science
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Exploring life science in preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: ScienceStrand: Life ScienceTopic: Explorations of Living ThingsThis standard covers all concepts relating to plants and animals (I know, that’s pretty broad). This…
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Exploring Energy in the Classroom
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: ScienceStrand: Physical ScienceTopic: Explorations of EnergyThis standard covers all kinds of energy exploration, including the properties of sound and light, properties of…
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Exploring Weather in Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: ScienceStrand: Earth and Space ScienceTopic: Explorations of the Natural WorldThis standard is all about the weather and nature – two things that…
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Preschool activities that promote scientific inquiry
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: ScienceStrand: Science Inquiry and ApplicationTopic: Inquiry This standard is all about scientific exploration. It encourages children to engage in investigations, make observations…
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Exploring the Outdoors with Preschoolers
Children are naturally curious about the outdoors, and spring is the perfect time to take advantage of their natural curiosity. The weather is beautiful, new plants are growing, bugs are crawling (and flying) all over the place! Spending time exploring outside is also a great way to meet some Science and Inquiry standards. Encourage children to explore by introducing a few fun tools that they can use. Great science tools for the outdoors include: Magnifying glasses Bug jars Binoculars Small scoops or shovels If your students need some guidance, or you want to encourage more focused exploration, here are some great ideas: Collect soil samples from different areas (or have…
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Earth Day Science Activities for Preschool
Earth day is the perfect time to help children think about conservation. This can be a difficult concept for young children to understand because natural resources seem to always be available. Young children are most likely to understand the importance of conserving natural resources when we make this topic relevant to their lives. I’ve rounded up some great activities that you can do with your students to help them better understand conservation and natural resources. Explore how much water we can save by turning off the tap when brushing our teeth – from Rainy Day Mum Explore water pollution – from Getting Messy with Ms. Jessi Using this energy conservation…
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Friday Freebie – Bug Observations
Happy Friday! This is my one and only day off for Spring Break, in fact my only day off until Memorial day, so I am cherishing it! I have big plans for my day off, I’m road-tripping to the outlet mall to do some spring shopping, but before I head out I have a really cute freebie to share with you. When it comes to spring, there is one thing that preschoolers love – playing outside. With every group of children I’ve ever worked with, they’ve always been drawn to bugs. They love to find them, watch them, catch them, try to pick them up, you name it. This Bug…
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Reggio Inspired Science Centers
A couple of weeks ago I gathered photos of some incredible Reggio-inspired Math and Writing centers to share with you. These have been some of the most popular posts that I’ve done, so I thought I would do a few more centers this week. When it comes to the science center, my students especially love the following science-related materials: Authentic science tools (magnifying glasses, specimen jars, microscopes and slides, etc.) Mirrors and prisms Flashlights Binoculars I also like to include some of the following materials: Clipboards with paper or notebooks where they can record their findings Photographs related to topics of interest (like close ups of snowflakes or photos of…
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The ultimate list of tools for the sensory bin
Yesterday I shared my huge list of sensory bin ideas (see the list here). Today I’m going to give you a list of all of the awesome tools that I like to add to the sensory bin alongside these materials. Kids love to explore with their hands, but introducing additional tools can add to the learning and help children make meaningful connections, especially when they use the same tools with different materials. This helps children to learn basic scientific concepts like texture, states and properties of matter, making and testing hypotheses, and mass and weight. Again, it is important to remember that sensory play should be supervised to ensure that…
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Ultimate list of sensory materials
I have a love/hate relationship with the sensory table. I fully appreciate the awesome educational opportunities that sensory play encourages, and I love that children will spend FOREVER exploring these materials. On the other hand, there’s the mess. It doesn’t matter how deep the bucket is, somehow, whatever is on the table will end up on the floor. In the end, the mess is always worth it. Exploration and discovery always win. I like to switch out the materials in the sensory table often Sometimes I change the actual sensory materials, and sometimes a remove the tools and put in a different kind of tool to see how the children…
