STEAM Accreditation for Edx Education Range

Edx Education are extremely excited to be STEAM accredited for the new MyGears® Range by the Good Toy Guide (Dr Amanda Gummer) & Toy Association’s STEAM toy assessment framework. The STEAM accreditation report looks at whether or not your toy or game meets the criteria in three areas of The Toy Association’s STEAM toy assessment framework: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.

The independent play testing areas of the characteristics of a ‘good toy’ include fun and engagement, ease of use, skill development and inclusivity. 

The My Gears® construction kits provide hours of engaging hands-on learning. They are perfect for developing early engineering skills, encouraging creative thinking, curiosity and problem solving, while also developing fine motor skills. As with all our collections, the new ranges have been designed to support both classroom and home learning play. Plus, the Gears are compatible with the 2cm Interlocking Cube Activity Sets and Baseboards from Edx Education.

All sets in the range have been rated ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ for all four of the characteristics of a ‘good toy’ in the STEAM accreditation:

• My Gears® Junior Set and My Gears® Starter Set are open-ended educational toys for all junior engineers aged 4+ to learn to understand the basic principles of Gears. They will create fun models push, pull and turn while developing their creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
• My Gears® Machine Set has a chain to help children aged 6+ learn the basic principles of movement and force. Create and explore by linking several Gears together with the chain to create unique and amazing machines that inspire young minds.
• My Gears® Animal Set with moving legs, arms and tails! Multiple construction ideas for children’s imaginations to run wild. The easy-to-follow instruction booklet includes different fun and interesting animals to build. 6+.
• My Gears® Transport Set comes with wheels that turn and Gears that move. Create moving cars, bikes, a tractor and more. Children 6+ will have fun learning the basic principles of Gears while building the 8 exciting model options.

All My Gears Sets link science, engineering, art and mathematics, and they will stimulate children’s imagination and creative thinking skills. They are open-ended educational toys with multiple construction possibilities for young minds to explore their creativity while developing key problem solving, critical and creative thinking skills. 

What’s the difference between STEM and STEAM? STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) now had the A added for the arts which turns it into STEAM (and some extend it even further to become STREAM, with an R for reading and writing).

Here is a snippet from the STEAM accreditation program report about just one of the MyGears® sets:

Edx Education – My Gears® Transport Set has passed the requirements for all aspects of a good toy (Section III), has the criteria for all six (6 of 6) of the prime STEAM attributes (Section IV), and meets the multi-disciplinary criteria required for the specific STEM categories (Section V). Therefore, your toy or game meets the requirements to be categorised as a STEAM accredited toy, according to The Toy Association’s definition. 

This means that you will receive The Toy Association’s official STEAM Stamp of Approval and the official Good Toy Guide stamp of Approval to use on packaging, websites, printed material, and throughout all digital and traditional marketing platforms to add credibility to your campaigns. Furthermore, you can enjoy the benefits of extensive marketing and promotional campaigns delivered by Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide. 

The My Gears® Transport Set has been rated ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ for all four of the characteristics of a ‘good toy’. This means that the toy is fun to play with, is accessible to most children, and has good play value. Children are likely to choose to play with the toy and be able to use it as intended, so they can benefit from the educational value of the toy. 

An excellent rating for fun and engagement means that many children of the target age enjoyed playing with the toy or game, some for prolonged periods of time. Some children remained keen to play regularly and it may have been very engaging for specific groups of children.

This rating was given for the following reasons:

Children were observed to open the box immediately and to play with the transport set for a long time even after finishing building the eight models in the handbook. In addition to that, children enjoyed the flexibility of the transport set, it allows them to use their imagination and creativity to build models. 

You can read our STEAM Toy Accreditation Report here. This STEAM accreditation report has been produced by a reviewer for Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide™, in partnership with The Toy Association™. 

2022-2023 is an exciting year for Edx Education, with the introduction of many new educational toys to the STEAM range. The new My Gears® collection is just one of the many exciting additions to our STEAM Education ranges, inspired by our play philosophy: ‘Play, Learn, Create’. 

So, let’s play, learn and create with the new STEAM product ranges which have been designed to develop key early skills, focusing on the main areas of STEAM education. The toys stimulate children’s imagination and creative thinking skills, while also encouraging children to collaborate and problem solve.

If you want to learn more about the STEAM accreditation head over to The Toy Association website.

View our full range of educational products for children of different age groups, abilities and developmental stages here: https://www.shopedx.co.uk or www.amazon.com/edxeducation

 Edx Education – Heather Welch  

To find your local Edx Education retailer head over to  Where to buy – Edx Education.