Preschool Science in a Box: a littleBLAST Science Kit Review

You know I am all about encouraging science learning at any age. A love of science can begin in the youngest of children. When littleBLAST contacted me and told me about their preschool science kits, I was excited to check one out. The littleBLAST science kits make science learning easier for parents and kids.

What is littleBLAST?

littleBLAST offers little scientists an opportunity to explore and discover new science concepts, increase vocabulary, and learn problem solving skills as they help one of the Super Tools through an Adventure Map. Once they help the Super Tool complete all the activities, a badge is earned for the Super Achievement Chart! Little scientists question the world around them, and through littleBLAST activities, they can explore, learn and play to answer these questions. BLAST stands for Begin Learning About Science Together.

Learning about Lubricants and Friction

We were sent the Lubricant BLAST to review. The kit has supplies and instructions for 4 activities for kids to do with their parents. Kids will learn how lubricants reduce friction and how they can make activities easier or harder. They will also learn about viscosity.

Aiden chose to do the Measuring Viscosity activity first. The colored test tubes appealed to him.

The test tubes have water, detergent, or corn syrup. Drop a marble and time how long it takes to reach the bottom. The longer it takes, the more viscous the fluid.

As an extension you could have your child touch each of the liquids between his fingers. How do they feel? Liquids with higher viscosities tend to feel thicker. You could also pour the liquids. Observe the differences in how they pour. Liquids with higher viscosities tend to pour out of a container more slowly. Compare other liquids in your kitchen – syrup, ketchup, etc.

Aiden also really liked the Can You Make It Move? activity. The goal of this activity is to see that lubricants make moving things easier. Pull a water bottle across a foil surface. Observe how difficult it is. Add a lubricant {detergent} to the foil and pull the water bottle again. The lubricant makes pulling the water bottle easier. I really like how this activity has children record data through graphing.

Aiden wanted to try this one again and again. I asked him if he wanted to see what happened when more water was added. How would that affect the distance the water bottle traveled? Would it be easier to pull or harder? He predicted it would be harder.

What I like about the science kit:

Everything needed is included in the kit.
The instructions are well written and easy to follow.
Kids can actually do the activities. They are not just watching. They are actively participating.
There are explanations of the science concepts involved.
There are questions to ask the kids along the way.

My only semi-negative comment is that some of the concepts in this kit are a little advanced for preschoolers. With that said, my 4 year old still enjoyed all of the activities. He was able to describe what was happening and answer most of my questions. It’s never too early to introduce science concepts to kids. Even if they can’t explain everything that’s happening, they are still learning through observing. They are building on future learning. Go ahead and read the explanations to your children. Introduce new words to them. You might be surprised by how much they remember the next time you do a similar activity.

What do you think? Are the science kits something you are interested in?

Check Out littleBLAST

Head to the littleBLAST website and see all of the science kits that are offered.
Find littleBLAST on Facebook.

More Preschool Science Experiments

E is for Experiment in our A to Z Science series for toddlers and preschoolers. Simple experiments for the youngest scientists.
View this collection of preschool science experiments from around the web. {They’re great for toddlers, too.}
See all of our science investigations.

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