Take a Tour of Our Continuum
Our Early Learning and Development Continuum includes nine domains with goals for ages birth to five. Each month these concepts are embedded in new themes and daily lesson plans. Join us as we explore the domains and show you how FunShine curricula will build skills and make learning fun!
Why is science important in early childhood?
Children are naturally curious about the world around them. As early childhood educators, you may often be bombarded with multiple questions from your students about why things happen or how things work. Nurturing this natural curiosity is important to support exploration and investigation.
Science and nature activities help children understand the world, develop analytical thinking, and enhance their problem-solving skills. These types of activities also help develop children’s creativity and imagination.
Scientific Learning Objectives
Children are naturally curious and usually eager to participate in science experiments. In early childhood, science is about developing a way of thinking and exploring. Take a look at these 4 scientific learning objectives that you can introduce into your classroom:
- Observation skills help children explore the world around them; observing is the first step in gathering and organizing information. Children use their observation skills to point out different attributes such as size, texture, and color.
- Cause and effect can often be a difficult concept to grasp for children. Teaching children the concept of cause and effect is important because it gives them a logical explanation for why something happened. Cause and effect also helps us understand how our actions impact objects and others.
- Classifying involves sorting objects or events into categories or groups. This builds upon observation and measuring skills.
- Communication skills are important because it’s how children can share their observations and findings. Early childhood educators can support children in developing this skill by asking open-ended questions. These questions have no right or wrong answers, but they help children broaden their thinking process. Here are a few suggestions to get children thinking:
- What do you think could happen next?
- What do you see happening?
- What else can you do with…? (e.g., magnets)
- What do you think will happen if you …? (e.g., add water)
- How can you fix this problem?
- How does that work?
- Tell me about …?
Science Activities
FunShine curricula include Weather Displays for daily circle time. Observing the weather helps children learn about weather patterns, seasons, and scientific vocabulary. Monthly kits also include various seasonal science activities throughout each theme. Here are 2 additional fun activities to share:
Ages 0-3: Soil Search and Find
Sensory play is a great way to engage children in hands-on, experiential learning. When children use all of their senses they are able to remember and process information. Try this hands-on Soil Search and Find activity that helps children further develop their science and sensory skills.
Ages 3-5: Water Skimmers
Have the children ever noticed an insect that seemed to be walking or gliding across the top of the water in a pond or lake? These insects are known as water skimmers or water striders. This Water Skimmers experiment provides the opportunity to explain the concept of surface tension to the children in simple terms.
You can also find more ideas on FunShine Blog under the Science category.
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