Mistakes are expected
Children are never singled out. The team looks at the plan, not the person.
For parents
Building Tomorrow's Problem Solvers Through Play.
Your child will think they spent the morning rescuing a lost puppy. What they were actually practising was planning, sequencing, observation, communication and problem-solving.
What children actually do
Hands on materials. Feet on the grid. Eyes on the problem.
- Arrange physical command cards into a route
- Move along a large floor grid, step by step
- Build, test and rebuild structures and frames
- Observe how air, propellers and movement behave
- Discuss plans in small teams and agree on one
- Watch protected educational drones in controlled activities
Why screen-free
Coding without screens — and why that matters at this age.
Young children learn best through movement, physical materials and conversation. Because the code is made of cards, your child can hold it, change it and see immediately what happened.
- Forward
- Forward
- Right
- Land
No tablets, laptops, phones or monitors are used by children anywhere in the programme.
Meet Dash
Dash introduces every mission, asks the questions that get children thinking, and is always happy to try again.
How learning happens
Failure Isn't the End of the Mission. It's Part of the Learning.
Every mission is designed with the expectation that the first plan will need adjusting. That is where the thinking happens.
- Play
- Discover
- Think
- Try
- Make a mistake
- Debug
- Try again
- Succeed
Debugging is taught
Teachers guide children through finding the step that caused the problem.
Second attempts are celebrated
Trying again with a better plan is treated as the real achievement.
How drones support STEM learning
One platform. Many ways to learn.
Flight
introduces science — air, lift, forces and movement.
Motors and frames
introduce engineering — structure, balance and design.
Routes
introduce mathematics and spatial reasoning.
Commands
introduce computational thinking — sequence, logic and debugging.
Sensors
introduce data — what machines notice and record.
Real-world missions
introduce problem-solving with purpose.
Future technologies
introduce curiosity about what children could one day build.
Across the year
What children explore, month by month.
A simple overview of the twelve-month journey your child will travel.
- Month 1
Welcome to the World of Drones
Children meet drones, learn what they are used for and begin building safety awareness and shared vocabulary.
- Month 2
How Drones Fly
Hands-on exploration of air, lift, propellers and balance through simple experiments and observation.
- Month 3
Becoming a Drone Pilot
Direction, position and control routines practised through movement games and guided demonstrations.
- Month 4
Coding Without Computers
Physical command cards introduce sequencing and instructions with no devices involved.
- Month 5
Code Comes Alive
Human-drone activities and floor-grid routes bring sequences to life, including first debugging conversations.
- Month 6
Drone Navigation
Grids, maps and markers support route planning, spatial reasoning and step counting.
- Month 7
Drones on the Farm
Agriculture missions connect observation, patterns and planning to a real-world use of technology.
- Month 8
Rescue Drones
Search patterns, obstacles and no-fly zones develop teamwork and structured problem-solving.
- Month 9
Delivery Drones
Efficient routes, counting and sequencing applied to delivery scenarios and shared decision-making.
- Month 10
Drone Engineers
Building, testing and improving structures and frames — engineering thinking made visible.
- Month 11
Smart Drones: Sensors & AI
Age-appropriate introduction to sensors, cameras, rules and how machines spot patterns.
- Month 12
Future Drone Challenge
An open design and mission challenge where children apply the full year of learning.
What your child practises
Skills that go beyond drones.
The programme supports and encourages these areas of development; it is not a guarantee of specific outcomes for any individual child.
Computational Thinking
Introduces sequencing, decomposition, pattern recognition and debugging through physical activity.
Science & Discovery
Provides opportunities to observe, predict and test ideas about air, movement and forces.
Engineering Thinking
Encourages children to build, adjust and rebuild — and to notice why a change made a difference.
Spatial Awareness
Supports understanding of direction, distance, position and orientation on grids and maps.
Numeracy
Introduces counting steps, comparing routes, measuring and simple estimation in context.
Problem Solving
Provides structured opportunities to face a challenge, try an approach and adapt it.
Communication
Encourages children to explain their thinking, give clear instructions and listen carefully.
Teamwork
Supports turn-taking, shared responsibility and working towards a common mission goal.
Creativity
Invites children to imagine new missions, new designs and new solutions to open challenges.
Confidence
Encourages children to try, adjust and try again in a supportive, low-pressure setting.
Safety
Designed With Safety at the Centre
Every element of STEMWORKS is designed to support safe, controlled classroom delivery in a preschool environment.
- Protected educational drones
- Age-appropriate equipment
- Defined activity zones
- Instructor-controlled live-flight activities
- Clear take-off and landing procedures
- Physical separation during flight
- Child-friendly safety routines
- Routine equipment checks
- Structured classroom management
Achievements
Encouragement, not grading.
Progress is recognised through four achievement levels and gentle, developmentally appropriate observations.
- 1
Drone Explorer
Recognises drones, flight ideas and safety routines.
- 2
Drone Coder
Plans, tests and corrects physical command sequences.
- 3
Drone Mission Specialist
Applies thinking to real-world mission scenarios.
- 4
Junior Drone Engineer
Explores design, sensors and innovation challenges.
STEMWORKS Junior Drone Engineer Certificate. Awarded at the close of the 12-month journey. Recognition focuses on participation, effort and development across the year rather than academic grading.
Questions
Parent FAQ
Honest answers about screens, safety and what your child will be doing.
The future will be built by curious minds.
Let Them Start Exploring Today.
Bring a year of hands-on, screen-free STEM discovery to your preschool.