20 Science Activities for Early Elementary

As many of you may know, I have been working hard to get some of the images in our older posts working again.  (It’s a complicated story, but it has to do with our moving our blog from Parents.com where we were for several years, to our new location here.)  Anyway, I’ve been fixing old posts and realized I should share some of these posts for our new readers!  So here are some science posts that may be of interest for those with kids around 4-7 years old or so.

Be sure to visit our video post: Homeschool Science in Early Elementary and the resource list:

Early-Elementary-Science-Curriculum-TopicsInvertebrate-Vertebrate Unit Study: Montessori Activities: We went over the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and we also went over the 5 animal groups.

IMG_0791Living-KingdomsWe have worksheets on vertebrates and invertebrates in this unit: Animal Unit – Vertebrate and Invertebrate Worksheets and Activities

 Invertebrate-Groups-Activities

Working With Mealworms: When ED was in kindergarten and DD was in Grade 2, we did a unit on mealworms.  All of the kids really liked these activities.  You can visit this post for more experiments and a pdf you can download with our Mealworm Activity Sheet:
Mealworm-Activity-FoodPreference mealworms-activity-worksheet

We also studied Earthworms: Hands-On Invertebrate Fun! Part I – Earthworms and the earthworm life cycle

And Planaria (a type of flatworm): Hands-On Invertebrate Fun! Part II – Planarian – which you can order.  They are easy to care for and are fascinating to study because they regenerate.

Planarian

Above Below Ground Activity:

Above-Below-Ground

Free Printable:WhereAnimalsLive-Above-Below-Ground

Free Montessori 3-Part Cards: Amphibians, Frog Life Cycle Notebook (and lapbook) Page

Montessori-3-Part-Cards-Amphibians

FrogLifeCycleLapbookYou will find other Montessori 3-part cards at this post: Various Montessori 3-Part Cards including the living-nonliving cards and the  vertebrate-invertebrate cards (which are free).

Vertebrate-Invertebrate-Sort --5 Vertebrate Groups Sort

Oil and Water Activity This is a HUGE hit whenever we do this!

Oil-and-Water-FireworksColor Explosion in Milk – My kids also really liked this. You can print out instructions at this post.

P1230991-milk-fireworksColorExplosion-in-MilkBuilding Molecules – This is an activity we did the first time we studied chemistry.  There’s a free printable with some of the molecules the kids build.

BuildingMolecules-ActivityVisit our States of Matter Activities at this post

DD-StatesofMatterStates of Matter Packet:States of Matter PacketSolid-Liquid-Gas-With-Marbles

Chemistry-Experiment-Mixtures-Chromatography-DNA-Experiments

 

Simple Machines Unit

SimpleMachines-Pulleys1SimpleMachinesPacketFree Daily Calendar Page: This was a calendar page I made for ED when she was 6. She checked the temperature each morning and filled it in on the calendar page. I made that for her around the same time I made the Math Lapbook (also free) for her.

Calendar Page Where I Live Activity – This is more geography than science, but it was really helpful for understanding the relative size of the planet, continent, country, state, etc..

P1150813geographyLearning about the Solar System: Kit the Kids Loved

SolarSystemKit-675x761Links to posts in our Astronomy Unit (when the kids were 3, 5, 7 or so)

Free Planet Worksheets - Solar System Unit

Rainforest Unit (Amazon Rainforest): We talked about the Amazon rainforest region, biodiversity, deforestation, different types of animals, the layers of the rainforest (and also where various animals live in those layers), rainforest insects and more!   You can check out our 50+ Page Packet here:

Rainforest Unit Worksheets and Activities

Rainforest Plants (from around the world)

Rainforest-Plant-Activity-CardsMontessori 3-Part Cards on Nocturnal-Diurnal Animals  When ED was in kindergarten we talked about what makes day and night and also studied nocturnal and diurnal animals:

Day-Night

Nocturnal-DiurnalAnimalsFree Printable:

Nocturnal-DiurnalAnimals

World Animals Unit: 60+ Page Packet for Ages 3-6 includes Montessori 3-Part Cards and activity pages for each of the 7 continents

World Animal Unit - Worksheets Activities Montessori Cards Animal Unit – Animal characteristics, animal classification (the animal kingdoms, vertebrates and invertebrate groups), insects vs. spiders, animal tracks and more!

Animal Characterisitics, animal classification unit

We also did a large Rocks and Minerals Unit when the kids were preschool and early elementary age.  There is a free rocks and minerals packet here, plus we did tons of hands-on activities with this unit!! Half the packet was for my older kids (ages 6 and 8) and half of it was for my preschooler at the time (with tracing, etc.). This packet is FREE.

Rocks-and-Minerals-Unit-Packet

You might also be interested in these Earth Science posts. We did a *ton* of fun hands-on activities in this unit too!

DSC03236plate-tectonics-675x431

We also studied the human body regularly from preschool age on up:

BrushYourTeethExperiment

My kids really loved learning about Natural Disasters in early elementary. We did a lot of neat hands-on science activities in that unit.

Tsunami-Activity-Natural-Disaster-Unit-for-KidsNatural Disasters Packet: (Currently Free)

Natural Disasters Worksheets

I’ll include this last experiment, just because it is really neat: Where Do Germs Grow in Your House?!

Germs-in-Your-HouseThat’s about it for today! See you again soon here or over at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page! Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Homeschool Den Newsletter. You might also want to check out our Science Resource Page which has links to dozens of science posts.  And don’t forget to check out Our Store as well. :)

Happy Homeschooling! ~Liesl

P.S. You might be interested in these free Curriculum Resource Guides:

Creating Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: These are some resources I made that might be helpful as you create your own homeschool plans.  These are somewhere between 30 and 50 pages and are FREE to download:

Homeschool Curriculum Kindergarten Grade 1

Homeschool Science Curriculum Grade 2-3

P. P.S. Our store is getting a bit of a make-over. Hooray!  I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if there was a way to purchase more than one item at a time.  Since I run this blog on my own and always super busy juggling our homeschooling (and homeschool planning), outside activities, and work on the website/business… it has taken a long time to get to this! (Sheepish grin here!)

You can pop over to check out our store here. I have the science and history units done and hope to have the rest done in the next week or so. Thank you all *so* much for your support! My dear readers totally rock! ~Liesl

Homeschool Den StoreOur packets are pdf downloads. :)

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