Preschool science can be tricky. Most preschoolers are not ready for theorems or scientific methods in the traditional sense, but getting them aware of their surroundings, and helping them identify science, analyze data, and get involved in their surroundings is a great place to start. The following is a guide to preschool science.
Step One: Focus on the science in their life. It is important to get the child interested in science, and help them understand how it works at a most basic level. You can help them recognize the science in their life more readily by pointing out to them things each day. For example, you can point at the bugs, and explain their functions and why they are important. You can talk about photosynthesis and why plants are green. You may need to scale the explanations back to fit their understanding, but a huge part of preschool science is just awareness. Helping the kids recognize that science does not just take place in labs with beakers and test tubes, but is all around them.
Step Two: Document.A huge part of science is documentation and research. So, help your preschooler get more involved with science and understand it better by helping them to document the science in their life. You can have them record things daily like the temperature, the changes in how the leaves or grass look, etc. Talk to them about it, get them to notice it, and have them draw pictures to represent the changes and document them.
Step Three: Collect.Take your preschooler out for walks, and let them observe nature and science, and let them collect everything from rocks to bugs. This is how they observe and learn, and is a critical part of preschool science. Start collections so that they can observe the differences in things like rocks.
Step Four: Get out in nature.Have them spend time observing nature, and science at work. Look out the window when it rains, and have them pay attention to things like clouds. Even if all you do is during their recess time, point out things like birds, clouds, different tree types, etc. it will be a dose of science that helps get them noticing.
Step Five: Talk about what you see.One of the key aspects of preschool science is simply being observant and helping preschool kids see the things you are talking about. So, go on walks, and talk about everything you see. Point out changes in landscape, weather, etc. The more you analyze and observe things in their presence, the more analytical they will be, and the easier science will be to understand because it will be part of their daily life and conversations. Get them talking about what they see and describing it as well. You may be surprised how much they notice, and how much science they are already understanding without in depth lessons.