The following shocking STEM play occurred some weekday morning in the first dozen years of the 2000s. Breakfast was over, and the kids were settling into their play. Tasha, my wife, was in the kitchen. I was on the floor goofing with mobile infants and toddlers. The calm was pierced when Noah exclaimed from the bathroom, “Jeff, there’s water coming out!”

I’ll shorten a long story I tell in trainings and share in one of my books. After using the bathroom, three-and-a-half-year-old Noah engaged in some STEM play, some shocking STEM play.

The curious and inventive lad had crouched beside the toilet to inspect the water supply line and valve behind the toilet. Then he unscrewed the water supply line with his strong little fingers. He was surprised when water started spraying all over him and the bathroom. After trying and failing to reconnect the compression fitting, he called for help.

When I reached the bathroom to find out what “there’s water coming out” meant, the boy and the bathroom were soaked. I’ll never forget the look on his wee face, a combination of shock, frustration, and excitement.

Shocking STEM Play Wrap Up

Labeling his actions as bad behavior and scolding him would have been easy. That’s what three-quarters of my brain wanted to do. But as play advocate, Dan Hodgins used to say, “We have to stop making moral issues out of developmental issues.”

Noah didn’t act with malicious intent. He wasn’t trying to be destructive.

He was curious and decided to experiment. He was engaged in STEM play and exploration.

Too many kids his age get in trouble for their curiosity and attempts to figure out how the world works. That’s too bad because it can lead to inventiveness like this.

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