Lessons From Kindergarten: Outreach Activities at the PSFC*

Although current physics outreach often focuses on older learners, research suggests that early introduction to STEM topics is vital to ensuring participation in STEM activities throughout a student’s career. Play-based learning, historically used to reach learners 5 years old and younger, should be considered as an effective teaching tool for a broader audience. The PSFC’s outreach initiatives have had great success using direct instruction, and less traditional play-based frameworks are being piloted in the PSFC outreach program to determine their potential use in encouraging interest in plasma science. In this session we will present an overview of PSFC activities to date, review the benefits of play-based learning, and discuss how a play-based learning approach can be implemented in laboratory/university settings to expand the efficacy of physics outreach programs.