Sparking kids' curiosity

Help the Kiwi kids in your life to be inspired by science, engineering, maths and technology with tips from a Genesis School-gen Super Teacher.

1. Make it hands on

Give kids the opportunity to get hands-on with science - even if it gets messy. You can use ingredients from your pantry, like baking soda and vinegar, to make a volcano. Something as simple as making jelly teaches kids about solids, liquids and gases. Brushing up on the science behind your experiments using Google will help you explain what’s going on.

2. Keep it real

Get kids engaged in science by taking them out and about to explore. A trip to a museum or an aquarium is full of opportunities to talk about what they’re seeing. A walk through the park, bush or beach is an opportunity to talk about native flora and fauna. Observing and talking while you explore helps make science feel real for kids.

3. Don’t underestimate kids!

Don’t underestimate kids when you’re explaining things to them. Kids are like sponges, they’ll absorb everything you say, and bring that knowledge back into the classroom. Finding opportunities to explain things in detail will help make concepts stick – for example, when you pass a mountain in the car, try explaining how it was formed.

About Penny

“She is the best teacher. We learn so much. She makes science so fun and interesting. I love her experiments.” – Johnson, age 10.

Penny Chatfield is a ‘Super Teacher’ specialising in science at Te Mata School in Napier. Penny won the 2019 Genesis School-gen Super Teacher competition – an initiative that recognises the mahi (work) of Kiwi teachers going above and beyond to inspire kids in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) learning.

Penny received over 65 nominations from students, parents, aunts, grandparents and colleagues. As part of Penny’s prize, she won a trip to the Space Exploration Educators Conference in Houston, Texas.

About Genesis School-gen

In 2006, the Genesis School-gen programme was created to help get young Kiwis interested in science, engineering, technology and maths by learning about energy – how it’s made, how it works and how it can be managed. For the past 14 years the Genesis School-gen programme has provided free teaching and learning resources to schools throughout New Zealand to inspire and equip the next generation of Kiwi innovators.

Learn more about School-gen