Turning grocery shopping into hands-on STEM learning
Northgate Market Supermarket Speak
As part of the Playful Learning initiative in Santa Ana, Supermarket Speak at Northgate Market transforms everyday grocery shopping into an opportunity for STEM exploration. Playful prompts placed throughout the store encourage children and caregivers to engage with math and science concepts while navigating aisles, selecting produce, and comparing items.
From estimating quantities and weighing fruits to learning how to choose the best fruit or vegetable, families encounter hands-on challenges embedded in the shopping experience. These prompts support counting, measurement, classification, and comparison, making abstract STEM ideas concrete within a familiar setting. By activating a space families already visit regularly, the installation weaves learning seamlessly into daily routines.
The Learning Goals
Supermarket Speak strengthens STEM content knowledge by embedding math and science concepts such as counting, measurement, estimation, and classification into everyday shopping routines. As children compare quantities, weigh produce, and think about how to choose the best fruit or vegetable, they engage with foundational ideas in math and applied science.
It also supports critical thinking by encouraging children to make predictions, compare options, evaluate quality, and explain their reasoning while shopping. Through shared conversation and decision-making, families deepen understanding of STEM concepts in a real-world context.
The Team
The Supermarket Speak installation at Northgate Market was created through a collaboration between the City of Santa Ana, University of California, Irvine, Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative, Temple University, and Playful Learning Landscapes.The Supermarket Speak installation at Northgate Market was generously supported by the National Science Foundation through the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program.
The Science
Ridge, K. E., Weisberg, D. S., Ilgaz, H., Hirsh-Pasek, K. A., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2015). Supermarket Speak: Increasing talk among low-socioeconomic status families. Mind, Brain, and Education, 9(3), 127–135. [PDF Link] [Online link]
Supporters
The Supermarket Speak installation at Northgate Market was generously supported by the National Science Foundation through the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program.
