7 Easy Science Activities for Preschoolers You Can Do with Your Kids!

Did you know that kids make the best scientists?

Curiosity is the mark of a genuine scientist. And no other age group surpasses the level of curiosity preschoolers have!

The preschool age is the prime moment to gear kids towards learning science. At this age, preschoolers are developing the brain function to understand their environment. Engaging children in science activities for preschoolers help in honing their brains further.

If you're searching for science at-home activities for your kids, you came to the right place. These science activities for preschoolers will teach them how to be a scientist at home!

Can Kids Engage in Science-at-Home Activities?

Parents are guilty of underestimating the capacity of preschoolers. But kids this age are more capable than we know! With the right amount of nurturing, preschoolers can become junior scientists.

The age of preschoolers is perfect to engage in science-at-home activities. By ages 3-5, kids have the fine and gross motor skills to conduct the easiest science experiments. Moreover, science investigations for kids come easily thanks to their inquisitive nature.

Children learn best through active hands-on participation. That means their active involvement in the task, along with our hands-on support for their science learning too.

With our guidance, science activities for preschoolers are a breeze. Especially when dealing with good simple science projects.

How to be a Scientist at Home?

As we mentioned above, scientists and preschoolers share the same DNA. Both are highly curious and adventurous, prerequisite traits for exploration and experiments.

Children gain the ability to become the budding scientist they are meant to be when you support their exploration. Encourage science at home activities that are fit for their level of understanding.

Here are some tips to encourage your kid on how to be a scientist at home:

Ask kids what piques their interests. 

Children learn more when parents act as mentors that ask questions, encourages, and support the kid's preferences. Evaluate your science activities for preschoolers based on those factors.

Guide, don't dictate.

The last thing you want to be is a control freak. Good simple science projects for grownups might not be as simple to preschoolers. Control yourself if kids are being a bit slow. Allow them to take the lead and ask them questions throughout if you notice an error.

Encourage an atmosphere of curiosity.

Expose preschoolers to a safe space where they can vocalize their opinions and questions. Bank on these inquiries by accompanying them in looking for answers through experiments. These develop their instinct to look for answers and develop critical-thinking skills.

Easy Science Activities for Preschoolers

Educators believe that science learning is not only a classroom endeavor. Acquainting kids to the field starts at home. There are many science activities for preschoolers available online. From free science projects for kids to awesome science experiments.

Below are the best science projects for 7 year olds and below your kids can try.

Kid Friendly Science Experiments at Home

Water and Oil

Kids might have the preconception that all liquids can mix perfectly. This simple experiment for preschoolers teaches them that oil and water do not mix. Plus the food color falling makes an aesthetic color rain shower that kids are gonna love!

Directions:

1. Put 500 ml water in a bowl

2. On a separate container, pour 50 ml of oil then pour different colors of water-based food coloring and mix

3. Pour the oil-food color mixture into the water

Lesson:

Oil is less dense than water. That's why oil floats on top of the water and they can never mix. While the food coloring drops into the water because it's water-based. It still separates from the oil despite mixing them together.

The Secret Message!

Intriguing science investigations for kids are always a staple. The Secret Message is one of the science activities for preschoolers that stimulates their inner secret agents.

Direction:

1. Squeeze the juice from a lemon into a container

2. Mix in one tablespoon of water to the juice

3. Use a cotton bud as a paintbrush and ask your child to draw or write on a clean sheet of paper using the mixture

4. Wait for the illustration to dry so you can't read it

5. Expose the paper to a heat source like sunlight or iron and watch the illustration reveal itself

Lesson:

Lemon juice turns brown when you expose it to heat sources. This is due to a process called oxidation.

Leak-proof bag experiment

Another simple science at home activity uses no more than pencils and a plastic bag container to execute. This science activity for preschoolers may leave kids wondering why the water doesn't leak. Here's how it's done.

Directions: 

1. Get a 1 gallon-sized plastic storage bag

2. Fill the bag with water

3. Poke pencils through the bag, from one side to the other

4. See your preschoolers wonder why there are no leaks

Lesson:

Bags are often made of flexible polymer materials which separate upon poking. But these flexible molecules wrap themselves on the pencil, which prevents water stored from leaking.

Painting on a Milk Canvas

Painting and derivatives thereof are always invited activities for 4 year olds. But have kids tried painting on a non-conventional canvas like milk? Science activities for preschoolers like these are always intriguing and fun!

Directions:

1. Pour high-fat milk on a plate until you cover the base with a thin layer of milk

2. Drop spots of different color water-based food colors on various spots of the milk

3. Pour a small amount of dish soap on a different container

4. Your cotton buds will serve as your paintbrush

5. Dip your cotton bud on the dish soap then poke one of the food colors droplets in the milk

6. Watch the colors spread out and generate some marble-effect throughout the canvas

7. Repeat the process from step 5 until your preschooler creates an abstract painting

Lesson:

Milk is mostly made from fat. The dish soap breaks those molecules of fat and although we cannot see it with our naked eyes, the food color helps us visualize it as the colors spread out. You may try to poke the food color without dipping your cotton buds on dish soap to see if it works differently.

Rainbow Wizard's Brew

Kids love cartoon TV shows, perhaps even fond of those princess movies where the witch creates those scary fizzy concoctions. Wondering if there are science activities for preschoolers that do that? Wonder no more because we'll show you how it's done!

Directions:

1. Fill a jar halfway with vinegar and add a few drops of water-based food color and a pinch of glitter

2. Squeeze a few milliliters of dish soap and stir

3. To start the foaming reaction, add a heaping teaspoon of baking soda and stir

4. Add a small amount of baking soda every once in a while to keep the fizz flowing

5. Voila! You now have yourselves a wizard's brew

Lesson:

The effervescent sensation or the fizz is a result when baking soda reacts with vinegar. All the other peripherals like glitter and food color add vibrance to the easy science experiment. It gives the extra oomph to the dripping bubbles, much like how wizards do it.

Making Music with Water

Music is an integral part of kids' development. Science activities for preschoolers that involve music are always welcome. Good simple science projects like these need minimal tools to facilitate. All you need are some drinking glasses and water.

Directions:

1. Get about 5 drinking glasses (preferably of the same kind)

2. Fill each with varying  amounts of water

3. Grab a spoon and tell your preschooler to tap each glass gently and analyze the sound it produces

4. Each glassware with a varying volume of water produces a different sound

5. Play a children's song using the experiment

Lesson:

The resonance or sound of each glass is created by the vibration of the glassware when you tap them. Empty glasses make high-pitched sounds. But as the volume water of water increases the pitch of the clink diminishes.

Inflate the Balloon without Blowing

You can never go wrong with balloons as aesthetics for a kid's party. Everyone seems to love them, but it can hurt your throat to inflate balloons using your breath. Are there science activities for preschoolers that can offer an alternative? Yes!

Directions:

1. Grab a piece of balloon and initially inflate it to expand and stretch the material

2. Use a funnel and drop 2 teaspoons of baking soda inside the balloon

3. Grab a small-mouthed container like a plastic bottle and fill it with vinegar halfway

4. Tightly seal the mouth of the container with the balloon stem opening

5. Lift the balloon head upright to drop the contents of the balloon to the vinegar

6. Watch the liquid begin to bubble up and the balloon gets inflated!

Lesson:

As covered in the previous easy science experiment, vinegar dramatically reacts with baking soda. This creates the fizzy characteristic in the liquid. The reaction also releases a by-product that escapes to the atmosphere called carbon dioxide (CO2). Since we sealed the mouth with the balloon, the CO2 cannot escape but gets trapped which causes the balloon to inflate. 

Free Science Projects for Kids

Awesome science experiments are not the only ways for children to learn science at home. There are many free science projects for kids and resources that may help you teach them science. Here are a few:

Ducksters

Ducksters is one online outlet that provides an avenue to answer children's curiosities. Science investigation for kids has never been easier through this site. Within it are lessons, readings, and games on various subjects like history and geography, aside from science.

If you are looking for ways to supplement science at home activities, Ducksters is one option.

Education.com

This website offers freemium and paid services for parents seeking to teach kids at home. From science activities for preschoolers to free science projects for kids. Parents can access their whole arsenal of lessons to teach children how to be a scientist at home.

Other science activities for preschoolers

Playing with STEM toys

Science lessons and kid friendly science experiments at home can only do as much. But a chunk of preschoolers' childhood is dedicated to playing. Maximizing their playtime using STEM toys can help develop further their love for the subject. If you're looking for STEM toys, check this list of cool science gadgets to get toddlers.

Watching educational TV shows

Media will eventually be a part of children's lives. Why not expose them to positive media outlets through educational TV shows? There are countless science shows that even tackle elementary science investigations for kids. Keep their viewing time to the recommended screen time for their age.

Benefits of Science Activities for Preschoolers

Science activities for preschoolers are opportune moments to hone their scientific inclination. Even the easiest science experiments can produce enormous benefits. Here are some of the benefits that further materialize children on how to be a scientist at home:

Train a child's problem-solving capability

Presenting appropriate activities for four year olds that offer some challenge trains their brains. Especially in being resourceful and in planning. This may eventually lead to independent learning practices. 

Acquiring new ways to understand the world

Preschoolers' curiosity is beginning to grow exponentially at this age. Exposure to a science-minded household encourages them to share their thoughts, ask questions, and be inquisitive. Science investigations for kids come naturally given their explorative nature.

Develop their taste for the sciences

Awesome science experiments and those good simple science projects, when implemented correctly can gear kids to an unyielding interest in science. This may develop into the pursuit of various careers in the field when the time comes.

Refine their gross and fine motor skills

Most kids are developing these skills at this age. But what refines it further is continuous practice. Kid friendly science experiments at home can do this for your preschooler.

Support Preschoolers' STEM Needs with Toys

Learning in science is a never-ending process. Beyond their preschool years are tons more opportunities to expose children to STEM education. 

One way for you to do this is through science toys for kids. These playthings are designed to impart concepts in STEM concealed in fun and interactive play. One awesome toy to consider is TheSTEMKids Portable Microscope. A device to accompany your kids in their outdoor adventures!

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