Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: STEM. That’s what all the education buzz is about these days and with good reason. The future job market for your young learners will most likely rely heavily on the problem-solving and technical skills that go with these subjects.

Your kids love their screen time. Why not direct them to programs, games and sites that will teach them important educational skills along with having a great time? Here are some of the best games and websites for interacting with science, technology and mathematics skills.

Ages 3-5

Sesame Street: Yup, this favorite of pre-schoolers for decades is upgraded and relevant to today’s learning. There’s much more than letters and numbers now, including lessons on problem-solving, nature and environmental issues as well as science and engineering segments.

Peg + Cat: This animated math-based site is found at www.pbs.org/peg. The songs, activities and interactive games make learning math skills a ton of fun.

Nina and the Neurons: is available from BBC. It’s chock full of basic science, engineering and coding games, plus songs, videos and activities available in both Spanish and English.

Ages 5-8

The Odd Squad: is another offering from PBS Kids, this show follows two young agents, Olive and Otto as they save the day using math skills. Each episode is twelve minutes long and full of great math insights for kids.

Ask Dr. Universe: Join Dr. Wendy Sue Universe of Washington State University on her site found at www.askdruniverse@wsu.edu. Get the latest answers, activities and videos related to hot science questions such as How are bones made? What’s a booger? and Why is the ocean salty?

Planet Smarty Pants: is a blog written by an enthusiastic mom and filled with hundreds of science explorations, engineering projects and related art representations. Great literature supporting STEM projects are also offered.

Nine Years Plus:

Design Squad: is a reality-based show in which teens tackle real-life design problems in an effort to earn college scholarship funds. Kids design real machines to solve real problems.

Cyber-Chase: Jackie, Matt and Inez are earthlings who have been pulled into a digital universe. They work together to keep their motherboard safe from the evil Hacker. Math, weather and environmental knowledge help them solve their problems.

 STEM Collaborative: This site has four major components: math by design, road trip, scale city and proportionland. Each module offers virtual environments, simulations, videos and interactive math challenges.

Take the time to find these great sites and let the kids become familiar with them. If they aren’t outdoors running and building forts, they might as well learn a little math and science.