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What are some unique and engaging science activities that would be helpful for incoming kindergarten students?
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Here is a website with plenty of fun and engaging science activities that are age appropriate for kindergarteners: http://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/science/
My favorite that I have seen on this site Making Rain, which allows the students to recreate the water cycle in a bag. I hope this site helped!
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With my pre-k kids at the school we did the bean in a wet paper towel experiment. They really enjoyed the activity, watching the beans grow and that they got a take home that they did in school. I find that the younger kids like to have evidence of their school life at home.
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Hello,
A great science activity that I have seen in the classroom is allowing the students to play with magnets, magnetic objects, and nonmagnetic objects. The kids find it super fun and it is a great way to introduce magnets! There is also an activity in where the students get an empty water bottle, they put rice inside it along with magnetic and nonmagnetic objects, and then they use a magnet through the outside to move around the magnetic objects.
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There is a website called better lesson.com that aligns itself with the NGSS standards and format. It helps me get ideas and you can watch videos of how well the lesson works in a classroom along with handouts that you can use. I plan on using this in my classroom for science in order to engages students of all ages.
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A great resource that I use is TeachersPayTeachers.org. On it, you can specify your students age and the subject level yo uare working with. I know that the website name has 'Pay' in the name, but a lot of the resources that they have is free and it is free to register.
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When I was working at a an early childhood center, the teacher that I got to work with did a very neat activity for her ocean unit. Students had the opportunity to create their own little ocean using a Ziploc bag, blue hair gel, small shells, and different color fishes. They would first fill the Ziploc bag with blue hair gel and then add the shells and other small ocean animals she provided them with. I hope this helps!
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Hi,
I believe that in Pre-K is when you can teach anything to your students and they think everything is engaging. The way that they are eager to learn and explore different activities especially in science. Singing is one way you can incorporate while doing a science lesson. For example, when the students sing the itsy bitsy spider you can ask the students how does a spider look like and they can describe you how a spider looks like. and you can teach later on the parts of the spider and incorporate a TEKS that will go with that song.
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Hello Michelle,
The possibilities are endless when it comes to engaging science activities for kindergarteners. I think that any hands-on activity would work well with your students. One that comes to mind is making a simple bird feeder. You can have your students go outdoors, if possible, to find pinecones. If that doesn't work, I know that there are a lot of craft stores that sell them. You can get some sunflower seeds and peanut butter and they can make their own. This is also a great activity for them because they can do it at home as well. I hope this helps.
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I teach GA Pre-K and we use science every day. Some of the children bring me science items that they find on the playground. We explore the items together. The children search for the different colors of leaves. They find a lot of leaves with numerous shapes and colors. Now, they add several kinds of nuts. We add up the nuts and also find spots for the squirrels to find them.
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Whatever it is, should have a lot of movement and interaction for the kids so the lesson is engaging. For example, back in Pre-Teaching, one of my friends did the life-cycle of a butterfly and the kids "danced" and "acted" out the life cycle of the butterfly. It made for an interactive lesson that the youngins could do easily! Good luck!
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I think using play-do is a fun activity where the students can create something. This will be both hands-on and the students can also explore their creativity.
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For one of my activities I used a bag with a chocolate and had the kids rub their hands to create heat. With the friction created, they were able to melt the chocolate in their hand.
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I think mostly it is hands-on, short activities, as they learn through concrete objects. Lots of fun and mess.
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Students love to watch videos on brain pop. It is super engaging and the students love it. It has tons of different topics. It is a resource that you can use year round.
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My kids in P-K did the different parts of an insect. They had to create their own insect by putting together different types of wings, and body parts. They really enjoyed it!
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Pinterest and 5E science lessons are your best friend!
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Hi there!
I found some interesting activities students can do hands-on from pinterest!
One forum that I found that is unique and engaging for kindergarten students is to learn about Static Electricity through a butterfly experiment. While looking through this activity, I found it amusing and would definitely incorporate it into my future classroom!As we may know, students can create static electricity just by rubbing their feet on the carpet and touch someone to give them an accidental shock! Maybe this is an idea you can use for your upcoming kindergarten students.
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I have an idea. With the development of the robot, maybe we could design some interesting activities between students and robots. I think students will be interested in the activities. Actually, I hope I could have a kindergarten whose topic is robots and children. I think that will be fun.
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When engaging kindergarteners in science activities you must present lessons that are engaging and relevant to them. So, through a kindergarten lense, what would be important to you? Since many kindergarteners are interested in the outdoors, maybe incorporate the outdoors in your lesson plans. If you are discussing plants, allow them to go outside and make observations through drawing pictures in a science notebook! If you are preparing for an upcoming solar eclipse, give them the opportunity to go outside during the event to make observations! Ask them questions to further their understanding and engage themselves in deeper meanings of content presented. And most importantly, do not underestimate what a kindergartener is capable of doing and learning!
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When I am looking for any type of lesson for students I turn to Pinterest. Pinterest has so many great ideas that can be used in the classroom. Here is my science Pinterest board if you need some ideas, https://www.pinterest.com/lauren_aug/science/. I'm glad you bring up science though, because many teachers are not very interested in science which causes the students to be less interested in science in the future. I think for many students doing a science experiment can be one of the coolest experiences in the classroom, it gets them engaged hands on while also learning about the scientific method.
Michelle, through this chat what science activities have you most helpful for kindergarten students?
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Hello Michelle,
This is a challenging question.
Children at this age need to be fully engaged to learn, and too often that is not accomplished.
I believe that young children are most engaged when playing, or in a playful environment. This is essential for pre-k and kindergarten aged children. In my experience, I search the topic and form some kind of game out of it. This seems to be a winner everytime!
For example, when teaching pre-schoolers geography and methods of transportation, I pull out a map point out where we are going and together we figure out how we can get there. This conversation always brings up a plethora of topics and makes gearing the lesson towards the students interest easier.
I hope this helped!
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some activities will be great, for example, the ABC books
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I read an article named “ classifying classification”. In the article, the author stresses that the students should do the science but not just learn from the teacher. And then the author sorts the scientific projects into five different categories.
In the first part, the author emphasizes the importance of the envolving project. The teacher establishes exceeding expectations, fully meeting expectations, minimally meeting expectations, and not yet meeting expectations. Under the teacher’s help, students could sort their activities into different categories. In the process of students sort their own activities, the teacher would observe students’ activities and see if students could sort them appropriately.
The matching task is the second important part of the author’s statement. “Depending on how a teacher introduces them, several tasks can be considered either matching or sorting tasks. Matching occurs when students match new items to an existing item” ( Janice, 2009). Matching task reinforced the language used and created opportunities to create groups with more than one feature, such as “big red circles” and “small blue squares.”
What is more, the teacher who used this task at the end of their unit of study on magnets used it as a form of summative assessment. When the teacher planned her next performance task involving classification, she considered what her students had done with this task and whether they were ready for something more complex or whether they needed further experiences with sorting items into distinct groups.
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Hi!
Here is a website that gives a lot of kindergarten activities.
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/kindergarten-science-projects/?lp=true
I actually have done the clouds in a cup with shaving cream and dye with my group and my classmates really enjoyed it!
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I am a junior at UNI. A hands on lesson I have observed for kindergarteners was a planting seeds experiment. Each student planted grass seed in a cup and set them by the window. The teacher put one in the cupboard for no sunlight and another was planted without water. The students enjoyed observing their seeds and watching the teachers plants have trouble.
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Make a garden outside with your students. They'll get to enjoy the hands-on activity itself while still learning about nutrition and willingness to consume fresh produce. They can also develop a sense of community and responsibility.
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Hi Michelle,
An activity I did with toddlers was this Color Changing Milk Experiment. They really enjoyed it. I think it would also be fun with older students in Pre-K and Kindergarten as you can promote scientific thinking with them and the concept of cause and effect.
https://www.learning4kids.net/2015/04/08/colour-changing-milk-experiment/
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Hi, I'm a student teacher in Kindergarten and I think a great engaging activity to do on the first day is to ask students to draw what they think a scientist looks like. My professor did this activity with my class followed along with an open discussion. This will help the students build on their prior knowledge, and get them interested in what science will consist of. Another engaging activity can be taking your students outside and telling them how they encounter science every day!
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Hello,
One activity I saw in a Kindergarten classroom I observed was when the students were learning about magnets. The students found it astonishing that a magnet can attract or repel to different things. The teacher had a mini-lesson over magnets then gave each students a magnet and let them explore around the classroom. The students were given about 10 minutes to explore with their magnets. Then the students were given the opportunity to share what they learned with the class. This activity was hands on which the kindergarteners loved!
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Hi Michelle,
I am currently a student teacher in a 2nd grade class, however, last semester I was a teachers assistant for a kindergarten class. One fun and engaging science activity we did was making play-dough. Each student got the chance to come up to the bowl that the play-dough was being made in, feel and observe it. They were learning about physical properties at this time, so using their 5 senses to observe the play dough really helped them understand physical properties! At the end of the day, they got to bring home their own bag of play-dough!
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Hi, Michelle. I recommend colorful worksheets for preschoolers. Preparing for kindergarten and school is easy. It is best to attract the attention of a child in a playful way. I can recommend https://wunderkiddy.com/en where I download daily free useful materials for my son. Next year we will have classes in kindergarten, and my child is already used to regular training sessions and it does not seem boring to him.
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Hi Michelle,
This article might give you some ideas:
Curiosity + Kindergarten = Future Scientists
Plus, in the science and children journal there is a section called the Early Years which focuses on science activities pK-2. If you search "The Early Years" you will obtain a large list of postings.
Kathy
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Thank you! This was very helpful in my lesson planning! Great ideas were in the article.
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Very helpful for lesson planning.
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Extremely helpful. I plan on using the ideas on future lesson planning.
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I agree with your idea, which is excellent
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From the semester I spent with kindergarten students, I have found that they are very hands-on. I would suggest maybe exploring the environment around them and relating it to the sorts of science they will be learning about. For instance, taking them on a walk around the building and talking about living vs. nonliving things they see, weather, etc. The more they can dive into it, the more I would think they would a foundational interest in science.
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Getting the students out and about is a must! Not only are they able to use their own senses out in the environment, they also get a little physical activity and can release some built up energy. I love taking my preschoolers outside on nature walks and asking them questions about what we see. It would even be cool to take pictures of different living and non-living things and print them off so that the students can sort them when they get back to the classroom.
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Great point! Younger students do enjoy exploring their environments and really get into nature and experiements having to do with nature. If you want to startoff small, try collecting evidence from nature such as interesting leaves, grass, flowers, bark etc. then they can do rubbings and learn about the characteristics.
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That is very true, younger kids are very good at learning with hands on activities. They understand better and cannot be still when working with worksheets.
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Ellen,
Thank you for posting! We sometimes for get just exploring outside with students helps them experience science, and they don't even realize it!
-Clare
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This sounds like a great idea. It really gets them excited about what they will be exploring throughout the whole year. I would also ask the students what they would like to learn about either in context of what they are going to learn or something out of the box. You might get that one child who really knows a lot about one thing and to encourage and support that interest would really get that child interested in what they have to learn.
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I completely agree with this. The more students explore the environment and the things around them it becomes more interesting for them.
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I really like this idea, Ellen! It might even be nice to sit outside on the ground or the grass in a circle afterwards to discuss what they observed. That way the students can point out exactly what it was that they observed so that other students can see it too.
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I agree with you, children are very hands on and what better way to learn than by having authentic activities for them.
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Yeah, you are right. It will be a great help to them understanding the science.
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Ellen,
I agree with you that the younger ages are more interested in hands-on activities. They love the environment, like what is surrounding us on Earth. They find animals and plant fascinating and they would be engaged in what you are teaching. I found your ideas very interesting and if I work in a kindergarten classroom, I will most definitely take some of these ideas into mind. I am glad you have shared those with us. Thank you! Overall, great job!
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I think that taking them on a walk outside to explore their environment is a great way to get young kindergarteners engaged. I also think that fun hands-on activities such as making play-dough or slime can be fun to introduce the concept of observations to the students. When making play-dough, they can describe what it feels like, looks like, and smells like. This will engage the students in using their five senses, which is a great foundational base for science learning.
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I agree with Ellen. The more that you can integrate the world around in them into a tangible lesson, the more engaged and confident the kindergartners will be in the lesson. Maybe try taking a class poll and starting an inquiry based project based off of what they are excited to learn about in their environment.
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I agree with Ellen. The more that you can integrate the world around in them into a tangible lesson, the more engaged and confident the kindergartners will be in the lesson. Maybe try taking a class poll and starting an inquiry based project based off of what they are excited to learn about in their environment.
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I agree that exploring the world around them is an engaging way to teach science ideas and practices in a developmentally appropriate way! Thank you for the shout out to my Early Years columns, Kathy. I write a companion blog for NSTA at www.nsta.org/earlyyears. You can find many of the Early Years columns in a collection in the Learning Center. Some are free to non-members.
The Early Years column, preK-grade 2
This collection of The Early Years columns can be used to find activities for young children (PreK-grade 2) to be part of the on-going science inquiry that is already happening in your classroom. Use these activities to continue your students' thinking and learning about a concept or topic they are investigating. Visit The Early Years blog at www.nsta.org/earlyyears.org to find pictures and more discussion about teaching science in early childhood.
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/share.aspx?id=kWe5LKQ7hf
Look to the NSTA Position Statement on Early Childhood Science Education for the most up-to-date understanding of how young children learn. It is written for teachers of preK but it all applies to Kindergarten students too.
http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/earlychildhood.aspx
Have a wonderful year!
Peggy
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Thank you for the resources! I really appreciate your works on The Early Years!
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Another support for kindergarten teachers who may have children who are not yet fluent in English:
Karen Nemeth addresses how teachers can make science learning meaningful for children who don’t speak the same language:
http://www.languagecastle.com/2015/08/fast-5-gamechangers-preschool-science-learning-for-dlls/
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Margaret,
Thank you for this resource, there were plenty of strategies that I think will come in handy when I begin teaching. Especially since I hope to be placed in a bilingual classroom.
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Thank you for the resources for (dual language learners) DLLs!
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I believe, especially with science lessons, that the students can help direct the curriculum through their natural interests. Begin a conversation about what they are interested in and make that into a concrete lesson. For example, Frozen is really big right now so make the natural connection from that to a lesson on snow and ice. Investigate how water can transform to these, find out what it feels like, learn about snow flakes, weather related to snow etc. If they are directing the lessons, they will be much more engaged and take much more from it.
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This is such a great idea. I would have never thought to use the movie Frozen for the weather portion of the Science standards. I think this is very relevant and could be the theme of a lot of great lessons, especially for those of us teachers that live in places that do not snow. Now it is time to post some frozen themed worksheets we can integrate into math and literacy. Thanks for the idea!
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Wow! This is such a great idea! I never thought to make this connection with Frozen! This is such an applicable idea for so many different content areas. I have an upcoming lesson with physical science and want to do something similar. I will aim to find students interests and build an interactive lesson similar to yours and Frozen!
Thank you for the help!
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I love this idea. Students are still talking about this movie and it would be a great way to talk about weather and snow. This would really help the students to get engaged and make a connection.
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What a great idea! I believe that students' interests should always be taken into account when designing a lesson.
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Kindergarteners are very hands-on learners, and their attention spans can be maintained the most effectively by doing activities that are very engaging for each of them. With the changing seasons, I think doing an activity outside, noting the changes occurring in nature and having each of them make observations, would be a great activity to do with the students! This is a topic that can cross-curricular as well, and the knowledge students gain in this area could be used to make connections in other areas of learning.
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What are some scientific topics that Kindergarteners usually love?
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Mckenzie here is a helpful site I have found for fun scientific activities to plan for your classroom! The common science topics I have found that kindergarteners love are animals, ocean, the 5 senses, weather, gardening, and many more. Hope this helps :)
http://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/science/
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Learning about insects, magnets, shadows, and the solar system.
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What is a fun and easy way for kindergarteners to learn how to wash their hands?
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Lane, some ways that I have found work well with younger students when it comes to washing their hands is letting them know about germs and what they can do, repetition and making hand washing fun. If you explain to them that if they don't wash their hands they will collect bad germs and then get sick and have to miss out on fun activities like playing outside then they will make sure to wash their hands. Another way that kids usually love is singing. If you sing fun songs to help remind them they will really get into it and maybe even want to wash their hands. Repetition is key in helping kids learn new things so that is the key thing to remember. Good luck!
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Lane, I currently work at a pre-school and one of the ways we teach kids how to wash their hands is to sing the ABC's. This helps students make sure they are scrubbing their hands long enough. I have also heard of teachers using Glo Germ, which is a lotion that students can put on their hands. Glo Germ is used before or after the students have washed their hands. Their hands are then put under a blacklight which will cause all of the germs that are still on their hands to light up. This is a great way to visually show the students all the germs that are on their hands. Glo Germ can be purchased at http://www.sciencebobstore.com/glo-germ-gel-lotion/
I hope this helps teach your students about germs! :)
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I would explain the importance of having clean hands, talk about germs and what they can do, then put handwashing into the daily routine. Even put it in the daily schedule, usually before eating, after going outside, when you first enter the classroom and always after bathroom time, then you can explain how washing hands can also get paint, glue etc. off.
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Hello,
You can have the students sing along to the happy birthday song while they wash their hands!
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Does anyone know of a fun hands-on science activity for elementary students that involves the solar system?
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Kodi, It will be easier to recommend resources if we knew what concepts you want the children to learn about the Solar System and which grades you are teaching.
http://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/ngss/files/Appendix%20E%20-%20Progressions%20within%20NGSS%20-%20052213.pdf
Scroll down to page 8 to see where learning about the Solar System is a grade level expectation in the Next Generation Science Standards.
Peggy
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I taught Kindergarten for 12 years and my son in currently in Kindergarten. He just started a unit on pushes and pulls. They sorted objects into push, pull, or both. They did this with real objects and pictures. They tested out force on an object. They tried pushing things on different surfaces to see if that impacted how far the object went or the speed. He has had a ton of fun as everything has been hands on and very relevant to him.
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I have students that are special ed but we use a lot of Kindergarten TEKS. One way that we get our students to explore weather is by using the n2y.com website on Joey's Locker. The students are able to come to the board and participate by recording the weather everyday. They can also feel water to represent rain, feel a fain to represent wind and touch a hot towel to represent heat from the sun.
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Kodi,
Here are some video demonstrations regarding the solar system. It is hard for students to grasp the enormity of the solar system, so perspective is key. These videos show activities and demonstrations that can easily be incorporated into the classroom. All of the videos on the FunScienceDemos YouTube channel (where these videos are located) are common core aligned and cover a wide variety of topics that students should know before high school.
Here is the link to the playlist of Solar System videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLat8Jejmdx1sbNMdZh1LIiyl8VqPHDOzo
Best of luck,
Dr. George Mehler Ed.D.,
Temple University
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Thank you for sharing this YouTube website. It makes explanations about the earth so simple for small children!!!
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I would recommend anything with movement. For example, model how to act out the water cycle with students, the cycle of a butterfly, or use onomatopoeias and movement to describe weather. The younger students love any chance that they get to be up and moving. Students are sometimes unaware that they are learning when they are involved in movement because they enjoy it so much.
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I would recommend that you do something that has them moving or experimenting with stuff to teach them science. I have seen a classroom where students just do worksheets and the poor kindergarten are so bored and act out.
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What Great activities! I can't wait to use them in my class when I graduate!
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A lot of the times pinterest has some really neat and engaging activities that you can implement in a classroom.
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Very unique post. Extremely helpful for my pre-service.
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Great resources and ideas! I can't wait to use them in my classroom!
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Some activities that I have seen used in the classroom are brain breaks. These breaks are helpful to allow students to get their wiggles out. Another activity that I have seen used int he classroom are fun rhyming games that allow students t interact with one another in a friendly and cooperative manner.
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Brain breaks are awesome!
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Hi, I really found this post super interesting. I was able to see some activities of the web sites that you provide. They have really good resources. I love the way that you mentioned how to incorporate hands-on activities with themes especially the frozen theme to work with weather. Another hands-on activities that I really like for kindergarten is developing activities with the nature environment, such as: looking diversity of leaves and flowers and giving the opportunity to students to develop their senses.
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Hello Michelle,
I suggest you check out this website, I especially like the project Rainbow Wizard's Brew.
http://babbledabbledo.com/20-science-projects-for-preschoolers/
Some of the projects are a bit messy, but that could be a perfect reason to take your little ones outdoors.
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I am a student teacher and I did my first 5E lesson about the 5 senses. Students loved being able to explore with random objects and categorizing them into the group that helps the most when using it (i.e. fuzzy ball into touch, cheerios into taste).
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I believe anything that involves play, movement, music, and hands-on activities is a great lesson for the younger ones! Plan every lesson around play, they are too young to sit for long periods of time and do worksheets or listen to you talk. If all else fails, dig into pinterest!!!! It has been my best friend as a student teacher this year! Good Luck!
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There are many ways to grab a kindergarteners attention. When applying science activities in the classroom, kindergarteners love to move around and do hands-on activities. Children tend to learn more through fun experiments, rather than listen to a lesson being taught on a chalkboard. For example, a great activity for incoming kindergarteners would be a scavenger hunt! This could involve students searching for items related to the science unit. It forms a number of skill such as motor skills, listening skills, the process of thought, and communication skills.
Another great activity could be anything that involves bright colors or quick movements. Children become intrigued with the most simpliest activities. For example, you could create a tornado in a bottle. The only items you'll need is water, a plastic water bottle, glitter, and dish washing liquid shaking the bottle with he materials will cause a water vortex that looks like a mini tornado. This teaches the students what a tornado may look like with their eyes never leaving the bottle!
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These are great resources. I would really use them in my future classroom. Very helpful.
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We did a couple of activities using apples. After we were finished with the apples, we kept two in the science center and observed the apples decompose. The students really enjoy it and are shocked to see how it changes size.
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In Kindergarten it's all about getting dirty! Don't be afraid to let them get dirty (as long as they are learning). Let them play and learn, it's the best way to get them to learn.
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These are really helpful. It is hard to come up with such activities on my own.
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http://leftbraincraftbrain.com/2015/03/29/five-minute-craft-magnet-painting/
This is a little bit messy, but it looks like a fun activity
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This is a great idea, students are more engaged when the lesson relates to their interests.
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Kindergarten students love learning science. Anything that is hands on is great for them. If it is different and not just book work, they will like it. Another thing is that they love to explore, so taking them outside or in the school garden, if you have one, is a great idea.
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Here are some more ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/bluskyz/kindergarten-science/ . Another great way to incorporate science into the classroom is to simply have a class plant or pet that they will get to constantly observe! Another idea that a friend did in her classroom was to study the life cycle of a pumpkin throughout the October and thanksgiving months, maybe even grow your own pumpkin!
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There are a lot of hands activities that you can do with kindergarteners. You can have them create their own snowflakes. Or you can read the hungry Catapillar and teach students about transformation. There are a lot more activities you can find in
http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/science-activities
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/kid-science-activities/
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Hi Melissa! These are grateful resources for kindergartens. Thank you for posting.
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Thank you for creating this thread and so many people sharing great activities and lessons! I can't wait to use some of these in my kindergarten classroom!
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With kindergarteners having an activity that physically involves them is great. I love the idea of having a school garden where students can plant flowers or vegetables and tend to their plants over time. If planting vegetables, you can even take it one step further by creating a menu based on those vegetables and teach students about health conscious food decisions.
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http://thesciencepenguin.com/2014/07/starting-the-year-off-right-science-ideas-for-week-one.html
^^^ great blog with activities and tips for early science instruction!
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[table][tr][td] [/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]Students who demonstrate understanding can:
K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live. [Clarification Statement: Examples of relationships could include that deer eat buds and leaves, therefore, they usually live in [/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td] forested areas; and, grasses need sunlight so they often grow in meadows. Plants, animals, and their surroundings make up a system.] [/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]K-ESS3-2. Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on local forms of severe weather.]
K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human impact on the land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using [/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td] [/td]
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[td][/td]
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[tr][td][/td]
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[/table]
Earth and Human Activity. Start them early!
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What are some good science activities to do with children who are in the grades K-3?
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I would honestly look into ideas on Pinterest. It's a really great site with tons of ideas for science teaching in the elementary classroom. I would definitely try something that is super engaging and hand-on to keep the student's interest, especially since it is kinder students.
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These are all really great ideas!! Thanks!!
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I worked with kindergarten on a lesson regarding weather. It was conveniently a day that was very overcast- which is often rare in Arizona. We went outside and talked about ways that we can tell what kind of weather we're having. I started it out talking about how do we know if we're going to wear big coats, or rain boots, or short sleeves to school. We talked about looking outside and observing the weather; if we see it raining, we don't wear flip flops. We discussed the weatherman/lady on tv and how their job is to interpret the weather. We talked about how if the clouds are grey we can assume there may be rain coming. Then we had them illustrate pictures, one of how the weather looked outside and one of how the weather looks in another place (could be a family members house; snow or someones favorite place where it was warm) They really go into the discussions we had and it was great to introduce weather.
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The bean and wet paper towel experiment sounds like a fun and engaging lesson for the students.
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One experiment that I saw for kindergartners was on the topic of air and how it takes up space. There were many hands on parts of the activity, including trying to crush crackers in a bag that was filled with air, and using a tub of water and a cup with a paper towel to show how air can prevent the towel from getting wet. Allowing the students to predict and then perform the experiment gives them the chance to be little scientists for the day.
I hope this helps!
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Something I found that my students really enjoyed was looking at living and nonliving things and getting hands on experiences while they learned. Other teachers brought in chicks, goats, cats and dog to show students what living things were. Later, students were challenged to find 4 nonliving things in their home and share them with the class.
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From what I have seen, when it comes to science particularly, students love to participate in hands-on activities. They enjoy being able to explore and be given time to investigate why things happen the way that they do. When I taught a science lesson over photosynthesis, my students liked having the opportunity to go outside and look at plants more closely. You can find great ideas from pinterest, teachers pay teachers, and many veteran teachers at your school.
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Hello,
Pre-k students love to do hands on activity. During my observations I saw how one kinder teacher used to take the students outside to observe caterpillars and butterflies.Children at this age love to explore so any science concept you introduced that's hands on,they will love it.
Good luck!
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From my personal experience I can tell you that students at this age love to do things that involve being more hands-on. One particular science experiment that I have seen work with this age group is growing a bean plant. All you need is a clear plastic cup, soil, beans, and water. Doing this experiment will help your students learn about what they need in order to grow a plant. I hope this helps!
Good Luck!!
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I think any hands on activities that the students can do will be engaging. Letting the students explore around them that it related to science will be fun.
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From my experience with student teaching in kindergarten, it is very important to include a lot of hands on activities! They love to be moving and they learn much better when they are able to experience it. For example, we took the class outside to learn about weather patterns/seasons and living/nonliving. When making plans for any lesson I always try to include at least one hands on activity.
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Of course, you are right! The best way to attach to science and interest is to make very interesting games for children to show all process in the nature, to give him made something by theirself.
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There are so many activities to do with little kids that they would love. One that is on my top list is making the ooze that is a 4th stage of matter. Kids get amazed when they see the substance hard like a solid then watery like a liquid. It is a great simple topic with a fun interactive activity. Another great activity is the balloon and rubbing it on the student's hair. Kids will go crazy over this and are full with questions. I remember doing this when I was in kinder and just having a great time!!
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I totally agree! children need to explore some more! The school I did my hours this semester did not have many natural areas outside but they are building a garden which gave me lots of new ideas to engage children in science activities related to the garden! I believe that having some time outside of the classroom will spark their interest; especially in science!
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I completely agree! It is great to use the resources you do have to help children understand life and growth in plants. I think the garden would be an awesome experience for all children.
I found this even simpler idea that children could eat up! It makes them active in the experiment, and they learn!
http://thestemlaboratory.com/sprout-house/
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Kindergartners will get engaged in anything hands on in science. Bringing them out into their environment to learn is most beneficial and creates concrete learning.
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I think a great science activity to do with Kindergarten students would be a unit on living and non living things. You can have several different stations, with different activities, from hands on, coloring pages, large group discussions. Then you can assess your students daily on living and non living things.
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I suggest beginning with a simple activity that will be part of an on-going investigation that can last for months, such as exploring the properties of water. I wrote about a few ideas and listed resources in the NSTA Early Years blog: http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2016/06/07/beginning-of-the-year-explorations-get-them-ready-for-fall/
On June 29 I will be presenting in the next NSTA Virtual Conference on June 29, along with another NSTA author, Christine Royce. The conference is three hours long (with breaks) and begins at 10 am ET. The registration fee includes one of our books...your choice!
Visit this website for more information and to register: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/virtualconference
Beginning the year with an activity that is so engaging provides opportunities for us to assess our incoming students skills and needs as they learn.
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Last year, my kindergarten students became meteorologists. We made binoculars out of duct tape and toilet paper rolls, we read the cloud book by Eric Carle, we created an anchor chart together by stretching cotton balls and gluing them to a poster. We labeled the type of cloud it was and what type of weather may come with it. We went outside and investigated the cloud types through our "binoculars". The students drew a picture of what they saw in their journal. The following day, the students gave an "overview" of what the weather was like the day before and the clouds they encountered. I did this with a green screen background, so they actually looked like little weather reporters! I had brought in an umbrella, beach towel and sunglasses, and a winter hat and gloves for them to "dress up" The students loved the activity! We finished the unit with watching the movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs! This was done in 3 days. The students were so excited to continue, that was what got them through the morning routine until science time!
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Something that one of my cooperating teachers did to teach her kindergardeners about living and nonliving things was to taking nature walks. The kids LOVED it because it got them up and moving and they were also able to touch some of the different things the saw outside. She would ofter point out different objects outside and ask the students if they thought it was living or non-living.
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I agree Jessica. I did a lesson on Sink or Float with my Kindergarten class and they loved it. The students enjoyed learning about predictions and had enjoyed sharing there thoughts on the object they were testing. I had the students test object in nature (branches, seeds, sticks, leaves, wood, bark) some of the objects even surprised me. It was interesting to hear the students explanations. For example "I know the leaves will float because I see them floating in ponds and pools." The class loved the hands on activity. Breaking the class into groups and having a bucket of water and different objects at each table is a great way to do this.
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I think taking a walk and discussing living and non living things is a great activity for many reasons. One reason is they can get up and move instead of sitting in their seat all day. Two, is fresh air. Three, they are learning and still having fun at the same time. Reminds me of our biology class we had! I had tons of fun and remember a lot about the days we went outside. Which is yet another benefit for the students, since they will most likel rememer the information since they are enjoying it.
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A kindergarten teacher at the elementary school I am at, recently taught her students how to create their own balances with a hanger, rod, string, and marbles.
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I think exploring "5 senses" using different materials and the environment is fun
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I have worked with children for many years now and I found you can never go wrong with nature walks! The kids love them and they are fun for the teachers too. Not to mention it gets you out of the classroom for a little while.
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having kids make their own play-dough is a great way to teach them chemical reactions and it also gives you play=dough to use in the classroom throughout the year!
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When working with kindergartners one semester at an all girls school we did an experiment to talk about why it rains. It was done on a very basic level but the girls loved it! We read a few books about rain and precipitation. The main idea was that the clouds were made up of tiny drops of water and when they became too heavy or too full, the tiny drops formed together and fell as rain to the Earth. This idea was then represented by doing a demonstration. The students were put into small groups for centers and I worked with only 4-5 girls at a time. We made a mason jar cloud by filling a mason jar about 3/4's of the way with water (we put sparkles in it just for fun) and then topping it with a shaving cream cloud. Then, we took food coloring and dropped some onto our cloud until it started to change colors and get too full. The food coloring represented the water droplets. Eventually, the shaving cream would become too full of the food coloring and start dripping down into the water (representing the sky). The food coloring would look like rain. The girls had fun adding the food coloring and they mentioned that the shaving cream cloud changed colors as it got full just like real clouds get darker when it is going to rain.
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One idea I like, which someone else may have posted, is an activity called 'walking water'. You have five clear, plastic cups all lined up next to each other, all half full of water. In between each cup you put a paper towel that is immersed on both ends in the two different cups. In the first cup you add some red food coloring. In the third cup you add some yellow food coloring. In the last cup you add blue food coloring. Leave the second and fourth cups alone with just Let the cups sit and eventually the the color will 'travel' from the first cup to the second cup and from the third cup to both the second cup and fourth cup. The color in the fifth cup will travel to the fourth cup and the sixth cup. When it is done you will have a rainbow of colors in front of you as the red and yellow will have made orange and the yellow and blue will have made green. So from left to right you will have red (from the color), orange (from the mix), yellow (from the color), green (from the mix), and blue (from the color).
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I am currently a preservice teachers and at one of the elementary schools, where I have class, the kindergarteners are actively involved with the schools living garden. Every Friday, the class goes out and makes observations about what the changes they see in the garden. In a couple of weeks, the students will be creating radish buddies. These are essentially radish seeds pushed into a wet cotton ball in a jewelry bag. The students will be creating hypotheses about what they think will happen to the seeds, as well as what all is required for plants to grow. These buddies will eventually begin to germinate and rid the students of their misconceptions about what is required for a seed to germinate.
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I remember about that age I was fascinated by an experiment where we would ball up a paper towel in a cup, making sure it would stay when the cup was flipped over. We would then flip the cup and push it straight down into the water, then pull it out to show a completely dry towel. This is a good way to show that air itself takes up space. I did this experiment about 50 times because of how amazed I was at the results. You can then follow it up by completely submerging the cup and flipping it right side up underwater to show the bubbles that rise to the surface, further illustrating the point.
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Our theme is Fairy Tales. One of my favorite activity is to read the book Jack and the Beanstalk. We discuss the beanstalk in the book. I ask the question Do you think that it is true for a beanstalk to grow overnight? The children ponder over the question. We plant the beanstalk the next day. We talk about the items that we need for the planting-cup, dirt, beans, and water. We made a chart with all of the children's names and days. Every day, we check the progress of the beanstalk. Another extension, the children draw a picture of the beanstalk's planting.
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I attended a workshop for early childhood science and my favorite take-away was the 'discovery bottles'. I made one with magnatized itmes inside and then the children could use a magnet to move things around in the bottle. I also saw that a teacher put tiny magnet letters inside the bottle and the children used a magnet to move them around and identify a specific letter. You can find more information here:
littlebinsforlittlehands.com/5-easy-science-discovery-bottles/
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There are so many kindergarten science activities. I did my chicken life cycle lesson last week, and I design a chicken life cycle paper plate activity for my students. They loved it!
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For one of my lessons I am doing The Very Hungry Caterpillar book box. This will help the students learn about the life cycle of the caterpillar.
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Children love that book, especially the illustrations! Eric Carle himself noted that he included a misconception--that all caterpillars make cocoons when they pupate before emerging as adult butterflies. Some caterpillars make a cocoon and some form a chrysalis.
When children observe an actual animal, such as the caterpillar of a Cabbage white butterfly, as it changes from tiny caterpillar to larger caterpillar to chrysalis to adult butterfly, they can connect their actual observations to what they read and see in both fiction and nonfiction books.
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For TEKS concerning force and momentum, I put air into a Ziploc baggie, and we made a graph of who thought a light book dropped or slammed would pop the the baggie as well as a heavy book dropped and slammed would pop the baggie. The activity was engaging adn a great way to introduce new vocabulary.
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Thank you. It's a good idea to introduce new vocabulary.
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A fun activity related to science that would get kindergarten students excited to learn is to first read them a book or show them a video related to the unit/topic you are going to teach first. Then you could have them do a small project related to this...for example, if your first unit related to weather, you could have them do a small art project with cotton balls and colorful construction paper to make common weather patterns (sunny, rainy, cloudy).
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These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
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Hi, Brittany. I agree with you. Haha
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Many of the schools that I have been in actively involve students in a gardening unit. The students explore the garden, observe within the garden, plant in the garden, and observe the changes in the garden! The students really seem to enjoy doing this and making the garden their own!
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I am currently student teaching in a preschool classroom and we recently did a lesson over magnets. While I know preschool is not kindergarten, I know kindergarten students would find the activity just as engaging and exciting. We tested the magnetism of different objects together and then students got to use their own magnet for the first time and were able to test a list of objects on their own. I have never seen children so excited about magnets before! They absolutely loved it! The next day, students were writing and coloring in their journals and so many students decided to draw magnets and the different magnetic objects that were tested. The lesson clearly stuck with them and it is still something I hear them talk about two months later!
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That is wonderful! Great idea!
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Hello,
My best advice is check Pinterest. They have a lot of hands-on activities that will be fun and engaging for your Kindergartners.
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Pinterest has many people contributing activities that can become part of an ongoing science inquiry! The NSTA position statement on Early Childhood Science Education is a great supporting document http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/earlychildhood.aspx
Use it to shape effective science learning experiences.
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I think the important thing with the younger students is to build a strong foundation and a love for science. I think so many students are afraid or uncomfortable with science because they did not get enough exposure to it in the younger grades. Hands on activities are always a must. Let the students decide what they want to study then go from there. Weather is always a great place to start. I am a preservice teacher and I have done a lot of work this semester with kindergarteners in learning gardens. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much my students understood about the garden and how a plant grows and even vocabulary words like pollination all from working hands on in a garden. This is definitely something I highly recommend.
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Hi! I did some of these activities with my Kindergarten class and they loved it.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activity/force-and-motion-6-studyjams-interactive-science-activities
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/making-models-solar-system
http://www.maryville-schools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=4713
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Michelle, I was placed in a kindergarten classroom this year as a student teacher. My cooperating teacher discussed living and non-living creatures using gummy worms and live worms! She offered each student an opportunity to handle the live worms. While the students were completing their independent practice, she passed out the gummy worms for the students to eat. I really enjoyed watching the students get engaged in their learning.
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Michelle, I was placed in a kindergarten classroom this year as a student teacher. My cooperating teacher discussed living and non-living creatures using gummy worms and live worms! She offered each student an opportunity to handle the live worms. While the students were completing their independent practice, she passed out the gummy worms for the students to eat. I really enjoyed watching the students get engaged in their learning.
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What a great opportunity for those kiddos to have a hands-on activity! Awesome!
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After observing a kindergarten class I noticed that the student pay more attention when the teachers does a hands on activity. This website has many hands on activities that help me when doing lesson plans for my classes. http://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/science/.
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I once saw a teacher have students collect leaves from outside. After students had their leaf, the teacher walked the students back inside. The teacher handed students a paper each. Students had crayons at their table. The teacher instructed students to take a crayon and take the wrapping off of it. They were going to create an impression of the leaf. Students were told to use the crayon on its side to create the impression.
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That is fun, but I imagine what was after....I think that's memorable and very exciting, but you have to be prepared not to have all your classroom and the kids' clothes in chocolate. There hands must be clean - in case they want to put chocolate fingers into their mouths
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I think the best way for kindergartners to learn is more through hands on experiences and exploring.
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I enjoy working with activities that have the reactions that the age group can see and manipulate. This helps the students of this age group get involved and interested working in this field at a young age. It also helps lay the foundation blocks for a love of science. Kindergarteners live in their our world and we have to join them in it!
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This is a great reminder to connect student's natural interests to grab their attention for the information you are wanting them to learn and master!
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To the person who mentioned that it is important for our students to guide the curriculum... YES! Sometimes we forget that our students are just kids who have natural curiosities. We need to figure out what they are interested in too . It's important that they ask questions, and for us to answer them, this is what excites them, and makes them want to learn.
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I am currently a pre-service teacher in the field and I find that my students also love to watch videos on brain pop. They are very engaged and lear a lot from it.
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Let them sketch at least four different grasses they see in the lawn. That is engaging!
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I couldn't agree more. Students' engagement should be priority in our classrooms.
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There are a number of highly engaging and appealing science activities that teachers adopt in several circumstances to get the most out of students’ interest in order to let them understand some of the basic concepts. I am about to finish my online course from Central Mont University in teaching and education and I believe there is a lot more to come in this field.
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For a science lesson that I taught, the students were learning about how plants grow. We read a book about plants and then each child was given a sunflower seed, a cup, and soil to plant their own seeds. Over the course of three weeks we watched the plants grow and then the students took their plants home. I think this would be a great activity for you to do. You could also incorporate an outside trip so your students can look at the different plants that grow outside.
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I currently student teach in a Kindergarten classroom. For my lessons, I also like to involve a lot of hands-on activities. For example, this past week I was teaching them about the different parts of a plant and the life cycle as well. Rather than showing them videos and pictures, I brought a plant for each student and provided magnifying glasses and toothpicks for them. They were able to examine the different parts of the flower share with their peers their findings. After the lesson, we went outside and planted our flowers. The students REALLY enjoyed this lesson and asked if we could do it again some other time!
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Dandelions are easily accessible and allow children to have hands-on experience exploring different parts of a plant. I was so amazed, and so are my children, to discover that the white fluff and seeds are already there at the base of the yellow parts of the flower. Let them pluck and see the seeds. Let them see the hollow stem. Let them see the lightning shaped leaves and the sturdy taproot. Let them know that dandelions grow early in the spring and help feed the bees. They aren't just for making wishes when you blow on them. Teach them the difference between plentiful wildflowers (weeds) in the grass that they can gather and garden flowers that people grow on purpose and that shouldn't be picked.
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Hello Michelle,
I have worked with kindergarten kids for several years and I know they love hands on activities. One thing I did with them was plant a seed. The did it all on their own and were excited to actually see them grow. Make sure you plant extra seeds just incase some do not make it.
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One of my favorite activity I did with my Kindergarten students is planting grass. We used a styrofoam cup and the students had to draw a face on it so that when the grass grew it would look like crazy hair growing.
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I would use a types of hands on material like play-doh, or create things out of construction paper. It will engage them as well as be able to get the point across to them
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I absolutely encourage teaching any science lesson that includes inquiry and involves any space outside of the classroom. Teaching a lesson to young children (ages 5-6) I learned that showing a powerpoint or videos based on heredity and variation of traits, was first engaging, and then prepared them to take on the next task: searching for variation among plants right outside their class. The lesson was meaningful to them because it allowed them to see how they have similarities within their own families, especially in relation to their parents, and it helped them make sense of what a "family" is and how it relates to a "species" in scientific terms. Taking the students beyond the four walls in their classroom excited them and made them more inquisitive about their activity. Beginning the lesson with a question that will be the focus of their learning (as we call investigable question) the students redirect their thinking and focus exactly what is being asked of them. Inquiry all the way!
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I totally agree! One of my intentions is to help children understand that nature is all around them, and that science provides a lens for exploring and recognizing what they experience. Not only that, it provides a means to communicate their perspective on the world.
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So many great ideas! One thing that I love to do with younger kids is plant a little garden. Beans and flowers are usually grown pretty easily but a new one I want to try this year is carrots. They grow very easily and then they will be able to eat it. Exploring the world around you and providing lots of hands on activities, you can't go wrong with that!
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Using Dash Dot is great for younger students. Very user friendly and students love it. Simple coding
and other great activities using ipads.
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Hello, Michelle! It is meaningful to create some science activities for incoming kindergarten students! From my perspective, we should take several things into consideration when we are designing science activities for them. First, the safety issue is of vital importance. Any material that has potential dangers shall be avoided in science activities. Second, incoming kindergarten students have little prior knowledge of science, it is difficult for them to do and understand convoluted science activities.
I have an idea for you. Asking students to put different objects into a bowl of water, observe whether the object floats on the water or not. Then introduce the concept of density to students. The objects for this science activity can be an eraser, a small piece of paper, cubes, and other things in the classroom. Students will be fully engaged in this activity since they are interested in exploring knowledge with water.
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I am hoping to teach kindergarten when I graduate this year. These are awesome, fun, and engaging ideas! Thank you!
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I think there are a lot of hands on activities you can do for science with kindergarteners!! When teaching about the different states of matter with my second graders, I did a walk around the school and outside with them looking for the different states of matter. They really enjoyed it because they got to get up and move around. I made it a game with them "Who can find a solid in this room?".
There are also so many easy and fun science experiments to do with that age group! Every science unit has some type of experiment or hands on activity to do with it! For example, when learning the parts of the flower you can bring in flowers that are taken apart and have the children sort them into cups labeled stem, leaves, and petal.
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How can you teach weather to Kindergarten students in a fun activity?
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Hi Clarissa,
I found a few activities that could be incorporated into a Kindergarten classroom to discuss different weather patterns. The first one includes four activities that this school used during a "Weather Day," but could easily be broken into four individual lessons:
http://common.nsta.org/resource/default.aspx?id=10.2505%2f4%2fsc07_044_05_30
The second article gives a graphing activity to show the changes in weather based on the clothing students wear to be prepared:
http://common.nsta.org/resource/default.aspx?id=10.2505%2f4%2fsc15_053_02_30
Let me know if you decide to use one of these activities! Does anyone have any other favorite weather lessons for Kindergarten?
-Megan
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When I taught kindergarten we did a bug exploration unit. This was a good spring project. We had lady bugs and talked about the life cycle and observed them. We also observed snails and compared the difference between a snail and a bug.
I also did a lot of force and motion with magnets and of course a sink and swim project..
Here is a cute one with ecosystems and animal crackers which can be modified for kinder.
https://www.psd1.org/cms/lib/WA01001055/Centricity/Domain/36/Animal_Cracker_Biomes.pdf
My old district in Washington had a great STEM program and offered paid workshops for teachers of all grades. We also had science kits for all the grade levels.
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Like Melissa shared, there are so many interests from the students that we can tap into for creating our lessons and expanding the students' knowledge. In Hawai'i right now, where I am living, the students (Kindergarten and older grades) are interested in Moana. Why not create a lesson on ocean currents during a science lesson or integrate and create chants as a strategy to remember vocabulary. There are so many different ideas. Have fun with it! And remember, students will be exceptionally more engaged when it involves their outside interests.
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One fun and different idea could be doing a unit over germs. You can get a black light that can how their hands full of germs before they wash their hands, and then show them what their hands look like after they have washed their hands. This lesson in very interesting because of the light and they are able to see all their germs. This activity also cover how important it is to use soap while washing your hands. Some kids might not understand that until they physically see it with their own eyes.
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In my opinion, you can do some hand-on activities with students so that they can concentrate on your instructions. www.fcrr.com This website is a good place where you can find some activities to apply in your classroom. I think that you can show a video first which give your students a hook, then do your group work or activities is better.
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I think a great hands on lesson for kindergarteners in science could be planting a seed and learning about the cycle of the plant growing. Allowing each child to plant their own seed is great hands on activity. The children have to water the seed and make sure it is in good room temperature for it to grow.
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Grass seeds grow quickly and provide an excellent way to observe the life
cycle. I learned to staple near the top of the bag from Peggy Ashford at
her short course in Baltimore. Thanks. Peggy!
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Hi Marianne,
It is so affirming to know that a technique I learned from other early childhood educators is being passed on, benefitting other educators and the children they teach!
Bean seeds, garlic cloves, and other small "plant starters" can be grown in such a set-up for easy visibility of their growth development. Stapling across the paper towel allows a seed to sit above the water reservoir below yet still be moist, and the roots can grow down between the staples.
A colleague has her 2's plant grass in a tray. That way all can care for the seeds and no one's seeds fail to sprout or fail to thrive. She has children use a mister to water all plants, allowing all children to water while reducing the risk of overwatering.
I'd love to hear about other seed sprouting and plant growing science explorations!
Peggy Ashbrook
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Hi Michelle,
I love this question because I can definitely relate. I am amazed by how curious young children are and it provides educators with the ability to learn through their eyes.
A friend of mine actually did a really cool absorption experiment in her VPK classroom that I think would transition well into kindergarten. She took water, droppers, cups, paper towel, construction paper, wax paper, tray, and aluminum foil to create this experiment. She had the students put water in the droppers and place drops of water on the
paper towel, construction paper, wax paper, and aluminum foil so they could watch how it absorbs.
Another experiment I have seen completed in kindergarten classrooms is the walking water experiment. I found a video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDKgta-fho
Hope this helps!
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Hi Brittanie,
I had never seen or heard of the walking water experiment and found the video very useful. I'm planning on conducting that experiment with my kindergarten students soon and I know they'll definitely enjoy it!
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From the time I spent in the kindergarten classroom last semester, I have found that they are very hands-on. I would suggest exploring the environment around them and relating it to the topics of science they will be learning about. For example, taking them on a walk around the school building and talking about animals and weather etc..
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I'm currently doing an internship with elementary students and they love to play. One activity my mentor did that the students really enjoyed was fingerprint butterflies. They made a large banner and created butterflies and the teacher then bought in caterpillars so they could observed their growth. It was kind of like having a class pet as well, which students tend to be mesmerized by. It was a cute experiment.
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Before Easter, My little ones loved to plant grass seeds in a Easter basket. A lot of times I would just save clean milk jugs an cut them so that they kept their handle and were deep enough to put soil in (and of course we decorated the jugs!). They kids would plant the seeds, water, and place by the window where light could reach them (or outside if the weather was appropriate and they would not be disturbed). We get so excited to see which ones sprouts first and watch them grow into thick, lush little patches of grass for them to place Easter eggs in. Simple and fun.
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Very cute and engaging activity!
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Very cute and engaging activity!
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Kindergarten is a wonderful age to stimulate an interest in science because children are naturally curious! I would recommend building upon this natural curiosity by giving students opportunities to ask questions about different observations they make. For example, having them go on a nature scavenger hunt can open their minds to the sorts of living and nonliving things in our environment. Letting them use magnifying glasses or other such tools can tie in themes of scientific observation and engage students in exploring the outdoors and recognizing different rocks, insects, plants, etc. It's also a great opportunity to talk about making observation using our five senses.
The below link has a printable that can also be incorporated into the activity if desired:
https://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-nature-scavenger-hunt/
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I found a link that could help you out. They have many activities that may be of some use.
https://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/
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What is the best way to first introduce the concept of science to (Kinder and 1st)? What lessons or specific things to tell them might work best in this early stage of learning?
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I am student teaching and the teacher just finished an experiment with kids and magnets that I thought was interesting. She had them look at the different magnets and showed them how n and n repel while n and s attract. then she attached a magnet to the top of a car and made lines with tape on the floor. with 3 different magnets she had the kids push the cars using the magnets to the finish line. They had to figure out which magnates would push the car and if it was better to push the car having the magnets attract or repel each other.
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Thank you Kodi Wilson. I was finding it hard to come up with ideas to teach the Kindergarten class I am student teaching in. I went to the website you provided and saw so many engaging and interesting ideas. I never realized how much science is in everyday activities such as finger paining with shaving cream. I can't wait to share some of the cool activities with my kinder friends, thanks again!
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I would say color sheets, online experiment stimulators, and fun science songs to help them learn.
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Learning activities kindergarten...There are a lot of great reasons to integrate educational activities into the kindergarten curriculum. Children at this age are incredibly curious and sponge-like in their ability to absorb new information. They're also concrete thinkers, which means they learn best through direct experience. Given all of this, it's no wonder that educational activities are such an important part of early childhood development. They provide opportunities for kids to explore, experiment, and learn in a safe and supportive environment. There are endless possibilities when it comes to educational activities for kindergarteners. Here are just a few examples: - Art projects can help kids learn about color, texture, and line. - Dramatic play can teach children about cooperation, communication, and problem-solving. - Block play can encourage spatial awareness, math skills, and creative thinking. - Music and movement activities are great for gross motor development, coordination, and self-expression. Of course, these are just a few ideas. Educators can get very creative when planning educational activities for kindergarteners. The sky's the limit! What's important is that these activities are developmentally appropriate and engaging for young children. They should be designed to promote exploration, discovery, and most importantly, fun! https://wunderkiddy.com/
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