Fun Science for Kindergarten

Hey, are you a teacher looking for some innovative ways to teach a class of kindergartners? Even as a parent, it has become challenging to keep kids occupied with exciting things without using electronic devices.

Here are some great ideas that will keep the children entertained while they learn some concepts quickly. Children need to know a lot while growing up. They use all their senses to absorb everything they see, hear and touch. This is important for them to understand the world they live in.

Small kids, therefore, are curious about everything that they see. They have to be treated with a lot of patience and keep in mind not to kill their curiosity as it’s the starting point of creating new innovative ideas.

Do you feel that the young kids in kindergarten can’t be taught most concepts of science? Then you are wrong, using small games and interesting activities-based demonstrations you can teach any difficult topic with ease.

1. A great experiment to teach them about magnets

The things that you will use:

1. Plastic, transparent, bottles of the same size, and without labels.
2. Different small objects-plastic and metal both.
3. Magnetic wands 

Fill up some bottles with small objects made with iron like screws, ball bearings, and steel wool. Other bottles are filled with sand, marbles, or plastic objects. You can also use a few other metallic objects- made of aluminum and silver coins. The bottles should be tightly closed so that children do not put any small object in their mouth.

Now you can demonstrate the effect a magnet has on these objects inside bottles. They will assume that all the metals will act the same way and be surprised to learn that only iron is attracted to a magnet. They can check different objects in the bottle. No mess – a great lesson

2. How do germs spread

Things you will need:

1. Glitter in different colors
2. Soap and water
3. Water to wash off the glitter
4. White paper

You can teach small kids the significance of washing hands and how germs spread. Pour out some glitter on one hand of the kids. These could be of different colors, or all of them may use the same color. Ask them to touch their palms together, and they can see germs spreading to the other hand too immediately.

They can shake hands with each other and see the germs transferring to others’ hands if you use different colors. They can also transfer germs to a white paper and see how it is difficult to remove these.

Now it is time to wash hands:

1. Plain water does not remove all the germs
2. Washing thoroughly using soap and water helps to remove most of the germs.

This teaches them a lot about hygiene and the benefit of washing hands with soap. In fact, a very relevant method to teach the importance of hand wash in the present times.

Read more: Science Fair Project Concepts Involving Bacteria

3. Use all the senses to guess an item

Things you need:

1. Brown paper bags
2. Blindfolds 
3. Things that have different textures- fruits like apples/dry fruits, furry toys, leaves, and small objects like blocks and balls.

A very exciting game and can be designed for different age groups.

Blindfold one child at a time. The child puts his hand inside the bag and takes out one object. He can describe the feel and smell and try to guess the object. Everyone is supposed to join the fun without divulging the object’s name and allow the child to think first. There are no prizes and no ranks. The kids can take turns and play. They learn how things smell and feel when the eyes do not see them. Take care not to add any pointed objects or things that can become wet and messy.

4. Sink or float

Things you need:

1. Glass jar/ bowl- transparent
2. Oranges
3. Objects that can float in water
4. Objects that sink in water

If the kids love to learn about complex principles later in life, it is because of such interesting simple experiments. This experiment can teach them about gravity and the concept of weight quickly. This experiment is useful at many levels.

• Ask the children to add some water to the jar, fill it up less than full to allow space for objects.
• Ask the children to guess whether an item would sink or float in water before putting that into the jar.
• See their faces light up when their guess is correct.
• Finally, it would be the turn of an orange. After seeing so many objects floating and sinking, they would assume that orange being so big and round, would sink to the bottom.
• You can surprise them with the fact that an orange floats in the water instead of sinking to the bottom.
• The next part is even more enjoyable. Peel that orange and ask them to guess. Of course, most kids would assume that peeled orange is smaller than the previous one, and it would float. But their astonishment, the peeled orange sinks to the bottom.

You can explain in simple terms that any object floats or sinks due to the pull of gravity. An orange peel has air sacs that help it to float. A peeled orange does not have those air sacs and is densely packed; hence it sinks to the bottom.

5. Understand more about smells

Things you will need:

1. Small bottles of the same size, with lids. 
2. Different essences and essential oils or spices
3. Cotton balls 

There are so many different smells, it will be an excellent chance to introduce small kids to these familiar smells and ask them to identify. Let us see how they relate to each smell, and can they recognize some or all of these.

Take some small bottles and keep them without any label in a line. You can put together an assortment of different smells. For example, soak cotton balls with vanilla essence or cherry essence and keep them in the bottles. Use essential oils of flowers and fruits similarly and keep in the bottles. Cover the lid before the essence escapes or evaporates.

Ask each child to open the lid, smell the cotton ball and close the lid again. They are supposed to guess the smell and identify the fruit, flower, the flavors. You will be amazed that most of them could identify vanilla and cinnamon correctly. Of course, you don’t have to make it complicated with very unusual smells. But you can introduce a couple of new smells from time to time.

6. Rainbow colors walking 

Things you would need:

1. Equal size color glass/transparent plastic jars
2. Some food colors
3. Tissue paper

Set up glass jars in a circle on the table. Pour some water into alternate jars. Add a few drops of red, blue, and yellow food colors to these jars. Now dip the tissues in one jar so that its other end is in the empty jar. Alternate the tissues between colored water and empty jars. You will be able to impress the children with colored water traveling between the tissues. They will see how the colored water is absorbed by tissue, and it travels due to the paper’s capillary action. The colors also mix and create new hues. You can show the rainbow colors walking from one jar to another.

7. Waterproof a shoe/boot

Things you need:

1. Papers with the design of a shoe or boot drawn on that
2. Pieces of plastic and foil and paper
3. Glue to stick these pieces
4. Spray bottle with some water

This experiment can be demonstrated if you have a huge cut-out. Alternatively, you can give one paper to each kid to perform his own experiment. You have to stick pieces of foil, plastic sheet, or paper as they want. You can show that some materials are not affected by water by using the bottle to spray water on the picture. The kids will also understand that plastic is waterproof, and paper is not. You can make it more fun by asking them to predict each time you use a different coating material.

Read more: Creative STEM activities for kindergarten

8. Create a tornado in a jar

Things you will need:

1. Round and transparent Jar
2. Water
3. Dish Soap
4. Food Color

Fill the jar with water, leaving some space for the experiment. Add a few drops of dish-washer soap and a drop of food color. Now screw back the lid and swirl the jar in a circular motion. You will see a tornado forming and bubbles carrying it to the top. If there are too many bubbles, then you can add a teaspoon of vinegar to the solution. The experiment is so simple yet teaches the kids about a natural phenomenon like the formation of twisters.

9. Studying Soil Science

Things you need:

1. A white sheet/ plastic or taro would do
2. Magnifying glass
3. Paper and pencils
4. Small spade to dig

This is so much fun as kids love to play with dirt. Spread the sheet on an even ground. Allow them to scoop out a little dirt and place it on the sheet. You can check the soil for living creatures. Ask them to use the magnifying glass to see and discover. They can draw pictures of what they see and record this way. You can do this experiment at different times of the year and will find completely different results. They can understand that worms prefer to live in moist ground rather than dry soil. Put back the worms and soil in the same area and even it out.

10. Create crystal letters/stars

Things you need:

1. Chenille Stems
2. Borax powder
3. Glass jar
4. Pot for boiling borax solution
5. Adults to assist in the experiment.
6. A stick and thread to hang the chenille letters

This is an experiment that can be done under supervision but leaves an extraordinary impression on kids.

Use chenille stems to create some alphabets/stars. Hang these alphabets/stars with the help of a stick or pencil kept on top of the glass jar. Now boil water in a separate container. Add borax powder to the boiling water and stir until dissolved completely- you can add 3 tablespoons of borax for 1 cup of water. The saturated solution of borax is ready to be poured into the jar with chenille alphabets/stars. Pour it carefully in the jar with hanging alphabets/stars. Leave the solution overnight, and viola – you will see crystal formed on the alphabets/stars. You can use some food colors to add hues to the crystals. This is like magic for children. They can learn how crystals form in caves and about alphabets/shapes too.

Read more: Fun Chemistry Quizzes for Kids

11. Check your fingerprints

Things you need:

1. Balloons
2. Stamp pad

This simple experiment does not involve any complex gadget or device. Just help kids put their fingerprints on a balloon and then blow it up. The prints will become bigger, and children will enjoy looking at the loops and lines. They would be happy as it appears more scientific than it is.

12. Seed germination

Things you will need:

1. Transparent jar
2. Tissue paper/paper towel
3. Seeds that germinate quickly- sweet pea, beans

Stuff the paper towels and tissue into the jar. Wet them and stuff some more tissues. Now push down some seeds and keep them supported with paper towels in different parts of the jar. The most challenging part is to wait patiently with the kids. They will keep checking every few hours. Sure enough, you can see the seeds germinating in a couple of days, and then the roots will start sprouting. This is an experiment that never loses the magic for children.

Conclusion

There are hundreds of such simple activities that can teach children scientific concepts. The kids enjoy learning and creating at the same time. Who likes to learn simply by looking at words and boring pictures? It is essential to get into the groove and get our hands dirty. By involving the children and helping them use their creativity and imagination, you are aiding their curiosity to learn and grow.