Exhibits, including animal room, offer kids a chance to experience science, technology, engineering and math
TAUNTON — Cole Babey, 17 months old, stood still and wide-eyed. After a few seconds, he decided to extend his pointer finger, moving it forward until it poked Jabba, a plump green bullfrog, right on the side.
Cole, stepped back and giggled, before he excitedly decided to continue to wander to go see some of the other scaly, furry or slippery creatures in the room at Taunton’s Barnum School building.
Although Cole, as well as the dozens of other kids in the room, were smiling and having fun they were also learning.
“We want to keep the kids’ minds growing while also having fun. Today they are using science, math skills and exploring,” said Nicole Caccavo, a community playgroup facilitator at a STEM Open House on Tuesday. “Young minds start early — and between the ages of zero and 3, it is a very important time to learn.”
Triumph Inc. hosted a STEM Open House on Tuesday, during school vacation week, at the Barnum building, to give young children and their parents an opportunity to enjoy some hands-on learning activities and, of course, to have fun.
Kids and their parents went through multiple rooms that were filled with STEM — or science, technology, engineering and math — activities.
Triumph Inc. — which stands for “Taunton Responds in Unison Many People Help” — is a nonprofit early-childhood agency that offers educational programs, particularly focusing on children 5 years old or younger.
While Triumph has more than 23 classrooms in Taunton, Tuesday’s event had three rooms open. In one room, kids were building different things, including little log cabins, mazes and even a bird feeder. In another room, kids were doing things such as using their math skills to get through an obstacle course.
“We had heard of the event and needed something to do and this wasn’t far,” said Chelsea Murphy as she watched her 3-year-old daughter, Samantha, crawl through an obstacle. “She looks like she is having fun.”
But the busiest room at the event was the one that was occupied by tortoises, chinchillas, snakes and frogs and a hedgehog.
“I think it’s really important to show kids that these animals are more than just a picture in their mind,” said Joe Kenney, the owner of Joe’s Crazy Critters, who brought along plenty of animals for the kids to observe, pet, touch and even hold at the event.
“They see that it is real and is alive,” Kenney said. “They get to connect to these (animals) instead of just seeing them in a book.”
Kenney held up a Burmese python in front of the kids as they gathered around him. Some were scared at first, but as Kenney educated the kids about the snake, they got more comfortable, and many even walked up to touch it and get a closer look.
“Who can stick out their tongue like this python,” Kenney said, as the kids stuck out their tongues and hissed like snakes.
“I just love things like this when the kids get to be all hands-on,” Rita Celia, the executive assistant of Triumph said. “They get to touch, feel and get messy, but that is how they learn.”
For more information on Triumph Inc. and its programs, visit www.triumphinc.org.
“It’s things like this that kids really learn from,” Celia said. “Now these kids will never forget what a hedgehog is or what it looks like because today they got to hold one, and that is something they will always remember.”