Can 2 Year-Olds Do 3D Printing?

Raising Problem-solvers for Future Challenges

At what age should children start to learn about STEAM? At CIS, our answer is simple: ANYTIME! At CIS, we believe our role as educators is to inspire students to actively discover and persevere. And in this ever-changing world, we truly feel that STEAM education is critical to raising creative problem-solvers, critical thinkers and responsible technology users. By introducing students as young as age 2 to our STEAM program, we are cultivating progress from project-based learning through collaborative exploration, to problem-based learning which focuses on real-world problems, and ultimately to place-based learning where students learn by doing. 

STEAM lessons are embedded in our curriculum as early as Pre-Kindergarten, ensuring that all CIS students have the skills and knowledge to become future leaders who can aspire to change the world around them.

Meet our Pre-Kindergarten 2 students, who were tasked with an animal 3D printing project as part of their ‘All about Animals’ unit of inquiry. Students learned about different kinds of animals through the process of inquiry, like reading books and asking questions. In the design thinking process, students designed their favorite animal on iPads, before working with our STEAM Coordinator to 3-D print them out!

If our 2-year old’s can do it, you can do it too! I'm so proud of our young learners!

—— Ms. Hung, Homeroom teacher of Pre-K 2

One is never too young and too old to learn about STEAM! Children need to explore and to discover, this is how we innovate! One of our learning goals at CIS is to help our students’ ideas become reality through the design process. Our young learners have a lot of innovative ideas and CIS provides them with creative outlets to express themselves.

——Ms. Kivi Liang, CIS STEAM Coordinator

Every child isn’t inclined to grow up to become a scientist, engineer, or designer, but it’s important every child grows up knowing how to think like one. Given the importance of creativity and innovation for the future, we’re inviting you to come visit CIS to see our amazing IDEA Lab and learn about how we’re developing future leaders!