Science is driven by curiosity, and a desire to understand why? And we are all familiar with children’s desire to understand, why? With this curiosity comes questioning.

Learning about science teaches children new concepts and words like heavy and light. Science allows children to learn to observe, compare, predict and discuss. Science is playful and fun, and it can be enjoyed by all ages.

For younger children, discovering together creates great opportunities for connection and communication. You can talk about what you see, hear and feel as the seasons change, or talk about what happens in a thunderstorm.

For older children, science is an opportunity to think about how the world works and make predictions. You can talk about what might happen if you drop something, or why different animals look the way they do.

This science week we encourage you to think about science as a way to grow your child’s language and build their natural curiosity to understand how things work. See below an experiment you can easily conduct at home with your child.

Step 1:  Fill a bucket or cup with water.

Step 2: Find things from around the house to put in the water (make sure these are safe to go in water).

Step 3:  Talk with your child about what you think might happen to each (e.g., sink or float). For older children, talk about why you think this (e.g., I think it will sink because it’s heavy).

Step 4: Put the items in and see what happens!