**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with International Women in Engineering Day (INWED). INWED is an international awareness campaign run by the Women's Engineering Society (WES), a UK-based charity. It is celebrated annually on June 23rd to highlight the achievements of women engineers and to inspire young people to consider a career in engineering. The day is a positive call to action to address the gender gap in the field and celebrate the creativity and innovation that women bring to engineering. For official information and details, please visit the Women's Engineering Society website: www.wes.org.uk/inwed.
Understanding International Women in Engineering Day in EYFS & KS1
Discover the amazing world of engineering for International Women in Engineering Day (INWED)! š·āāļøāļøš This day helps us remember that anyone, whether they are a boy or a girl, can be a fantastic engineer if they love to be curious, creative, and solve problems. Itās about inspiring all children to build, invent, and create!
For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a wonderfully inspiring and crucial theme for exploring science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Itās about encouraging children's natural curiosity, promoting problem-solving skills, breaking down gender stereotypes, and building confidence in all children. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about design, building, and inventing both essential and wonderfully fun!
Why Is Learning About Engineering Important for Young Children?
Integrating International Women in Engineering Day and themes of engineering and problem-solving into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for fostering critical thinking, creativity, and a sense of empowerment.
Fosters Problem-Solving Skills: Encourages children to think critically and find solutions to real-world challenges.
Breaks Down Stereotypes: Shows children that engineering is a field for everyone, regardless of gender.
Encourages Creativity & Design: Teaches children that engineering is not just about numbers, but also about creative design and building.
Builds Confidence: Gives children a sense of accomplishment when they successfully design or build something.
Connects to the Real World: Helps children see how engineers have shaped the world around them, from the toys they play with to the buildings they live in.
Engaging Engineering Activities for International Women in Engineering Day (EYFS & KS1)
Time to get our hands-on with some engineering challenges for International Women in Engineering Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on creativity, teamwork, and building! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated āSTEMā, āConstructionā, āScienceā, and āUnderstanding the Worldā resources.
Here's some inspiration for celebrating INWED in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken. Emphasise positive messages about trying your best and celebrating everyone's ideas.)
Exploring Engineering Through Building
Construction Challenge: Use our 'Construction - Challenge Cards (A5)' and our 'STEM - Challenge Cards' to give children specific building tasks, like building the tallest tower or the longest bridge. You can also use everyday objects like paper, straws, and blocks for building.
Building a Bridge: Challenge children to build a bridge strong enough to hold a toy car, using only limited materials like newspaper, tape, and scissors. Discuss how engineers design bridges to be strong and safe.
Role Play: Use our 'Construction - 'Construction' and 'Building' Banners' to set up a construction zone role-play area. Provide hard hats, high-vis jackets, and blueprints for a creative play experience.
Creating a House: Use our 'Houses And Homes - Playdough Mat Challenge' to challenge children to build a house that can stand up on its own. Talk about the different parts of a house and what makes it strong.
Creative & Hands-on Problem-Solving
Ramps & Rolling: Use cardboard tubes and boxes to build a car ramp. Test different materials to see which ones make the car go faster or slower. Use our 'STEM - Make a Car Ramp - Support Pack' to guide this activity.
Float or Sink: Explore the science of floating and sinking with our 'Science - Activity Pack - Float and Sink' or the free posters. Get children to design and build a boat from recycled materials to see if it floats.
Connecting to the Human Body: Use our 'The Human Body - Heart Playdough Mats' or 'The Human Body - Brain Playdough Mats' to explore the incredible engineering of our own bodies. Discuss how our bones are like the framework of a building and our muscles help us move.
Learning from Nature: Use our 'Science - Activity Pack - Minibeast Hunt' and 'Minibeast Search Checklist' to look at how nature has its own incredible engineers, like spiders building webs or bees building hives.
Celebrating Female Engineers
Inspirational Stories: Read stories about famous female engineers, like Emily Roebling, who helped build the Brooklyn Bridge, or Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space.
'Draw an Engineer' Activity: Ask children to draw a picture of what they think an engineer looks like. Then, share stories about women engineers to challenge their assumptions and show them that engineers come in all shapes and sizes.
Fairness Discussion: Use our 'Fairness - Which is Fairer? - Posters' and other fairness resources to talk about why it's important for everyone, including girls, to have the opportunity to be an engineer.
Connecting Engineering to the World
Transport & Travel: Use resources like our 'Transport/Travel' and 'Space' pages to show how engineering is all around us, from the cars we drive to the rockets that go to the moon.
Water Wonders: Use our 'Wonderful Water! Display' to talk about how engineers help us get clean drinking water and manage water systems.
Explore More: To explore our extensive catalogue of resources on these themes, please visit our āSTEMā, āScienceā, āConstructionā, āUnderstanding the Worldā, and āFairnessā pages.
These activities offer great inspiration for making International Women in Engineering Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering problem-solving skills, curiosity, and an understanding that engineering is a career for all.
To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.
Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: āInternational Women in Engineering Dayā
Free āSTEMā, āScienceā and āEngineeringā resources for EYFS & KS1:
The following is a small selection of our inspirational āSTEMā & āScienceā resources for EYFS & KS1:
(Please visit our āScienceā or āSTEMā or āUnderstanding the Worldā pages to explore our extensive catalogue of Science resources.)
Please visit our āScienceā, āSTEMā, āMathematicsā or āUnderstanding the Worldā pages to explore our extensive catalogue of resources in this area:
āFairnessā printable resources and activities for EYFS & KS1:
Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes
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Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children
Browse our āSpecial Dates Calendarā page using the link below. Youāll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!
SEARCH āLITTLE OWLS Resourcesā USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONSā¦
Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'International Women in Engineering Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Women's Engineering Society (WES), which runs this annual initiative. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit the Women's Engineering Society website: www.wes.org.uk/inwed.
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