Pre Science
Science Standards1.1: Demonstrates an understanding of the process of scientific inquiry and logical thinking. Demonstrates inquiry skills including problem-solving and decision making.
“Science is the study of the world and how it works. Children are natural scientists and their curiosity leads them to seek answers to questions and make connections. By experimenting, making predictions, exploring, testing observations, and investigating, children learn about the world they live in.”
JULY PRE-SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
Age 0-1: Pre-Science 0-1Provide different rattles for little ones to hold, that produce different sounds when shaken. Empty water bottles that have different things in them can produce different sounds. A tablespoon of rice, hard pop corn, bobby pins, etc...whatever you might have around the house. Be sure to have the cap screwed on tightly so that the tiny items cannot come out and be swallowed.
Age1-2 : During the next couple of years, your child will grow in cognitive development by seeing and experiencing situations that show “cause and effect.” In other words, something causes something else to happen. For example, if they pull a towel and a drink was sitting on the corner of the towel, they see from experience that the drink will tip over. Their brain does not know that yet... experience becomes the best teacher to discover what will happen next.The noise of big fireworks up close may startle them. But, from a distance they may enjoy seeing the moving lights. Inevitably, there seems to be a big bang sometimes with a fireworks display. You can put a blanket to their ears if you notice that undue stress is exhibited because of the loud noise.
Age 2-3: When you are out for a walk, and your child brings you a leaf with a bug on it, describe to them what you are seeing. Explain that that is a ladybug (for instance), and the lady bug is walking across the leaf. Point out the little legs on the bug. The tiny spots on its back... perhaps some of the colors you see. If the bug flies away, use expressive words of surprise and say “oh, he can fly.” Your little one understands words at more of an advanced level than what they can verbalize themselves. Therefore, introduce your little ones to new vocabulary by using the items they are interested in learning.
Age3- 4: Your child will begin to try various solutions in order to figure out an answer to a problem. For example, if your little girl is putting a dress on a baby doll, the dress may be too small for the bigger doll. As they experiment with the size difference, they will keep trying. Once they get to a point where frustration sets in, that is where we as moms can come in calmly and help them to learn the next level of learning to solve the problem. Explain to them that the doll is big, but the dress is small, perhaps the doll would fit better on this other doll. See how the other doll is small and the outfit is small, it will fit. The big doll will need a big dress. Then show her the options that would fit her. Let her try then to see if the bigger one will fit. There will be a feeling of satisfaction on her face as she makes a choice, experiments with it, and finds success.
Age 4-5: While waiting for the fireworks display to start, and it is getting dark outside. Provide two Wintergreen Lifesavers per person. Sit facing your child, so you are face-to-face, about 6 inches apart. When you say on your marks get set go, both of you will place one piece in your mouth. Begin crunching the lifesaver, while your mouth is open, so the other person can see the fireworks going on in your mouth. How did that happen? According to Teacher Created Materials, “When wintergreen oil is crushed by the chewing motion and grinds with sugar an electrical charge occurs. This change is due to certain solids/liquids create electrical charges when fractured. The fracture is visible as a light form and is commonly referred to as triboluminescence” (p.73).
Age 5-6: Can you make an egg float in a glass of water? You will need two glasses, 2 raw eggs, container of salt, and tap water. Fill each glass full of warm water. Add 10-12 spoonfuls of salt in one glass then stir to mix well. Place the eggs one in each glass. What happens to the eggs? (One should float and one should sink). Now in the cup with the salt in it, take the egg out and pour out half of the water. With the plain tap water, pour the plain water enough to fill the half-full salt water glass; but do not stir. Place the egg into the glass what happens? Why does the egg only float to half of the glass? According to Teacher Created Materials, “Salt water is more dense than tap water. Therefore, the egg which is less dense, than the salt water, causes floatation on top. On the other hand, the egg is more dense than the tap water, causing the egg to sink to the bottom of the glass. When the tap water is poured on top of the salt water, the tap water floats on the salt water. When an egg is added to this combination, it appears to be suspended in the middle, but is actually floating on top of the salt water.”
The following are examples of Pre-Science Activities they did with their children. Notice how some of the activities are similar to start with, but each mother has learned how to adapt the activity to the needs, abilities and likes of her particular child.
19 months, Matching Household items By Heather, Topeka
So I collected 5 pairs of items in a baggie. I then called her into the living room and we dumped the bag on the floor. I held up one item and she picked the matching item. Iwas surprised how well she did though she got distracted with some of the new items. It was a fun game for her. I did have 2 scarecrow figurines and an earring and she got distracted trying to put the earrings on the scarecrows. : )
Recommendation: Yes, we had great fun!
2 1/2 years old Tree painting activity By Shannon, Topeka
As the leaves began to change during the Fall season I began to point this out to Seth. I asked him if he knew what color the leaves were before they fell and was able to remember that they were green. So he painted what I called the "summer time" tree. I found a template of a tree trunk on line and printed it out. Seth colored it brown and then with green finger paint he took his thumb and made "green leaves" he put on the tree. Next we talked about what color the leaves were outside right now (Fall). He was able to point out that some were yellow and orange. So we did the same thing only this time Seth made yellow and orange leaves on his tree and we called it the "Fall" tree.
Recommendations: Yes, this is a great way to get your kiddo to start noticing things around them and how they are changing. With winter time, I could have him also create a tree with no leaves. Perhaps we could make a book of trees and have each of the 4 seasons represented in the book by showing how the tree would look. When each season changes, we can get out the book he made and point out what will happen to the tree and what will happen next. Then we can watch for it to unfold...
2 1/2 Years Old I simply took Seth outside and walked down our street and we filled a paper sack full of what he thought looked interesting. I asked him to look for different colored leaves on the ground and other items. I also pointed out different shaped leaves and how some were big and some were little. We talked about the wind and how it helps the leaves fall of the tree. We also talked about the season of Fall and how the leaves change colors in the Fall. Seth picked up all different colored leaves and even found some tree bark and acorns to add to his collection. Whe we got back to our house we pulled the stuff out of his bag and put into piles ranging from size, shape and color. I then laid out a big piece of paper for Seth and let him have a glue bottle and glue as much of his collection to his paper he wanted to make on his collage. Any changes might be that next time, I might change it for the seasons. There will be different treasures to be looking for depending on the time of the year. This is a great activity because it gets the child's curiosity going. It was so fun to see what we could find in the grass! -- Shannon
3 Years Old We have been talking about pumpkins alot lately. We visited a couple pumpkin patches and brought one of our favorites home. After talking about the shape of a pumpkin, we made sugar cookies cut into the shape of pumpkins. On the lid of a cottage cheese container, I traced the pumpkin shape from the cookie cutter and cut it out. Kaihtlyn then used paint to paint in the pumpkin shape onto paper. I would hold it down in place while she painted. She was so proud of her painting. Looking back, I think I might try to tape the lid down next time for her. --Kahle
4 Years Old So during Lexi's nap, Zoe and I went for a short walk around the block. Well she's been learning to ride her big bike so we took it and got to practice breaking on her bike everytime she saw something to add to her goody bag--which was very often. So as we walked/rode we saw things to collect such as leaves, acorns, walnuts, feathers, pine cones etc... Then we got home and dumped them on the porch to sort. So leaves with leaves, acorns with acorns... then we corted by size the leaves and then by colors. The problem now is where to put this great collection. I loved getting that chance to spend time with Zoe and talk about God's creation. --Suggestions... Bring a smaller bag to fill. This was a great activity to just walk and tak about nature and how God made it all.--Heather.
Amy, one of our TFM Moms who has 3 boys, has a couple of web sites she would like to share with the group. The first one is about tree/leaf website: http://www.watersheds.org/nature/treeguide.htm
Age 0-1: Pre-Science 0-1Provide different rattles for little ones to hold, that produce different sounds when shaken. Empty water bottles that have different things in them can produce different sounds. A tablespoon of rice, hard pop corn, bobby pins, etc...whatever you might have around the house. Be sure to have the cap screwed on tightly so that the tiny items cannot come out and be swallowed.
Age1-2 : During the next couple of years, your child will grow in cognitive development by seeing and experiencing situations that show “cause and effect.” In other words, something causes something else to happen. For example, if they pull a towel and a drink was sitting on the corner of the towel, they see from experience that the drink will tip over. Their brain does not know that yet... experience becomes the best teacher to discover what will happen next.The noise of big fireworks up close may startle them. But, from a distance they may enjoy seeing the moving lights. Inevitably, there seems to be a big bang sometimes with a fireworks display. You can put a blanket to their ears if you notice that undue stress is exhibited because of the loud noise.
Age 2-3: When you are out for a walk, and your child brings you a leaf with a bug on it, describe to them what you are seeing. Explain that that is a ladybug (for instance), and the lady bug is walking across the leaf. Point out the little legs on the bug. The tiny spots on its back... perhaps some of the colors you see. If the bug flies away, use expressive words of surprise and say “oh, he can fly.” Your little one understands words at more of an advanced level than what they can verbalize themselves. Therefore, introduce your little ones to new vocabulary by using the items they are interested in learning.
Age3- 4: Your child will begin to try various solutions in order to figure out an answer to a problem. For example, if your little girl is putting a dress on a baby doll, the dress may be too small for the bigger doll. As they experiment with the size difference, they will keep trying. Once they get to a point where frustration sets in, that is where we as moms can come in calmly and help them to learn the next level of learning to solve the problem. Explain to them that the doll is big, but the dress is small, perhaps the doll would fit better on this other doll. See how the other doll is small and the outfit is small, it will fit. The big doll will need a big dress. Then show her the options that would fit her. Let her try then to see if the bigger one will fit. There will be a feeling of satisfaction on her face as she makes a choice, experiments with it, and finds success.
Age 4-5: While waiting for the fireworks display to start, and it is getting dark outside. Provide two Wintergreen Lifesavers per person. Sit facing your child, so you are face-to-face, about 6 inches apart. When you say on your marks get set go, both of you will place one piece in your mouth. Begin crunching the lifesaver, while your mouth is open, so the other person can see the fireworks going on in your mouth. How did that happen? According to Teacher Created Materials, “When wintergreen oil is crushed by the chewing motion and grinds with sugar an electrical charge occurs. This change is due to certain solids/liquids create electrical charges when fractured. The fracture is visible as a light form and is commonly referred to as triboluminescence” (p.73).
Age 5-6: Can you make an egg float in a glass of water? You will need two glasses, 2 raw eggs, container of salt, and tap water. Fill each glass full of warm water. Add 10-12 spoonfuls of salt in one glass then stir to mix well. Place the eggs one in each glass. What happens to the eggs? (One should float and one should sink). Now in the cup with the salt in it, take the egg out and pour out half of the water. With the plain tap water, pour the plain water enough to fill the half-full salt water glass; but do not stir. Place the egg into the glass what happens? Why does the egg only float to half of the glass? According to Teacher Created Materials, “Salt water is more dense than tap water. Therefore, the egg which is less dense, than the salt water, causes floatation on top. On the other hand, the egg is more dense than the tap water, causing the egg to sink to the bottom of the glass. When the tap water is poured on top of the salt water, the tap water floats on the salt water. When an egg is added to this combination, it appears to be suspended in the middle, but is actually floating on top of the salt water.”
The following are examples of Pre-Science Activities they did with their children. Notice how some of the activities are similar to start with, but each mother has learned how to adapt the activity to the needs, abilities and likes of her particular child.
19 months, Matching Household items By Heather, Topeka
So I collected 5 pairs of items in a baggie. I then called her into the living room and we dumped the bag on the floor. I held up one item and she picked the matching item. Iwas surprised how well she did though she got distracted with some of the new items. It was a fun game for her. I did have 2 scarecrow figurines and an earring and she got distracted trying to put the earrings on the scarecrows. : )
Recommendation: Yes, we had great fun!
2 1/2 years old Tree painting activity By Shannon, Topeka
As the leaves began to change during the Fall season I began to point this out to Seth. I asked him if he knew what color the leaves were before they fell and was able to remember that they were green. So he painted what I called the "summer time" tree. I found a template of a tree trunk on line and printed it out. Seth colored it brown and then with green finger paint he took his thumb and made "green leaves" he put on the tree. Next we talked about what color the leaves were outside right now (Fall). He was able to point out that some were yellow and orange. So we did the same thing only this time Seth made yellow and orange leaves on his tree and we called it the "Fall" tree.
Recommendations: Yes, this is a great way to get your kiddo to start noticing things around them and how they are changing. With winter time, I could have him also create a tree with no leaves. Perhaps we could make a book of trees and have each of the 4 seasons represented in the book by showing how the tree would look. When each season changes, we can get out the book he made and point out what will happen to the tree and what will happen next. Then we can watch for it to unfold...
2 1/2 Years Old I simply took Seth outside and walked down our street and we filled a paper sack full of what he thought looked interesting. I asked him to look for different colored leaves on the ground and other items. I also pointed out different shaped leaves and how some were big and some were little. We talked about the wind and how it helps the leaves fall of the tree. We also talked about the season of Fall and how the leaves change colors in the Fall. Seth picked up all different colored leaves and even found some tree bark and acorns to add to his collection. Whe we got back to our house we pulled the stuff out of his bag and put into piles ranging from size, shape and color. I then laid out a big piece of paper for Seth and let him have a glue bottle and glue as much of his collection to his paper he wanted to make on his collage. Any changes might be that next time, I might change it for the seasons. There will be different treasures to be looking for depending on the time of the year. This is a great activity because it gets the child's curiosity going. It was so fun to see what we could find in the grass! -- Shannon
3 Years Old We have been talking about pumpkins alot lately. We visited a couple pumpkin patches and brought one of our favorites home. After talking about the shape of a pumpkin, we made sugar cookies cut into the shape of pumpkins. On the lid of a cottage cheese container, I traced the pumpkin shape from the cookie cutter and cut it out. Kaihtlyn then used paint to paint in the pumpkin shape onto paper. I would hold it down in place while she painted. She was so proud of her painting. Looking back, I think I might try to tape the lid down next time for her. --Kahle
4 Years Old So during Lexi's nap, Zoe and I went for a short walk around the block. Well she's been learning to ride her big bike so we took it and got to practice breaking on her bike everytime she saw something to add to her goody bag--which was very often. So as we walked/rode we saw things to collect such as leaves, acorns, walnuts, feathers, pine cones etc... Then we got home and dumped them on the porch to sort. So leaves with leaves, acorns with acorns... then we corted by size the leaves and then by colors. The problem now is where to put this great collection. I loved getting that chance to spend time with Zoe and talk about God's creation. --Suggestions... Bring a smaller bag to fill. This was a great activity to just walk and tak about nature and how God made it all.--Heather.
Amy, one of our TFM Moms who has 3 boys, has a couple of web sites she would like to share with the group. The first one is about tree/leaf website: http://www.watersheds.org/nature/treeguide.htm