Homespun Science
Mary Whitfield, Early Childhood Educator

Science is all around us and the world is a child’s laboratory.  Young children are scientists at heart because they are seeking explanations for everything they see.  Children learn by touching, observing, discovering, experimenting, exploring and need to repeat the same experiment over and over.  As Bev Bos likes to say, “If it hasn’t been in the hand and the body it can’t be in the brain.”  So give your little ones many opportunities to explore our natural and amazing world.

Experiment on the Slide
Roll different sized balls or toy cars down a slide.  Which ones go fastest?  Try rolling different things down the slide to see what works and what doesn’t.

Snow Writing
Fill a spray bottle with colored water and spray designs on the snow.

Snow & Ice Race
Find two identical containers.  Fill one with water and freeze.  When that is frozen fill the second container with snow.  Set them both in a place where your child can watch them melt.  Have him/her predict which one will melt first and why. 

Plastic Bottle Fun
Fill a plastic bottle with half corn syrup.  Add glitter or crayon shavings, or small items such as balls, dice, erasers, beads, etc.  Some drops of food coloring can make it a little more interesting.  Fill the rest of the bottle with water.  It’s recommended to glue the cap on.

Bubble Fun
Cover a table with a tablecloth or newspaper.  Pour some bubble solution onto a cookie sheet.  Dip a straw into water and then put one end of it into the bubble solution.  Blow bubbles all over the cookie sheet.

• Blow the biggest bubble you can.
• Blow bubble caterpillar.
• Make a tall pile of bubbles.

More Bubble Fun
Try other things besides wands to blow bubbles.  Here are some other ideas:

• Use your hands.  Make a circle with your pointer finger and thumb.
• Use two hands.  Make a circle with both pointer fingers and thumbs.
• Utensils such as a slotted spoon can be waved through the air.
• Other ideas include plastic strawberry basket or a can opened at both ends.

Squishy Ball
Place a funnel over the end of a medium=sized balloon.  Pour ½ cup of sand or salt into the funnel.  Squeeze out any air that may have become trapped in the balloon.  This squishy ball can be a stress-reliever.  Other items to fill the balloon with might be cornstarch, flour or rice.

Flashlight Fun
In a darkened room take a flashlight and shine it around the room.  What kind of shadows can you make?

Sticky-Tape Walk
Wrap a wide piece of masking tape, sticky side out, around your child’s wrist.  As you walk your child can pick up nature items such as leaves, seed pods, and flowers to stick to the bracelet.  They can glue them onto a paper when they return home.

Sink and Float
Fill a container or a sink with water.  Gather items for your child to experiment with to see if they sink or float.  Have your child predict whether the items will sink or float.  Suggestions of items include:

• Seashells
• Cork feathers
• Packing peanuts
• Leaves
• Rocks
• Twigs
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Pinecones
• Paper clips
• Beads
• Sponges
• Duplos
• Dolls

Nature Scavenger Hunt
Ask your child to go in the back yard and find some nature items.  Or do the scavenger hunt at a local park.  Some things to look for might be:

• Rocks
• Something that floats
• Something red, blue, etc
• Feathers
• Dead leaves
• Pinecones
• Dandelion
• Something fuzzy
• Something rough

Shoebox Treasures
Give your child a shoebox to collect special treasures.  Encourage your child to find things in nature they like.  You can do this when you take a walk, go to the park, go on a trip, swim at the beach, or even playing in your own backyard.  They’ll enjoy looking at these treasures and remembering where they came from.

Additional Resources:
www.first-school.ws/THEME/science.htm
www.childcarelounge.com/Caregivers/sciencefun.htm
www.preschoolexpress.com/discovery_station05/discovery_station_oct05.shtml
http://science.preschoolrock.com/
http://scienceforpreschoolers.com/
www.successful-homeschooling.com/preschool-science.html
www.essortment.com/all/preschoolscienc_rjqi.htm

Sources:

• Moomaw, Sally.  More Than Magnets.  Redleaf Press,1997.
• Murphy, Pat.  The Science Explorer.  Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1996.
• Nicohols, Wendy and Kim.  Wonderscience.  Learning Expo Publishing, 1990.
• Stangl, Jean.  The Very Young Scientist.  Fearon Teacher Aids, 2000.
• Thomas, John.  The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions.  Quality Books, In., 1998.
• http://www.turnthepage.com/  (for more ideas from Bev Bos)