I Have a Science Secret

I have a science secret. I think it’s something worth sharing with you.

When you think of Inspiration Laboratories, what comes to mind? For many people, they think of our science ideas. Over the last year, Inspiration Laboratories has become known for good science ideas for preschoolers. When I started blogging in 2011, this was not the case. I must confess that I didn’t really have a vision for my blog. I just shared what was on my mind and things I did with my almost 2 year old. I was most passionate about the science activities we did. One of our most popular posts from 2012 was titled What Can you Learn from a Cardboard Tube?, but honestly we didn’t really do that many science activities.

I have a science education degree and am a former high school science teacher. I also have experience teaching science to elementary age children. Preschool was an entirely new game for me. As Aiden played, I would notice the science concepts he was working on. I saw the observations he was making. Science is all around us and he was taking it all in. I wrote about the science activities we did – mostly the unplanned science that happened as we explored outside. Sometimes the learning was intentional – like our Outdoor Sound Hunt inspired by Dr. Seuss.

In the fall of 2012, I wanted to be more intentional with sharing science ideas. I wanted to be more intentional with doing science with Aiden. I started the A to Z science series for toddlers and preschoolers. My hope was to show others how easy it is to do science with young children and to create purposeful science setups for my son.

We are only on the letter O in our science series, but we have done many science activities in the last year. Challenging myself to start doing a little more science turned into our doing a lot more science. Along with several other bloggers, Red Ted Art and I started the Science at Home video series. The goal of that series was to share simple ideas for doing science at home. Then, Science Sparks and I started our Challenge and Discover series where each month we challenge you to do science with your kids around a specific theme. Then, you get to share what you’ve done with the rest of us.

My science secret is that I didn’t always do science with my son. I thought a one or two year old was too young. Until I started watching him. I realized that science was just as much a part of his life as it was mine or anyone else’s. The whole point of science at a young age is to make observations and gain experiences that they can use later on.

If you’re wanting to start doing science with your toddler or preschooler but don’t know where to start, here are my suggestions:

• Start small.
• Start with what you know.
• Ask questions together and seek out the answers.

What are your thoughts? What kind of science activities do you do with your children? How old are they?

Stay connected with Inspiration Laboratories so you don’t miss a thing! We’re on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or Facebook .  You can also subscribe to my posts by e-mail.

 

 

Linking up here.