A Minute Out of the Norm: Science!

I have to admit I have an affinity for science! I remember as a child making ‘mud pies’ in the backyard. Armed with a big bucket, I’d add water… dirt… leaves… sand… whatever I could find… and thoroughly enjoying watching the change. Add a little bit of this and a little bit of that and watch what takes form. Add enough dirt to the water and my mud-soup practically went from a liquid to a solid. I never thought of it as science but in hindsight … it was watching matter change, and therefore in its own way science. Just the beginning of a lifetime love of watching science take shape.

My preschool son came home today from school with a Take Home sheet… ‘Will it float or will it sink?’ I watched him light up as he said “MOM! Can we do this?!” How could I say “Not now, dear, I have too much to do.” Nope! I stopped what I was doing and took the 5 minutes to gather objects …a rock, a leaf, a birthday candle, a small plastic bowl, a plastic container lid, a marigold flower, a tomato, a crayon and a pencil. We made our hypothesis for each object. We dropped the items, one by one, into a large mixing bowl with water in it.

I didn’t need to go into the science of “Why” with him. He is four. But it is planting a seed. We set up our experiment, thought about what might happen and then did it. And best yet it was learning time with Mommy.

What do you do at home that encourages day-to-day learning?

A few other fun projects we have done:

Making Jello – from a liquid to a solid