Creative Family Fun

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Science Activities for Kids

Kid’s Co-op: Science Fun

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It’s Friday and that means it’s Kid’s Co-op time. Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

There was 160 fabulous ideas shared last week such sensory play ideas, baby play ideas, book recommendations, kid-friendly recipes and more. Today, I’d like to share three posts full of science fun.

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Moms Like Me shared a great sink or float experiment.

 
Learn With Play at Home made a water bottle fountain.
 
 
Reading Confetti experimented with dissolving rocks.
 
 
Now it’s time for you to share all the fun you’ve been having! Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!

 

Weather Wiz Kids

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I stumbled across Weather Wiz Kids when I was researching my “10 Ways to Learn About the Weather” post.

I was so happy to discover such a comprehensive weather website created for kids. You’ll find explanations of weather phenomena written for kids, fun facts, weather safety information, experiments, games, and even jokes. You’ll find information there for all ages of kids, their parents, and teachers.

If you’re looking for ways to teach about weather, Weather Wiz Kids should be your first stop!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Weather Wiz Kids was started by Crystal Wick, a meteorologist from Indiana. I recently asked Crystal more about herself and her Website.

(Dark clouds over western Colorado)

Why did you start Weather Wiz Kids?

I started Weather Wiz Kids back in 2003 when I was working as a morning meteorologist in New Orleans, Louisiana. I visited several schools to teach kids about weather, but I couldn’t answer everyone’s questions. So, I decided to create a website to teach kids about weather and allow them to email me any of their weather questions.

What can someone expect to find on Weather Wiz Kids?

Weather Wiz Kids is an educational website for teachers, parents and kids. You will find an ample amount of kid-friendly information on all types of weather and even natural disasters like volcanoes and earthquakes.

When did you become interested in weather? Why?

Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with the weather. I remember going outside with my father and watching thunderstorms pass by. During one thunderstorm in particular, a tornado ripped through my hometown of Kendallville, Indiana and just missed my grandparents’ house. It was one of the scariest moments of my life and is one of the reasons I am a meteorologist today.

What are the benefits of learning about weather?

I believe knowledge is power. Weather impacts all of us, from what we wear each day to the crops that grow to provide us food. Understanding weather is important, because it can save our lives. Knowing what to do in a severe weather situation or as a hurricane approaches can mean the difference between life and death. It’s important that all of us have a family disaster plan in place.

What is your favorite weather phenomenon?

I’m fascinated by tornadoes. It’s amazing to me the strength and power they have and the destruction they leave behind. Every state in the United States has been effected by a tornado, so I can’t express how important it is to have a family disaster plan in place.

Weather Wiz Kids has many ideas for weather experiments you can do in your home. I asked Crystal which would be best for preschool-aged children and she suggested “Make Your Hair Stand Up” and “Tornado in a Bottle.” You can check out the “Weather Experiments” page for 39 different experiments!

Thank you Crystal for answering my questions! If you want to learn more about Crystal and weather, please visit Weather Wiz Kids or follow Weather Wiz Kids on Facebook.

 

How Do Birds Find Their Way? Book & Activity

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The girls and I are on a quest.

We’re on a quest to learn as much about the natural world as we can. I hope you’ll come along on the journey with us.

We’ll consult many books, do science experiments, look at things up close, observe, pretend, do art project, and many, many other things while we’re learning. Let’s have fun!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

We’re still in love with birds and interested in learning as much as we can about them. We recently discovered a book that asked an interesting question:How Do Birds Find Their Way? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2). We wanted to know.

As always, we went outside to read our book. I’ve learned that we learn a lot more if we can look and observe while we’re reading.

We learned that scientists are still learning about how birds find their way. We also talked about our own theories, and then read the book to see if we were right. We were thrilled to find that some of our theories were indeed correct!

We then decided to become birds ourselves.

We flew around the backyard… zoom, zoom, zoom. We dipped, we soared, we wore ourselves out and had to stop and rest.

After our rest, it was time to test out one of the theories in the book. Birds use the sun when flying north in the summer and south in the winter.

First, we had to learn about how the sun moved during the day; we also learned that this never changes.

A bird can indeed learn that the sun rises in the east and set in the west and use this knowledge to determine direction.

We tested out this theory. We found a round ball for a sun and then we figured out the best way to find direction.

If we were a bird and wanted to fly north in the morning, we would make sure the sun was on our right side. If we were flying north in the afternoon, the sun would be on our left. It sounds complicated, but it’s not. Once you try it out yourself, it’s easy to see how a bird can use sun in this way.

If you have a question about nature, get outside and test it out! It’s a fun way to learn.

10 Ways to Learn About Weather

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It seems that kids have an endless fascination for weather.

And why not? It’s always around them, easy to experiment with, and always fun to learn about.

Here are 10 ways to learn about weather and have fun at the same time!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

1. Experiment with the wind. What is wind? How does it feel? Pretend to blow in the wind. Go outside on a windy day. Fly a kite if the day is nice. Or, become the wind yourself like Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas shows in this fun wind experiment, Can the Wind Move It.

2. Make a rain gauge and measure the rain. Greening Sam and Avery shows you how to make this simple rain gauge.

(via Greening Sam and Avery)

3. Make a tornado. Try the classic tornado in a bottle experiment. You’ll need to round up two 2-liter bottles for the trick, but it’s definitely fun! Weather Wiz Kids has a wonderful explanation of how to do this experiment.

4. Make a rainbow and learn all the colors in a rainbow. Search for one after a rain and then make your own. Draw one, paint one, or make a collage. Did you know you can even make one show up on the back of a cd if you hold it up in the sunlight? Check out this post from Buggy and Buddy to find out how.

5. Make it rain in your own kitchen. Yes you can, and it won’t make a mess either. Sense of Wonder shows you how.

6. Learn about temperature and experiment with hot and cold using ice. Place ice in different areas, in the sunlight for a warm area and in the refrigerator for a cold area, and see how long it takes to melt. Science Sparks shows you a fun example of this experiment with melting ice.

7. Read a book about weather. There are tons of books written for any reading level. Check the selection at your library and find a few. The nonfiction selection is usually quite large. A great choice is Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons. Or, you can find a fiction choice in which weather is the main subject and use the story to further conversation about the weather. The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow is a great fiction choice to get you talking about the weather.

8. Make a fun chart and chart the weather everyday. Warm Hot Chocolate shows you how to make this adorable weather dial.

(via Warm Hot Chocolate)

9. Make your own DIY weather station and learn to collect data. Kitchen Counter Chronicles shows you how to make your own simple backyard weather station.

10. Learn about clouds and create some of your own. What are the different types of clouds and what do they look like. Then get crafty and make your own clouds like we did! The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola is a great reference for learning about clouds.

*Bonus Activity: Experience the weather! Play in the rain, throw snowballs, or soak up the sun. Why is weather so much fun to learn about? Because, it’s so easy to experience!

***While researching this post, I came across a wonderful website, Weather Wiz Kids, designed to teach kids about weather. It was created by a meteorologist and provides lots of fun activities, experiments, and information. If you and your kids are interested in learning about weather, this is the perfect site to check out! ***

Have you done any fun activities about the weather?

You May Also Like:

Sun and Rain Sensory Bottles

10 Ways to Play with Snow

Raindrop Mobiles

Making Umbrellas

Ice Play for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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How do you beat the heat (and learn a little at the same time)? Playing with ice, of course!

Yesterday, we set up a couple of ice play experiments to have some fun.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Ice Play Experiments

The first experiment we did was ongoing as we played with our other experiment. We put some ice cubes in a small glass bowl, set it aside and waited to see how long it took to melt.

We had to keep checking back to see the ice shrinking. It was completely fascinating (at least for the under 5 set)!

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

We took pictures to track out progress, the ice in the beginning, half-way through, and our bowl of melted ice. It was fun to try and guess how long it would take the ice to melt.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

Next, I set up a cookie sheet with a bowl of ice and two glasses of water.The goal was to count how many ice cubes it took to make the water flow over the top of the cup. I was inspired by a game in the book, Math Play!.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

We took our time with this ice play experiment.

We added ice, took away ice, played with ice and did whatever struck our fancy at the moment.We practiced our observation skills. What color is the ice? Is it hot or cold? Fuzzy or slippery?

And yes, we finally did get to the point where our water flowed over the top.

So, we took our ice out of the cup and started over again.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

When we were done with our experiments, we had a little ice play time. We had a lot of fun with this simple activity and learned a little about ice in the process.

How are you beating the heat this summer?

You may also like one of these simple play ideas:

Colored Ice Fun

Go Outside: Shape Hopscotch

Go Outside: Counting Walk