The concept
Since the beginning of 2023, the Industry Division of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce has been supporting the project "Spürnasenecke", a laboratory for kindergarten children, together with Upper Austrian companies and the state of Upper Austria. We are delighted to be able to equip the local kindergarten in Baumgartenberg with such a research corner.
The concept encourages a spirit of research and a curiosity for scientific, technical and IT topics in a playful way from a young age by specially trained educators and ensures that children will later develop an interest in education in chemistry, physics, computer science and technology.
The research corner provides educational items and research equipment specially developed for children: Microscopes, compasses, magnifying glasses, a human torso, electrical construction kits, cube robots, a world clock, thermometers, stethoscopes, measuring cylinders, light tables and much more.
The Baumgartenberg kindergarten is the first nursery school in the Mühlviertel region to be equipped with such a laboratory. From now on, the children will work on a special topic every week and can repeat the experiments at any time. This should familiarise them with the "research cycle":
- Initial situation (question, problem identification)
- Developing hypotheses (making assumptions, ideas)
- Experimenting (trying things out)
- Observe (what can be seen?)
- Reflecting (verbalising, documenting)
Important initiative for the next generation of skilled professionals
"Exploring the world plays a crucial role in early childhood development. The connection between the skills acquired in early childhood and later performance in STEM subjects has been proven by numerous studies. This laboratory supports children in experimenting by providing a playful approach to scientific phenomena and technical processes. As a company, we are delighted to be able to encourage children's enthusiasm for technology and their scientific talents by supporting this project at the kindergarten of Baumgartenberg. Together with our nursery school teachers, we are laying the foundations for a later interest in technical professions, perhaps even in the film coating sector right nearby at Hueck Folien," says Martin Bergsmann, CEO at Hueck Folien.
