Did you ever wonder how you can help your kids grow towards a successful future?
It’s the end of summer and schools around the globe have started or will soon start again. Time for a fresh start after a well-deserved break.

School curriculums are loaded with reading, writing, and math. But in this program the skills of the future can easily be overlooked. What are these skills and why are they important for your children? Let’s explore in this Modular Monthly!

The future of jobs

In October 2020 the World Economic Forum released  a new ‘Future of Jobs Report’. The WEF concludes that a part of the now existing jobs will disappear and will be replaced by the jobs of tomorrow.Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, 3D-printing. A couple of quickly developing fields that require skilled workers. Robots will take over a lot of manufacturing work, but these robots need engineers to make them work.

And that’s where we find a barrier. There is a gap between the skills the labour market needs and the skills that current workers have. The market needs the right workers to transform to new technological growth. The WEF sees an increasing demand for several new skills in the jobs of tomorrow.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this need (with the digitalization of work processes for example). The missing link between the labour market and the education providers should be fixed. This askes for actions from the government.

Skills of the future

But let’s take a look at what we can do ourselves. What are important ‘skills of the future’? There’s 7 skills that form the skills of the 21st century.

1. CREATIVE THINKING is the ability to create something new or solve a problem with a fresh perspective.   2. CRITICAL THINKING results in substantiated consideration and decisions, taken autonomously.   3. COLLABORATION is working towards a shared goal together. This involves supporting and complementing each other.   4. COMMUNICATION is not only about bringing across a certain message. It is also about the relationships between the participants. 5. PROBLEM SOLVING is the ability to recognize a problem and come up with a plan to solve it. 6. INFORMATION LITERACY empowers you to recognize the need for information and act on this need by searching, selecting, evaluating and using relevant information.   7. SELF-REGULATION involves the ability to complete a task or process in a goal oriented manner and take responsibility for your actions.

Infento can help develop these 7 skills. Building a life-size Ride or other object is the ultimate creative challenge. It requires the ability to work with the information in manuals. It requires kids to fruitfully work together with a sibling, friend or parent while in the building process.

Problems will be encountered and will ask for a solution from your child. Whether it’s finding the correct part or solving an argument. Finishing a big build is a great way of showing self-regulation and perseverance.

Education first 

We’re no newbies in the field of developing skills 😉 Did you know that Infento’s roots lie in education? For us, education literally comes first! Our founders Sander and Spencer started out with a Kit especially designed for schools.

They received a lot of positive feedback from teachers, parents and children. This encouraged them to proceed making construction Kits that are both educational and loads of fun.

Right now, our education Kits are used by hundreds of schools worldwide. They provide a hands-on classroom experience. From the US to Asia and Europe, from regular classes to after school programs and summer camps. Kids love the building process and the fact that they can play with the result afterwards.

A teacher from Belgium says:

Children take up 33% of the population and 100% of our future. Our mission is to help raise a generation that has the skills to build a better world. Skills of the future such as creativity and complex problem solving are invaluable to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow.

These vital skills don’t just fall out of the sky, they need to be developed at home and at school. We offer teachers and parents a hand by offering them the perfect tool to start developing new skills. In a fun, hands-on and simple way.
Are you a teacher and curious what you can achieve with Infento? Check out our education page https://www.infento.com/education

No Infento at your kid’s school but you do want to teach your children the 7 future skills? There’s always a Kit that will suit your family. From toddler to teenager, we’ve got you covered!  

Meet our Makers of the Month, from Belgium, Europe! Mum Nathalie and her family are Infento fans for 3 years already!

“The idea for a trailer came from the kids. They love all things with wheels, especially when they can move stuff around in it. The trailer can also tilt, so they can transport sand as well. A bit of ‘out of the box’ thinking makes it possible to build anything. The kids played a lot with this combination, Kasper liked to ride his brother around.”

Did you create something special yourself? Please share it with us and maybe you will be featured next time!