Publications – Bay Area Discovery Museum

Research & Publications

The Bay Area Discovery Museum conducts literature reviews summarizing research findings from a broad range of disciplines and distills them into reports to support children’s development of STEM and creativity.

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Think, Make, Try® Toolkit

Think, Make, Try® is the Bay Area Discovery Museum's unique three-step engineering design process designed for young learners. The process builds upon a child’s natural curiosities and introduces the engineering design process as a way to support the development of creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. 

Full Literature Review     Educator Resource Booklet

Quick Guide     Toolkit

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Tech Time with Purpose: A Creative Approach to Using Digital Devices with Young Children

Released in 2020, Tech Time with Purpose offers tips and recommendations that adults can rely on when making decisions about children’s use of digital technology. This resource is intended primarily for parents and caregivers, but as digital devices become increasingly common in schools and community spaces, we believe the information will be useful to teachers, librarians, and other adults raising children in the digital age.

Full Resource        Quick Guide

Tech Time Literature Review

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The Roots of STEM Success: Changing Early Learning Experiences to Build Lifelong Thinking Skills

Released in 2018, The Roots of STEM Success offers six key findings to make the case that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for children should begin in the first decade of life. The documents are intended for anyone wishing to lay the foundation for scientific thinking with young children in their home or educational setting.

Executive Summary       Full Paper

The CREATE Framework: Learning Environments to Develop Creativity

Released in 2018, The CREATE Framework describes how educators can build children’s creative problem-solving skills through intentional experiences. This framework can be applied to learning spaces in schools, libraries, museums, and other educational settings and is intended for children across multiple age groups.

 

CREATE Framework

Reimagining School Readiness

Released in 2016, Reimagining School Readiness surfaces the skills and conditions that matter most for a child’s success in school and life. The comprehensive literature review and key findings include resources to guide preschools, families, and others in designing learning experiences for children ages 0-8.

Position Paper with Key Findings

Reimagining School Readiness Literature Review

 

Creativity Trend Reports:

Released in 2016 and 2017, respectively, Creativity Trend Reports I and II feature summaries of innovative, recently published research on children’s creativity. These reports were published specifically to assist children’s product and media designers, education leaders, and curriculum developers in their work with and for young children.

Creativity Trend Report I

Creativity Trend Report II

Inspiring a Generation to Create: Critical Components of Creativity in Children

Released in 2015, Inspiring a Generation to Create: Critical Components of Creativity in Children, asserts that environment and experience determine our creative potential, and provides a new framework of seven key skills associated with creativity. This document provides practical tips and sample activities that promote the seven skills identified within and is intended for any organization wishing to build the habits of mind of creative people.

Inspiring a Generation to Create

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Shared Discoveries: Positive Parent-Child Relationships and Child Development

Released in 2014, Shared Discoveries explores what types of experiences, activities, and behaviors foster a positive parent-child relationship, and how that relationship impacts a child’s development. This publication is intended for parents, caregivers, and anyone working with those audiences in their educational setting.

 

Shared Discoveries

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