Try these inexpensive, not-too-messy, fun crafts to help
your kids become scientists this winter.
Dancing Spaghetti
Mix water with baking soda in a clear glass or cup, and add a few small pieces of spaghetti to the mix. Then add vinegar. Bubbles will form on the spaghetti and make it “dance”.
Floaters & Sinkers
Fill a large bowl, kiddie pool, or water table with water. Collect a variety of objects that sink and float. Make sure to collect objects that are similar in size but vastly different in density, like a rock and a tennis ball. Ask the kids to predict whether the object will sink or float and let them drop it in the water. Have the kids classify them into two different stacks, the “Floaters” and the “Sinkers”.
Magnetic Boxes
Fill a clear plastic container with metal objects (e.g., nuts and bolts, pipe cleaners, bobby pins, brads paper clips). Hand each child a strong magnet and let them experiment with lifting the objects in the container without touching them.
You will need:
- Shoe box lid
- White glue (lots of it!)
- Watered down tempera paint
- Paintbrushes
- Natural objects
Collect, with your kids, a variety of natural objects from your schoolyard or a nearby park. Pour a large pool of white glue into the bottom of a shoe
box or shoe box lid and let the kids drop their objects into the glue. To add a
little color, the kids can drip the watered down paint onto the glue. It will
take a few days for the glue to dry but then the box can be hung on the wall
like a picture!
Shiny Pennies
Collect dirty tarnished pennies and have the kids soak them in a bowl of vinegar. Within a minute the pennies will be instantly “shined”. For an added bonus, rinse some of the pennies in water after the vinegar dip and then compare them to the vinegar only pennies; if you wait an hour the vinegar pennies will start to oxidize and turn green. VARIATION: use a variety of solutions to shine the pennies - try salsa (the acid in tomatoes also acts to clean the pennies), lemon juice, soap and water, and vinegar and see which one works the best.
Collect dirty tarnished pennies and have the kids soak them in a bowl of vinegar. Within a minute the pennies will be instantly “shined”. For an added bonus, rinse some of the pennies in water after the vinegar dip and then compare them to the vinegar only pennies; if you wait an hour the vinegar pennies will start to oxidize and turn green. VARIATION: use a variety of solutions to shine the pennies - try salsa (the acid in tomatoes also acts to clean the pennies), lemon juice, soap and water, and vinegar and see which one works the best.
Plant an Indoor Sponge Garden Gardening is a great way for kids to get their hands dirty and learn about nature, but in most of the country it's impossible to do year-round. When the wind starts howling, plant a sponge garden in your classroom.
What You Need:
- new, clean sponge, any color
- small plate
- grass seeds
- water
- clear plastic wrap
What You Do:
- Soak the sponge in water and wring out until damp. Place on plate.
- Sprinkle with grass seeds.
- Sprinkle with water.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set plate in sunny spot.
- Sprinkle with water as needed to keep sponge only slightly damp.
For more fun science experiments, check out the following websites:
- http://happyhooligans.ca/20-science-activities-toddlers-preschoolers/
- http://www.education.com/activity/preschool/science/
- http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/science/activities/preschooler-kindergarten/
- http://babbledabbledo.com/20-science-projects-for-preschoolers/
- http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/50091/preschool-science-experiments
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