ABSTRACT
STEM activities can increase our daughter’s interest and skills in STEM fields and can also help her develop persistence, creative problem solving, leadership skills, and teamwork. These skills are critical in STEM and just as useful in other domains. Children who have a growth mindset tend to persist longer than those who have a fixed mindset when faced with challenges. Children with a growth mindset also tend to choose challenging tasks that allow them to learn, while those with a fixed mindset choose easier tasks that allow them to demonstrate their intelligence and the skills they already have. Traditionally, creativity has been thought of as something that is key to the arts, but not a major part of STEM. Word games can be a great way to demonstrate the perspective-taking side of creativity.
