Mumsnet users share with Little Tikes how they get their child thinking about what they want to be when they grow up

[EllieMumsnet]

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Some children are adamant they’re going to be a ballet dancer or an astronaut when they grow up, whereas others are more interested in activities such as building and putting things together. This might one day turn into a career like engineering. With more and more emphasis on the importance of STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and getting children involved in them at an early age, Little Tikes would love to know how you get your children thinking about what they want to be when they grow up and in particular get them involved in STEM subjects.

Here’s what Little Tikes have to say: “STEM learning from an early age opens children up to a world full of exciting hands-on play. Preschool-age children are perfect for this type of learning. These mini scientists are impossibly curious and love to experiment and discover! Future engineer, mathematician or chemistry teacher… for now, the fun is the learning.”

Perhaps you purchase toys that involve learning from an early age to help stimulate them? Do you have conversations with your DC about the vast array of things they can do when they grow up? When it comes to STEM subjects, do you take them on days out that have an element of STEM education involved? Maybe you encourage them to keep pursuing whatever it is they’ve shown interest in?

However you get your children thinking about what they want to be when they’re older and STEM education, let us know on thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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My 4 year old son wants to learn to drive his grandma's car so he can take her shopping to Asda when he grows up.

My dc are almost 14 and almost 13

It has never crossed my mind to talk to them about what they want to do when they grow up

They are incredibly bright, kind, lovely boys and I'm sure they'll be happy and succeed in whatever they do

We talk about jobs and the roles that people have but I'm not going to pressure my child into thinking about what they want to be when they're older they need to be children and enjoy the opportunities that arise.

I just pay attention to their natural inclinations and encourage them in those. I want them to love what they do, we spend so any hours at work it should be enjoyable.

role play is a great way

My son often says 'When I grow up I want to be..' - the sentence has ranged with endings from 'a postman', 'a vet' & 'a policeman'.
He has recently settled on being an artist - but it really doesn't matter - the fact that he recognises that work is a great opportunity, there are so many jobs a person can do & they are all valuable in their own way.
When my son has expressed an interest in a particular subject, we go to the library to get more information & it's fun learning today - I love his curiousity & he asks some really interesting questions!
I have no idea what he will do in the future, but I hope he keeps that hunger for knowledge & whatever job he chooses to do - that he loves it.

I said to ED that she could do what she wanted to do if she puts in the hard work... However it is far too early for them to even know what they will become as it will change constantly for one reason or another!

I think it is important when they are little to make them aware of a large range of jobs and careers so they can be free to make those decisions as they grow older.
DD1 announced she wanted to be a Mermaid when she was 3 and Playgroup did a topic on it ...which a perfectly great answer if you are 3 I think! DD2 however said she wanted to be a mechanic at the same playgroup , and now at age 7 at school says an engineer or inventor so we have been particularly conscious of making sure we point out STEM books such as the Rosie Revere series her at the library and that she had a wide mix of toys and books to help her explore her interests. They have plenty of time when they are older to decide what they want to do with their lives so all we can do is encourage and explore any passions and interests they have.

I just go with the flow, after all, when I was my sons age I wanted to work in a chip shop (the lure of food), a shoe shop (loved the idea of getting the boxes with pictures of shoes on from the 'back room') and a judge (until I decided it was way too much work at school). My son loves art so currently wants to pursue that but it could all change in the next few years.

My daughter likes to have a chat before bedtime usually and I often ask her what she'd like to do when she's older. Her reply can change weekly!! So far, it's been a teacher, a hairdresser (so she can make mummy beautiful!), a swimming teacher.. the list goes on and on!

Nurture what they enjoy and are good at and they will excel in that.

My kids are only 4 and 6, but the youngest one is very savvy, she has already decided against medicine and being a vet as she has to stick fingers/ hands in bums The 6 yr old says she wants to be a dentist, an artist and maybe work in Lidl!

When he was six, my now-14 year old was adamant that he wanted to be a PELICAN when he grew up. Any suggestion that this was not really a realistic goal was met with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth...

We don't talk about specific careers with DC but we talk a lot about having choices.

Over the last few years DC have talked about all sorts of things - professional footballer, astronaut, engineer, accountant...

We talk about how working as hard as you can now gives you choices later. I don't want DC to believe that some careers are more 'worthy' than others but I do want them to believe that they can do whatever they set their mind to.

Perhaps you purchase toys that involve learning from an early age to help stimulate them? Not with the idea of their future career. We buy toys so that they'll learn, yes, but it's either on a whim or it has something to do with their current interests.

Do you have conversations with your DC about the vast array of things they can do when they grow up? Yes, all the time. I ask often what they'd like to do and why and when they have an idea we talk about what that job would entail and why they'd be interested in it. We talk about the jobs we see people do in real life and on the TV, such as paramedics, drs, vets, designers, scientists and the different types of science there are, what it's like to be a teacher etc.

When it comes to STEM subjects, do you take them on days out that have an element of STEM education involved? Yes. My eldest in particular, who is nearly 8, is really interested in how things work and in machinery. There are some very good science museums locally and quite a few of the historical places we've visited have a focus on industrial machines and have working models that explain how they work.

Maybe you encourage them to keep pursuing whatever it is they’ve shown interest in? Definitely. My youngest, who is only 6, is showing an interest in sports and photography so we bought them a child friendly camera and let them experiment with taking and then editing and printing the photos and they are very good. We've been to the media museum and seen the development of the camera and of photography. We've been to places with the specific intention of taking photos.

I like to tell my little ones creative stories about different occupations and careers to bring them to life!

Our dd is much too young to have anything but vague ideas. Today she wants to be a vet, maybe next week a policewoman. Let kids be kids, give them a wide variety of options and encourage them to enjoy themselves.

Career advice is paramount, myself and my hubby have made bad career choices. So my opinion is to get them early and be honest! Unfortunately an ice cream man will not enable you to buy a maserati.

My girls often talk about what they want to be when they grow up. DD aged 8 has been adamant for quite a while that she wants to be a 'waitress'. I actually think it's because she wants to look after people and give nice things to them to eat/drink. I know she'll change her mind lots of times in the coming years, so if the idea makes her happy then great. She often role-plays this too. As her interests change then her perspective will too.

We do lots of pretend play and at the moment just let their imagination run wild. As they get older we will talk a lot about possible routes they want to take with their subject choices and college courses.
I'm happy for them to be in whatever job they want and won't bee a pushy academic parent.. I hope.

We've always aimed our chats around what the children are good at - for instance my DS was never academic but is now in uni studying forensics as he is good when it comes to hands on whereas my DD has always been a history buff and is now aiming on a history based teaching post when she is older.

This can be a tough one and I for one, don't think it's too important at an early stage. Most employers are looking for a good standard of general education. Many children will not want to make an early decision, so let it be.

Mine are 7 and 6, often if they have an interest we get out library books that deal with the subject, discuss what jobs are related to that and try to explore. I'm trying to encourage a love of books and read to them everyday as well as encouraging independent reading.

I always try to answer their questions and if I don't know find out for them. I've also told them they need to apply what they know to everyday situations as knowledge without understanding is pretty pointless. I aim to instil in them curiousity, perseverance and hard work are vital.

Often it's informal and we just try to learn and discuss the world around us, for example why baking powder makes cakes rise, etc. Yesterday they wanted to write poems about autumn so I read Ode to Autumn to them by Keats, we then talked about words associated with autumn, why it is important, harvest time, farming, animals etc.

I'd encourage pretty much whatever career choice my DS seems interested in, but wouldn't steer him towards STEM in particular. Everything seems to be geared towards STEM professions now: what about the arts?!

I discussed my own career in positive terms with my daughters when they were growing up and never told them they couldn't do things. One once said she wanted to be a lion trainer and an astronaut so I suggested she researched animals in space rather than just laughing.