Great Resources For Preschool Science Activities
In this particular article I would like to turn our attention to preschool science activities. Our “little” Katie (who is growing like a weed) has just turned two. It is amazing how she is growing and learning and developing and doing new things. Her latest activity, easily placing the wooden clothes on the bear figures made me realize just how she is “getting it” in terms of grasping the world around her. I want to make the most of this particular age she is in and find some great preschool science activities to prepare her for the science and math challenges that she will soon encounter. As such, I’ve been doing a survey of various preschool science activities and I thought I would present to you my findings in this article.
So, What Are Some Great Preschool Science Activities ?
I have found two great books that are just brim packed with fascinating ideas and preschool science activities for toddlers and small children. If you find these books as interesting and informative as I have I will have done my job.
So, in a nutshell, I’m going to mention my “selections” of the best science books for toddlers and young children of preschool age. Okay, so without further delay, here’s what I think…
Preschool Science Activities : “Science Play”
The first book I would like to mention is called Science Play (Little Hands!) by Jill Hauser. The author is very educated of this particular subject as she teaches kindergarten in Redding, California where she resides with her family. This is not her first book by any means. She is also the author of Wow! I’m Reading!, Gizmos & Gadgets, Easy Art Fun!, and Super Science Concoctions. Supplementing her great ideas is the art by Mike Kline. Mike has been working for Kids Discover magazine (and we all know how popular that is) for over 13 years now. His humorous style of illustration adds a lot to this book.
So, with the introductions out of the way let’s get to the “nitty gritty” of what this book has to offer. I would say that it is suitable for ages 2-6 years old…so Katie will be practically growing up with the ideas it has to offer. Loads of fun things are packed into this book, things like categorizing what will float and what will sink. With this book in hand kids will be able to explore the world around them and make a science experiment of sort out of it. They will learn about science ranging from biology in their backyard to chemistry in their very own kitchen. Sixty-five science activities in all and all are age appropriate. Intertwined throughout this great little book is the idea that kids discover, sort out, observe, predict and also think creatively.
Even after you go through this book you will go back to it often as a sort of reference if you will. You will soon start to develop other educational alternatives to what the book offers. Each of the sixty-five science activities has an easy-to-follow description of the project and undertaking at hand.
My Vote? A great way to introduce your toddler to science and the world around them. A must have…
Preschool Science Activities : “Science is Simple”
The second book on my list was my first choice till I discovered Science Play (Little Hands!) by Jill Hauser. I do really like this book, but I think it is better suited for preschool teachers as opposed to busy parents who are stressed out and exhausted at the end of the day. Having said that, it is a great book…
Science is Simple: Over 250 Activities for Preschoolers encourages children to get out and experience the exciting world around them. To assist in this endeavor preschool teachers are provided with learning objectives, things to discover, related books and material and even follow-up activities as well. In a nutshell this book will help to teach science concepts simply…very simply indeed.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s look at some of the activities outlined in this book. This book has so many great ideas and wonderful experiments that it is hard to know where to start, but how about…
How about going through the neighborhood or park and gathering up autumn leaves and “woodsy” material. Once back at the school these “raw materials” will be utilized by making leaf and tree bark rubbings and nature collages. Kids will love the walk and learning about all these materials once they are back in the classroom. Before the kids even get outdoors this book provides a lot of prelim information for the teacher…stuff like a list of materials needed, ideas on “what to talk about”, and here’s a great idea, a “Note Home To Families” to describe to the parents the concept that will be under investigation.
One thing I really liked about this book is that it just doesn’t include the information inside its pages. There is also a multitude of open-ended questions which guide children towards self-discovery and creative thinking.
I love the “list of ingredients”. How often have we started to do something (like bake or cook something for example) and realized that we didn’t have all that we needed to get the job done. Most of the things they mention are quite basic…you probably already have them somewhere around the house right this minute.
Oh, and what child doesn’t like to make slime and blast off rockets! This book also includes these two gems of preschool science activities…and much, much more…
The listed preschool science activities are divided into simple themes with multiple activities associated with each of these themes. You can easily devote a week to any particular unit and then spread the various activities over the week. By arranging the book by theme you can focus on one particular area of science if you so choose.
This book is really geared towards preschoolers, but older children (say 8 years or so) will love it as well. The experiments are just that enjoyable and interesting. Younger children will tend to gravitate more towards the principles in the illustrations while the older kids will find the text informative and invaluable for the more detailed instructions.
My Vote? Ideal for a preschool teacher but great for a parent as well. I’d get two if I was you…one for you and one for your child’s preschool teacher as a Christmas gift (or gift for any other time of year for that matter).
Preschool Science Activities : Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this article as we certainly enjoyed bringing this information about preschool science activities to you. If you do purchase these books we would love to hear from you. What do you think? Please leave us a comment or two.