programme figured out before speaking with us.
Choose from an existing Community STEM programme, adapt one to your audience or context, or speak with us about a more specific objective. We'll recommend an approach based on what you need.
Start with an existing programme
Looking for a ready-to-run STEM experience? We can recommend existing programmes suited to your audience, setting and available time.
Shape it for your context
An existing programme can be adjusted where appropriate for a particular age group, theme, setting or learning context.
Begin with a specific objective
For organisations with a particular educational, community or engagement objective, we can explore a more customised programme approach.
EXPLORE COMMUNITY STEM
Interested in finding out more?
Looking for an existing programme, exploring a theme or working towards a specific objective? Tell us what you need and we'll help you find a suitable starting point.