Need help with STEM activities? Our Community Partner, All About STEM, has some advice.

Developing good Science Technology Engineering and Maths skills is becoming increasingly important for young people in the 21^stcentury and there are lots ways you can use STEM activities to enhance the activities you do, and the badges you work towards, with your groups.

All About STEM works across Merseyside and Cheshire to support those working with young people to engage with a range of STEM activity. The examples here are linked to scouts.org.uk but can easily be adapted to suit other uniformed organisations.

Why not excite the interest of your groups by having a STEM ambassador come along and share their passion?

Having volunteers, from STEM Learning’snational STEM Ambassador Programme, talk about their careers or studies can help bring STEM subjects alive for young people and enable them to understand the real-world application of STEM skills.

For example, you could request a STEM Ambassador to assist you with the Astronomer Activity Badge by providing a talk about the moon or the solar system or perhaps bringing along some equipment. Requesting someone with a veterinary science background might be of interest for the Animal Carer Activity Badge or Equestrian Activity Badge.

As well as having fun and helping your group achieve their badges, you will be adding to their individual Science Capital. The more Science Capital a young person has, the more likely they are to continue with science post-16.  It is hoped that building the Science Capital of young people will directly contribute to improving young people’s life chances and in turn close the skills gap the UK is facing.

Not sure where to start?

Why not have a look at our Pinterest page for some inspiration? There are plenty of activities that are age-appropriate or themed. Many of the activities you do in your groups can also be accredited towards a CREST Award as well as being entered into The Big Bang Competition so you can get a lot of mileage out of a single project.

We LOVE sharing the activities you are doing so please do send us a short blog post or tag us in your social media accounts so we can share it with you! (@allaboutstem @MCSTEMHub)

To find out more about requesting STEM ambassadors click here.

Or maybe you are thinking that you might make a good STEM Ambassador? Why not find out more by reading about some of the STEM Ambassadors who volunteer through our Merseyside and Cheshire Hub.

If you are based in the Merseyside or Cheshire region you can contact [email protected] for more information. If you are based outside of this region you can find out which hub can help you here.