Science Toy Award 2017 Gala held in London

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  • Science Toy Award 2017 ceremony was held at the Imperial College of London. The winner in the primary school children category has been the toy “Insta-Snow” and “Hix” for the preschool category.
  • The Science Toy Award is an international award organized by researchers and engineers that aims to motivate children to pursue a career in STEM. This initiative was born to increase diversity in STEM related professions.
  • The Science Toy Award is supported by Imperial College London, the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK (SRUK), The Institute of Physics (IoP), the Science Museum London and the charity Let Toys Be Toys.

London, 8th of November 2017. The Imperial College of London hosted the Science Toy Award (STA) Gala. In this event, the winners and finalists toy manufacturers have received their awards. The winners of the Science Toy Award 2017 are “Insta Snow” by Trends UK in the primary school category. “Insta-Snow” is a toy that uses a polymer, with super absorbent properties capable of changing its state through a physical reaction from dry powder like micro-sponges to big, fluffy and wet consistency similar to snow. “Hix” by Moluk, which won the preschool category, is a construction game that uses cones capable of changing their shapes, very useful to practice geometry and 3-D skills.

Other finalist toys have been “Magnaflex” from Wow Wee, a construction game that uses magnets and the “360 Super HD Microscope” from the company Trends UK – a toy microscope able with outstanding optics equivalent to many seen in real laboratories, able to provide 60/120/200 degrees of magnification – which gives the chance to discover the microscopic world elusive to the naked eye. Finally, a special mention to the toy “Cubetto” by Primo Toys which is a fun and colourful robot that teaches computer coding principles to preschool kids.

In the words of one of the creators and organizers of the STA, Dr Andrea Alenda, “Learning through play can help discard myths about how it is only suited for geniuses, as well as how difficult or dry can STEM be, as well as getting rid of the solely academic side of science to focus on the joy and fun of it […] We want parents to consider adding STEM toys to their Christmas list, so any kid anywhere regardless of their background has the chance to play with STEM toys. We want the next generation of scientists and engineers to be diverse”.

About the Science Toy Award (STA)

This international award was created by scientists and engineers concerned about the lack of diversity in STEM related professions. For example, in the UK only 9% of engineering students are women. According to the ASPIRES report the lack of a diverse pool of students in STEM careers is influenced by socioeconomic factors, stereotypes and the lack of diverse role models.

National and international toy manufacturers nominated their toys for the Science Toy Award 2017. The expert jury composed by members of the supporter institutions, societies and charities selected the finalists. The finalists were taken to primary schools in London were the students casted a vote for the winners.

These toys are sold in stores. In order to motivate kids into STEM, all the toys can be found at the Science Museum London shop, and since they are already in the shop, they might as well visit the museum.

More information can be found on the web: www.sciencetoyaward.org

 

 

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