One of the best places to teach your preschooler some science is at the park. The following are some great ways to do preschool science at the park.
The sky: There is all kinds of scientific applications with the sky. You can talk about clouds, cloud formation, etc. You can talk about weather. You can talk about the sun. You can talk about why the sun gives you a tan or sunburn. You can talk about all kinds of things. You can also have the kids document what they see. You can have them draw a picture of what the sky looked like each day for a week. Then you can talk about what the weather was like that week, and how to sky represented it.
The trees: Trees and other plants offer tons of opportunity to teach kids about science. You can talk about why plants are green. You can talk about why the leaves change color in the fall. You can talk about how trees grow. You can talk about why roots are important. You can talk about how they produce foods. Ask kids to identify differences between plants, flowers, etc. They may notice one has thorns, and you can discuss why that would be. The idea is to get them to observer the differences in plants, and come up with reasons why those differences would exist.
The bugs: there is never a lack of bugs at the park. So, use the park as a place to study bugs. Help your preschooler understand how useful they can be, and how they play a part in the food chain, the natural cycle of life, and of course how they benefit us humans. There are endless applications for how you can use a bug to teach a preschooler about science.
The ground: The dirt, the soil, the rocks, the bugs that live in the ground, the water, etc. all have properties that make them unique and interesting on a scientific level. Talk about how the ground holds nutrients for the plants, and how roots establish themselves, etc.
When using the park for preschool science, the idea is not to necessarily help a child understand the cell function of a tree whose leaves are changing colors, but to get them to observe and question what they see. Why is the sun so bright? Why does grass turn yellow when the weather cools? What benefit are beetles to us? The more they see and recognize the differences, they more they wonder why, and start looking at things with a more scientific outlook, questioning and seeking knowledge, not just passing by without thought. The park allows you to teach kids not just to take green grass for granted, but learn why it is that color, how to keep it that way, and what it means. The park is a great place to pique scientific interest and discovery.
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