SCIENCE ACTIVITIES

1)MAGNETS: Have several types of magnets and materials that are both magnet and non-magnetic. List what materials the magnet picked up.

2)ANIMAL: (fish, hamster, spider, crab, ant farm, etc.) Complete an observational drawing of an animal. List what the animal would eat, the living environment of the animal and what care the animal would need.

3)SENSES: Smell - 5 different scented car fresheners (like pine) OR 5 different fragrances sprayed on cotton balls. Identify the smells.

Touch - Cut out 5 different textures of fabric or wallpaper. Glue them on a paper. Taste – Taste a piece of chocolate, a pretzel, and a lemon wedge (sour candy). Hearing – Identify the sounds on a tape. Sight – Look through the ViewFinder at different animals.

4)TISSUE COLOR MIX: Cut a circle of each of the primary colors out of red, yellow and blue tissue paper. Glue the circles on an index card so that they overlap to create the secondary colors – orange, green and purple.

5)WATER & OIL: Fill a water bottle 2/3rd with water. Add 1-2 “ of vegetable oil. Add a drop of food coloring (student’s choice). Carefully put a little hot glue on the inside of the lid and screw the lid on tight. Cool for a minute. Tip the bottle upside down, mix, and then record what happens.

6)Cavities: Take and apple and use a straw to poke a hole in it. Observe what happens to the apple over time. Discuss why it is important to brush your teeth and visit a dentist.

7) / Pepper Fun / In a saucer of water, shake pepper all over the dish. Put a dab of dish soap on your finger and put your finger in the center of the dish just on top of the water. WOW!! What happened?
8) / Bird Seed Search / Put several small items in a water bottle (record what objects you used). Now fill the bottle ¾ of the way with bird seed. Glue the lid on. Now play I spy.
-Can also fill a ¾ bottle with aloe vera or corn syrup and objects to “spy” in it.
9) / Ooblick / In a Dixie cup combine cornstarch (2 TBL) and water (1 – 1 ½ TBL) and mix. What happens when you stir or hit the liquid?What happens when you move slowly and let it run through your fingers? Make a bigger batch.
10) / Flubber / Silly Putty / In a baggie or a cup, combine 1 TBL glue, 1 TBL water and food coloring.
Add 1 TBL of premade Borax solution (1/2 c borax with 1 liter water) to the glue mixture and mix.
11) / Gak / Slime / Add 2 TBL white glue and 1 TBL liquid starch to a small bowl. Mix with hands or a plastic spoon and let sit so glue absorbs. Mix again the next day to desired consistency. Knead. If slime sticks to hand, add a bit more starch and knead. If slime breaks rather than stretches, add more glue.
12) / Sound Bingo / Listen to a sound CD and play Bingo.
13) / Dinosaur Bones / Follow the yarn to see how long a dinosaur is. At the end, use the noodles to create a picture of dinosaur bones.
14) / Leaf Rubbing ortexture rubs / Take a leaf. Place paper over it and use a crayon to rub over it. What else can you texture rub?
15) / Ping Pong Ball Jump / Line up 2 short cups in a line in front of you. Drop a ping pong ball into the cup in front of you. Take a deep breath and blow down the side of the ping pong ball. Watch the ball jump into the next cup.
16) / Tie Dye Discs / Cut a large circle out of the center of the coffee filter. Poke a hole in the center. With markers, draw a 1’ ring of dots and lines around the hole. Cut a wedge out of the leftover edge and roll it up to form a wick. Push the wick into the hole. Set the filter on top of the cup so that the wick touches the water. Watch!
17) / Pin Wheel / Take a 9” square piece of paper. Reinforce the center of the paper with a small piece of tape. Draw an X from corner to corner. Cut 4 straight lines from all corners almost to the center. Pull every other point to the center holding them down on top of each other. Bind them together with tape. Push a pin through the center into a straw or pencil eraser and bend down the pin.
18) / Constellation Telescope / Poke holes all over a black piece of paper. Roll it into a tube. Measure a black circle the size of the end of the tube. Poke holes into it and glue it on. Look at the light and what do you see?
19) / Dominoes / Stand up dominoes in a line and then knock them down.
20) / Turn triangles into circles. / Draw 4 black lines on an index card from center out to the corners.Put a push pin in the center and hold onto it while you spin the card. What do you see if you change the shape, number or color of the mark on the card?
21) / Bubbles / 4 TBL Joy dishwashing detergent (NO SUBSTITUTION), 2TBL karo syrup or glycerine, 1 cups water. Mix together and let sit for about 4 hours.
Variations: ½ C dawn, 1 ½ c water, 2 tsp sugar or
2 c Joy, ¾ c karo, 6 c water
22) / Shattering Bubbles / Keep the some bubble solution in the fridge. When it is Very cold outside, blow the cold bubble solution and the bubbles will shatter instead of burst.
23) / Volcanoes / In a container, mix baking soda and vinegar and watch it overflow.
24) / Balloon blow up / At a table, give each child a small cup containing baking soda and one containing vinegar. Have the children pour the vinegar into the baking soda.
Now, pour one inch of vinegar into a bottle with a small mouth. Put 1 tablespoon of baking soda into a balloon using a funnel. Place the balloon opening over the mouth of the bottle, being careful not to get the baking soda into the bottle. Gently lift the balloon so that the baking soda drops into the bottle.
25) / Dinosaur eggs / Mix 1 C Plaster of Paris with ½ cup water in a mixing bowl until it has a smooth and creamy texture. Place a funnel in the opening of a balloon. Spoon the plaster mixture into the balloon. Remove the funnel and tie the end off with a piece of string. Float the balloon in a bucket of water so you do not have to lay it down and create a flat-sided egg. Let dry several hours and then cut away he balloon. Let it continue to dry before you paint it.
**Do not wash plaster down the sink at all. Do it outside.**
26) / Dancing socks / Put magnets in 2 socks (IFA cow magnets work the best). Have the magnets be turned around so they repel and then turn them around to stick.
27) / Butterfly or spider / Draw a butterfly or a spider and attach it to a straw. Sting a doubled up yarn through the straw and knot it at the end. Have 2 people hold the string ends and 1 person pull the strings apart. The butterfly flies / spider climbs.
28) / Shadows / Using sidewalk chalk outside trace shadows at all different times of the day.
Using a flashlight inside trace shadows.
29) / Leafs breath / Place real leaves under water and check back later. They will be covered bubbles.
30) / Dancing raisins and popcorn / Fill a glass about 3/4ths full. Add about 2 Tbl baking soda. Put a couple of raisins or popcornin the glass. Pour some vinegar in the glass and watch them float up and down. Variation:can also just use Sprite in a glass and if add some baking soda it will go faster. Caution – might overflow
31) / Scuba diver / Make a 2 ½ inch tall scuba diver (a 1” u shaped straw attached to a small paper clip. Can add a picture of a scuba diver. May need a small ball of clay attached to the diver). Place him in a 2 liter bottle filled with water and he will sink. Squeeze the bottle and he will float.
32) / Balance / -Put a fork on each end of a potato and you can balance it on your finger.
-Stick 2 forks together and you can balance them on the end of a glass.
33) / Air have weight? / Attach a blown up balloon to each end of a yardstick. Balance ruler on finger to show even weight. Pop a balloon and show uneven.
34) / Grass Head guy / In a Dixie cup or egg carton, add 1 TBL potting soil to 1/ tsp grass seed. Moisten the mixture and watch it grow.
35) / Boom / In a film canister, place 1 TBL water and ½ of an Alka Seltzer tablet. Put the lid on and turn upside down on the ground. Wait for it to pop.
36) / Lava Lamp / Fill a clear plastic bottle halfway with vegetable. Add water to an inch from the top. Add 10 drops of different colors of food coloring. Place the bottle on a pie pan to catch the spills. Break an antacid tablet into quarters and drop 1 quarter into the bottle. When the bubbling slows add another tablet to get the bubbles to start again. Adding too many tablets at once will cloud the oil with bubbles. Store the bottle by waiting for all of the bubbles to disappear and then cap it.
37) / The twist / Clean 1 liter soda bottles and the caps. With a drill (or awl), make 3 small holes in the bottom of the bottle. Fill with water and cover. When you unscrew the cap, the water comes out the bottle. When you tighten the cap, the water stays in the bottle. For younger preschoolers, this is almost MAGICAL and they will twist and untwist again and again which will help their fine motor skills.
38) / Germy / Slice up raw potatoes. Have 1 child wash their hands and have another child put their hands in dirt and touch stuff. Give each child a potato to handle. Place each potato in a plastic baggie with their name on it. What do you see?
39) / Color / Put 3 dishes of food coloring and water mixtures in the primary colors. Use eye droppers to mix combinations of the colors on paper or wax paper or in another container. What colors do they make?
40) / Fluffy soap / Put a fresh bar of ivory, dove, or Irish springs soap on a plate and set it in the microwave. Turn the microwave on and watch it grow.
41) / Sun Painting / Take a dark color of construction paper outside with 4-5 distinct objects-blocks, letters, shapes, scissors, etc. Place the paper on the ground in direct sunlight (sidewalk works best), scatter the objects on the paper and let the sun work its wonders. After 2-3 hours of baking, the paper will fade around the objects. Take the objects off the paper and you will see that where the objects were, the paper hasn't faded!
42) / Shiny Penny / Gather a class supply of old, "dirty" pennies, a box of salt, and a bottle of vinegar. Tell the children you need to clean your pennies and sprinkle some salt over 2 or 3. When nothing happens, pour vinegar over a couple more. Next, mix the salt and vinegar in a pie pan, and add the pennies. Let them help stir. Voila! They will appear noticeably shinier.
43) / Crystals / Get a jar full of warm water and some washing soda and put a tablespoon of the washing soda in the jar. Wait for the washing soda to dissolve. Tie a paperclip to a pencil and allow the paper clip to hang in the solution. Allow to cool and leave for a few days while the washing soda crystallizes.
44) / Colored carnation / Carnations in water with food coloring is to split the stem of a white carnation into three sections so that one is in plain water, one in red and one in blue. Ask the children to predict what will happen and wait to see. You will get a multicolored carnation!
45) / Magic string / Suspend an ice cube in a glass of water. Have the children take a piece of string, lay it across the ice and try to pick up the ice with the string. They won't be able to do this. Tell them to lay the piece of string on the ice again and have them sprinkle a pinch of salt over the string. Count to 10 and lift the string. Magic...it sticks !
46) / Spider web / Cut pieces of cardboard into 8 inch squares. Cut ½ inch slits every 1 to 2 inches around the outside of the cardboard. Pull the end of the yarn through one slit and tape it to the back of the cardboard. Let the children weave the yarn through the slits until the project looks like a spider web.
-Marble paint with white paint onto black paper.
47) / Butterfly cycle / Cut out and color a butterfly from paper. (make it double sided). Put a small hole at the top of the butterflies head. Color the toilet paper tube to look like a chrysalis (green). Form a pipe cleaner into a “v” and put 1 point through the little hole in the butterflies head for antennae. Glue the butterfly to 1 end of a tongue depressor and let dry. Curl the wings and slide it through the chrysalis. Pull the stick to make the butterfly come out of the chrysalis.
48) / Water / Gather objects that sink, float, absorb water, or hold water. (dry sponge, piece of cloth, an ice cube, toy boat, plastic, stick, crayon, rock, leaf, jar lid…) Place the item in water OR place the item in a dish and pour a small amount of water over it to see what happens.
49) / Thunder and lightening / Blow up a brown paper bag and hold the neck tightly to keep the air in. Hit the bag to pop it. The loud bang is thunder.
Rub 2 balloons on your clothes to create friction. Hold the balloons end to end almost touching. If the room is dark enough, a spark will jump between the balloons.
50) / Popcorn / Place a popcorn air popper on the floor with the lid off. Pour the kernels in a pop the popcorn. Use your senses and discuss what is happening. Watch the popcorn fly out as it pops.