What science topics should I teach my 5-7 year old?
I had a reader ask what topics that a Kindergartner/1st Grader (ie. 5-7 year old) might learn for science. I’ve gotten this same question several times in the past month or so, so I thought I might share with you some of the topics we explored when the kids were in early elementary.
As you’ll see below, there are SO many things you could do with your kids. Just ask them what they are interested in learning and go with that! Borrow lots of books from the library and dive in! 🙂
My kids *loved* science because there are so many wonderful, hands-on activities to do!!
As homeschoolers, there is nothing you *have* to cover with your kids at this age. I had a general science checklist that I want to cover from K-8 and keep that I kept in mind over the years. When I noticed a hole, then we’d do a unit on that. You can grab the free Science Checklist for elementary and middle school here.
I’ll share many of the units that we did, but please don’t be overwhelmed! I have THREE kids, so this represents years of fun science exploration! I’m just pulling out the units that your early elementary student might enjoy!
As I said, above explore the units/topics that you think your kids would enjoy the most! So, while my family did TONS about zoology/animals, maybe yours will explore geology/rocks & minerals in depth or will want to learn about tornadoes & other natural disasters! 🙂
When the kids were little, we did as many hands-on, engaging activities as we could. Sometimes, these were one-off experiments that captivated their imaginations and made them wonder, “Why did that happen?!!” Things like this colored milk explosion or oil and water fireworks:
These were some of our very favorite, fun science experiments when the kids were younger:Free Science Experiment Packet
At this post you’ll find three more science experiments and another free printable.
Other times we would explore topics in more depth.
When the kids were little, we generally spent somewhere around 2 or 3 weeks on a unit before moving to a different unit. I always played it by ear and switched it up when the kids weren’t quite as engaged.
Then I might come back to a unit to review that material again later in the year or a year or two later and would add to what we had already learned.
Zoology
We did a lot with zoology in early elementary. We studied animals most every year in one way or another! We covered basic animal classification, for example. We started with living-non-living and then went on to talk about invertebrates-vertebrates, the five animal groups. Other years we talked about nocturnal-diurnal animals, animal shelters, wild vs. domesticated animals, herbivores vs. carnivores, and more!
- We have a free living-nonliving packet here.
- From there we generally went on to review basic animal classification and other animal topics. As I mentioned above, our Animal Packet explores vertebrates-invertebrates, animal characteristics, nocturnal animals, herbivores vs. carnivores, animal homes and shelters and more).
- We also studied the Life Cycles of various animals and critters over the years. Of course, lots of early elementary students study the life cycle of the frog and the butterfly. We also talked about the life cycle of mosquitoes, ladybugs, chickens, dragonfly, bee, mouse… and others! 🙂
- We also studied World Animals from time to time (and tied that in with basic world geography activities). This might go well with the Where I Live Activity Packet which helps kids see where they live from their galaxy, solar system, planet, continent, country, state, town, right down to their home! It also has activities for learning about the seven continents.
At this age, we spent a lot of time studying zoology. My kids loved animals so we studied everything from animal characteristics and classification to nocturnal animals, animals of Africa and Australia. We started to learn about biomes and did a big unit on the Rainforest. We talked about why we have winter and talked about the poles and polar animals (in our Winter Packet) and we learned about chameleons, cicadas, wolves and more! This post has more information about all of our Animal Packets: Big Animal Bundle
For example, after we studied the 7 Continents for world geography, we went on to talk about Animals around the World (which is sold separately or included in our Big Animal BUNDLE)
- Of course, all of my kids loved Dinosaurs at one point or another, so we studied that when the kids were interested!
Another year we talked about the Rainforest (rainforest animals, insects and things like that!)
Space – The Solar System
We also talked about the Solar System at this age (and in later years too!)
- Be sure to check out this post about various hands-on Solar System activities and grab the free Solar System packet!! This works well with the Where I Live Activity Packet.
Earth Science – Weather, Water Cycle
We did some basic Earth Science units when the kids were little. For example, we talked about Rocks and Minerals. There’s a free Rocks & Minerals Packet here (I don’t know if all the links still work because I made it so many years ago, but I know it had some material for my youngest who was about 5 at the time.)
In first or second grade, I think we talked about the Water Cycle for the first time. We also did some fun experiments about air and the Weather. (I have 3 kids and we did science together for years and years, so the kids were different ages when we covered these!) We have some units/activities here at these posts:
- Water Cycle Unit
- Weather hands-on activities
- The kids were also fascinated by Natural Disasters, so we talked about those about every other year or so! There’s a Natural Disasters Packet
- We also did a lot of exploration with magnets from time-to-time! There are lots of neat hands-on activities kids can do as they explore how magnets work. We did a magnetism unit last year, but this unit is probably better for slightly older kids (though younger kids will enjoy all the hands-on activities!)
Human Body
We did units on the Human Body at this age too. We did a unit on the Five Senses. There are a lot of hands-on activities you can do in this unit!! You can find out more about our packet here: Five Senses Unit
Another unit we did early on was the Skeletal System. We started first with fun, hands-on activities and the kids learned many of the names of the bones. Note: we came back to this again & again through the years! (Then in later years, we went on to talk about the Digestive System, Circulatory System and things like that.) My kids really loved doing the hands-on activities you see down below. 🙂
See our Human body BUNDLE here. We would usually review the Human Body Systems (as a whole) each year and then we would study one of the body systems in depth each spring. (skeletal, digestive, circulatory, muscular, nervous system etc.)
Simple Machines
Another fun unit for this age was the simple machines unit – This was a super fun, hands-on unit with TONS of hands-on activities my kids enjoyed!
My kids also have had a lot of fun with various STEM projects we’ve done over the years. This post has some good ideas: 7 Fun STEM – Engineering Projects for Kids
States of Matter Packet with fun hands-on activities!
Environmental Studies: Trash and Recycling Unit Quick Preview or visit post or view image I’m just adding this unit in here because it’s close to Earth Day!
Be sure to check your PayPal email address for the download link!
We also did a unit on the Layers of the Atmosphere, which we referred to as we talked about the various types of clouds, the jet stream and things like that, but this is probably more for ages 7-10 or so.
This FREE printable has a list of topics we covered in the early years: Homeschool Science in Early Elementary
What other subjects did my kids learn in Kindergarten and 1st grade?
I have a really detailed list of the kinds of topics we covered at this age. Did you see this free resource guide I have over on the blog — Here’s the link to that Creating a Homeschool Curriculum: Kindergarten – Grade 1 (Free!) This free Resource Guide – Creating a Homeschool Curriculum includes some of the other things we covered in our homeschool (for math, language arts, history and things like that).
Every homeschool is different (and each child within that homeschool has different strengths, weaknesses and interests), but this is a glimpse at the kinds of things we did over the years. Hope it’s helpful! 🙂 ~Liesl
If you are interested in any of our science units, be sure to visit our store or any of the links above for more details!
I think I talked about most of these above but you can also read this post: What science topics should/could I teach my 5-7 year old?
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~Liesl
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Have a wonderful school year!!
Happy Homeschooling! ~Liesl
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