science experiments for young kids?

[Stacey B]

My ds did an experiment with his aunt last week and now he wants to do more. I am afraid of winging it (bad experience back in my teaching days) so I was looking for some ideas of books and such.

[Niamh]

Go to your library and look for any books by Janice VanCleave.

Also, look around on homeschooling blogs - lots of good stuff there. My favorite is Ordinary Life Magic. On that blog, look on the left hand column - she's got links there to all of their science experiments - and they do a *lot* - with basic equipment and with young kids. (She also has great arts and crafts projects.)

[zjande]

You could look for any of Janice VanCleave's science experiment books. Your library probably has them. I checked them out from our lib. & then ended up ordering several off Amazon.

You might want to order a catalog from Home Science Tools. I love them & always want to order one of everything in the catalog!

HERE is a list of experiments.
HERE's another.

THIS site looks interesting but I haven't used it myself yet.

We've checked out tons of random science experiment books from the library over the years. I personally never found one that stood out above the rest, they all had some experiments that were fun, and some that were duds. The VanCleave books have been good. I do wish she explained why the experiments work in greater detail, but my son's a 6th grader & you're looking for science for "young kids" so I imagine yours wouldn't notice as much.

I look forward to hearing other's suggestions.

ETA: lol, Naimh beat me to it with the VanCleave recommendation.

[meetoo]

Google!

[maybemom05]

We love Mudpies to Magnets at our house!

The author has written a couple of things - at least 2 "mudpies" books and another called "everybody has a body". I check them out from our local library every few months or so, but you can pick them up used here and there.

[One_Girl]

We just read about rolypolys and then collected a couple and are observing them in a few different habitats. It is a fun hands on experiment that only cost us an empty butter dish. It is hovering around 36 where we are but the rolypolys are still alive and easy to find.

[craft_media_hero]

What drives me crazy with the kid experiments that you find online or even in a lot of books is that it tells you how to do the experiment, and then it doesn't explain WHY like why does the egg float if there's salt water? WHY? And I don't know enough to explain that stuff without another book . . .

We just got the Real Science 4 Kids set (today) and haven't got a chance to do the experiments yet, but it looks pretty thorough on explaining the WHY and not just leaving it at the experiment/observation. Like it says have you ever wondered why carrots are orange and then at least explains that it's because their atoms are arranged in a way that causes the carrot to be orange, then goes into atoms, etc.

We also use the Singapore Science series, which is really cheap. They don't have experiments in the books, tho; we use them mainly as a springboard to look up other stuff in encyclopedias or online.

[JoyMC]

this is one of my favorite homeschooling blogs - the mom was a high school biology teacher before leaving to unschool her daughter (who's like 8 or 9 now?). b/c of her strong science background, they do a lot of science experiments, and she recommends a lot of science-for-kids books. i'd poke around there: http://unschoolgirls.blogspot.com/

[zjande]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

What drives me crazy with the kid experiments that you find online or even in a lot of books is that it tells you how to do the experiment, and then it doesn't explain WHY like why does the egg float if there's salt water? WHY? And I don't know enough to explain that stuff without another book . . .

.

OMG I couldn't agree more!! Makes me wanna tear my hair out sometimes!

[Stacey B]

I go away from the computer for one day and I get such a rush coming back to all these suggestions, the only "problem" is I want do all of them!

[greenthumb3]

We Vicki Cobb!

We have borrowed from the library and bought her books used and done simple experiments from them with success.

[nov05mama]

[A Mom's Love]

Originally Posted by maybemom05

We love Mudpies to Magnets at our house!

The author has written a couple of things - at least 2 "mudpies" books and another called "everybody has a body". I check them out from our local library every few months or so, but you can pick them up used here and there.

DD loved Mudpies to Magnets & we loved More Mudpies to Magnets even more!

[Stacey B]

Library trip today to check out some books.

[Double Dip]

Probably not exactly what you are looking for but I admit we really like "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS. It is a cartoon 30 minute show. He is a preschooler going to school where 4 students and a teacher explore a topic - like irresversible change. They draw in a journal, perform the experiment and make observations and conclusions. On the website they give a break down on doing the activity at home as well as other ideas.

Many times we have done the experiment ourselves after seeing the episode. It is pretty basic concepts but they do a good job of really making it concrete for young children.

here's a link to one of the episode activities we have done:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/sid/activ...tml?applesauce

[ChinaDoll]

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Scien...d=GK9ZQJRDO8OV

http://www.sonlight.com/KS06.html (there's also a dvd)

we enjoy both of those