Kitchen scales as loose parts are great for helping kid bump in to STEM concepts. For example, while playing with scales kids will brush up against a variety of numeracy and physics concepts—mass, weight, density, numbers, numerical order, one-to-one correspondence, and more. It’s also a chance to practice comparing items, estimating, and making judgements about the physical world.

New kitchen scales are relatively inexpensive and you can score used ones in good condition at second hand shops. Most new ones are sleek and digital, but the old school analog versions—although the can take up more space—are pretty nifty,

What’ll kids do with them? Weigh all the things, of course. Then they may invent their own scale-based games. Bertha will collect a bunch of objects, pick two, and ask Calvin, “Which weighs more?” He’ll guess, they’ll weigh the objects, and find out if he was correct. Repeat until they’ve tried everything that will fit on the scale or until it is time to go home.

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