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Kids Science activities

by Jean Potter

Everyday events and situations offer a variety of exciting opportunities for teaching children mathematics and science concepts. By highlighting these concepts informally at home, children begin to learn the value of science and math in their daily life, and adults are paving the way for success in academic learning.

Children are actually learning science and math concepts whenever they play with blocks, water, sand —everything! They learn when they sing songs related to these concepts. They begin to understand the ideas of size, shape, number, and quantity simply by playing. By counting the number of blocks stacked, a child can easily figure out how many it takes until they tumble down. They discover ways to balance the blocks when making towers and bridges. They can guess which containers will hold more sand or water, and test hypotheses to determine if they were correct. And, they can figure out which puzzle shape fits in the proper place when looking at the shape configurations.

These early experiments are thought provoking to the young child who is simply trying to figure out what the world is all about. As they mature, they easily share their knowledge with others, thus communicating their opinions and ideas. They delight in telling how many pieces of candy they were given at Halloween. They brag about the size of the cookie just consumed.

Hands on Science and Math Activity Ideas

These moments and hands-on activities lead to a natural understanding of science and mathematical concepts in an informal way. They are the basis for knowledge, and should be encouraged by adults.

Fun Cooking Activities: Adults can easily reinforce these skills without much formal preparation. Baking cookies together is a five-star activity for adults and children. Baking offers children the chance to count, measure, compare, and combine with very pleasurable results. Once the cookies are baked, they can compare the sizes. And take the largest, of course! Tasty Science by Scientific Explorer is a great product and can be a springboard for more activities. It is jammed with recipes, activity cards, and lots more to make learning fun and eventful in the kitchen. And if they really want to learn science in the kitchen, The Science Chef: Food Experiments and Recipes for Kids offers some delightful opportunities for kids to eat their science experiments!

Older children also benefit from everyday math and science experiences. Simply by doubling a recipe, they are getting into higher-level math skills. Asking why the cookies spread when they are baked yields some thought-provoking answers. Experimenting with lowering the temperature when baking cookies to see what happens may be an interesting test. Sometimes, discovery is more important than the results.

Gooey, slimy, and otherwise "disgusting" substances seem to be a hit with younger and older kids alike. Using ingredients from the kitchen, children can create snot, poop (sorry), and even blood. (Hooray!) Children will have plenty of fun with the science kit, Disgusting Science by Scientific Explorer. With the kit, kids over age eight can create fuzzy mold, mix up a batch of coagulating blood, and much more.

Learning Math and Science at the Grocery Store: Taking children food shopping and encouraging them to play "grocery store" at home offers many new experiences. They have the opportunity to price items, exchange money, count items, and so much more. Children should be encouraged to look for the "better buy" in the grocery store when they are old enough. If three boxes of tissues cost $2.50 and one box is $1.00, which is the better buy? Allow them to determine which is more cost-effective. But just helping mom find items on the shelf is a stimulating, academic activity.

Learning Math and Science While Traveling: Traveling also presents interesting avenues to explore. Reading mileage signs and traffic signs along the road are opportunities to learn. Provide children with the book, City Signs and encourage them to find the signs while the family is driving in the car. Discuss what the signs mean and why they are important. Children can also read mileage signs specifying how many more miles until the exit. Counting the red, blue, and white cars reinforces counting skills. Recognizing the differences in vehicles and the need for these vehicles offers opportunities for deduction, classification, and observation.

Learning Math and Science at Home: Children have a wealth of opportunities for learning at home through simple chores. By matching socks, they learn about pairs. Setting the table offers them one-to-one correspondence. Measuring with standard and nonstandard units, or watching the clock to count down time until grandma arrives, are easy and enriching activities. Even more fun is examining the way a clock works. Clocks and More Clocks is a charming book that explains, in a humorous way, how clocks work.

Many children's books provide children with opportunities to learn easy math and science concepts. The Very Hungry Caterpillar allows the child to count the number of foods the caterpillar eats while watching his size grow. Baseball fans particularly like the book, The Baseball Counting Book. The catchy rhymes use the baseball theme to count to 20. "One ball, one bat, and one call…" It ends with "If you love to play baseball, and practice it, too, one of these twenty [baseball] cards might picture you." The Big Buck Adventure offers the charming scenario for children to learn how far a dollar will (or will not) go! The heroine relates her humorous adventure in the first person after she is dropped off at the store with a "whole dollar" to spend. As she moves from the candy counter to the toy department to the deli, she quickly discovers the value of a dollar. After being overwhelmed with the choices, she makes an important consumer decision.

Fun Games Involving Math and Science

Domino Addition offers additional fun when using dominoes—a game found in many toy boxes. Children quickly learn how to use simple addition to find the total number of dots, from zero to twelve, on each domino. Then they can find the dominoes with each total hidden in the pictures. Preschool Bug Dominoes by Eeboo offers children not only a chance to match the numbers, but they also invite them to dig deeper in acknowledging different bugs. Conversations about bugs will surely take place, thus offering adults a rich opportunity to discuss a variety of science concepts. Further exploration can include raising butterflies in the backyard. The easy way to begin may include Butterfly Garden by Insect Lore.

Most of the time, teaching concepts can be used without purchasing any expensive materials. Common household items and familiar locations offer plenty of opportunities. Halloween is a particularly fun time to count, compare, and sort the collections of candy accumulated by children. The M& M's Chocolate Counting Book offers children a rewarding stimulus to springboard into counting the number of specific colors in a single package. They can create patterns with the candy (red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, etc.) or determine the probability of getting a particular number of a color in a package. Of course, be sure to test the hypothesis that M&Ms never melt in your hand!

Young children who learn number concepts and other mathematical knowledge through hands-on play activities and discussions gain a broad understanding of all subjects. When thinking of activities for children, focus not just on having fun, but also on creating a learning environment that stimulates and nurtures their inquisitive minds. By doing so, adults are giving children a great start on learning or enhancing their learning in a fun and meaningful way. Of utmost importance is that they are sharing time and making memories with an important adult—and loving the attention they're getting while doing so. Their love of learning math and science will be a bonus!