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Play is a very important activity for children development and there are evidences that it can be an added value when used for educational purposes. Research about how to integrate play in education points to the importance of teacher role, namely how children play can be scaffold and guided. However, there is also lack of agreement about how to guide children playing and the impact of the guidance in the activity development and competences promoted. Given the characteristics of automata, especially the fact that they include a narrative and a mechanism, they can be used within a play based pedagogy, to implement activities related to plan and construct toys and to promote competences as observation, problem solving, creativity in the STEM areas. To explore this potential of moving toys to promote STEM in the early years of schooling is the aim of the Erasmus + AutoSTEM project. This work aims to describe the main objectives and resources of the AutoSTEM project, including the description of a workshop to construct a toy with a sliding mechanism, the Jelly Bird. The procedures involved the presentation and observation of the toy, detailed instructions on how to construct it, the decoration and the elaboration of a narrative about it. 23 children from the 2nd year of basic education participated in the workshop. The analysis of the prototypes shows that all the participants built them properly. Also some alternative ideas to the proposal initially presented emerged, as well as a diversity of narratives. These data suggest that the instructions enhanced the construction of the prototype, but did not inhibit the creativity of the work developed.

The motivation and interest of children and young people in science areas remains a challenge for contemporary education, and there is also evidence of the importance of its promotion since the early years of schooling as well as the use of interdisciplinary approaches. The Erasmus + AutoSTEM project aims to analyse the potential of constructing automata or “moving toys” as a motivation strategy for learning in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), in the early years of schooling. The characteristics of the automata, namely the fact that they have a narrative part and a mechanism, allow, in a playful approach, to implement activities related to the planning and construction of those toys and to enhance skills such as observation, problem solving, creativity and also skills in the referred STEM areas. In this work, the description of the implementation and evaluation of automata workshops in a school of the 1st year of basic education is made. The data were collected based on direct observation focusing on dimensions of engagement and a questionnaire regarding interest, perception of learning, difficulties experienced, suggestions for improvement. Results evidence that the children showed curiosity for the prototypes presented, having immediately designed their own project, explored materials and completed the construction, in some cases with their own proposals. The perceived difficulties vary according to the age, as well as the type of mechanism chosen.