25+ Science Activities & Experiments for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners

These hands-on science activities and experiments are the perfect partner for your child’s natural curiosity.

Science for preschoolers and kindergarteners is all about tapping into their desire to explore and learn about the world around them. At this stage, science typically focuses on observing, questioning, and experimenting as children go about their daily activities. Whether they’re watching ants march across the sidewalk or mixing colors while painting, young children are constantly engaging in basic scientific processes.

While beginning scientific concepts surround preschoolers and kindergarteners, adding in meaningful science activities can help young children develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and build a foundation for more advanced science concepts, such as cause-and-effect.

Tips to Encourage a Scientific Mindset

Fostering a scientific mindset in young children begins with encouraging their natural curiosity and providing opportunities to explore, experiment, and learn. By guiding children through the process of asking questions, making predictions, and analyzing results, parents can help their little ones develop critical thinking skills and a love for discovery.

By providing opportunities for hands-on learning and scientific inquiry, parents can help young children build a strong foundation for scientific exploration.

Simple Chemistry Experiments

Introducing preschoolers and kindergarteners to chemistry through fun and safe experiments allows them to begin exploring basic chemical reactions. These activities also aim to make complex concepts more approachable for little learners.

1. Make a Glitter Volcano

Add some sparkle to a classic science experiment by creating a Glitter Volcano. Wrap a small plastic bottle with textured paper to mimic a volcano and prepare a mixture of vinegar, dish soap, glitter, and food coloring. When poured into the bottle with baking soda, it creates a stunning, sparkling eruption. Get step-by-step instruction for creating a Glitter Volcano here.

2. Make a DIY Lava Lamp

Craft a mesmerizing lava lamp using a clear jar, water, cooking oil, food coloring, and an effervescent antacid tablet. Watch as the tablet reacts with the water, creating bubbles that rise and fall through the oil, mimicking the signature “lava” effect. Watch a video on creating your own lava lamp here.

3. Make a Melting Monster Science Activity

Combine water, cornstarch, and food coloring to create a gooey substance called oobleck. Add googly eyes and craft features to form a spooky “monster.”

Watch as the monster “melts” when left on a smooth surface, demonstrating how oobleck acts as both a solid and a liquid depending on pressure. Find more detailed instruction creating a Melting Monster here.

4. Blow Up Balloons Using Baking Soda and Vinegar

Use a funnel to pour baking soda into a balloon and vinegar into a plastic bottle. Stretch the balloon over the bottle’s neck and lift it to release the baking soda. Watch as the balloon inflates!

5. Color-Mixing with Ice Cubes

Freeze water mixed with food coloring in ice cube trays. Place the colorful cubes in a clear bowl and pour warm water over them. Observe how the colors melt and mix together.

Nature-Based Activities

Outdoor science activities are a wonderful way for young children to connect with nature and learn about the environment. These hands-on experiences help children observe, explore, and understand the natural world while sparking curiosity and fostering a love for science.

6. Make Silly Seed Animals

Combine creativity and science with this fun activity. Fill a piece of hosiery with grass seeds and soil, tie it into shapes, and decorate it with googly eyes and pom poms to create a “silly seed animal.” Place it in a sunny spot, water it regularly, and watch its “hair” grow over the next week! Learn to make Silly Seed Animals here.

7. Collect Leaves and Learn About Photosynthesis

Take a nature walk to collect different types of leaves. Examine their shapes, sizes, and colors.

8. Build a Mini Compost Bin

Create a small compost bin using a clear container. Add layers of food scraps, leaves, and dirt, and observe how organic matter breaks down over time.

9. Observe a Butterfly Life Cycle

Use a butterfly kit or visit a local garden to observe the life cycle of a butterfly. Look under leaves for caterpillars or chrysalises and explain that they’ll eventually transform into butterflies.

10. Create a Weather Journal

Help your child observe the weather each day and record their findings in a simple journal. They can draw pictures of sunny, rainy, or cloudy days and note any changes they see.

Sensory-Based Science Activities

Help your child observe the weather each day and record their findings in a simple journal. They can draw pictures of sunny, rainy, or cloudy days and note any changes they see.

11. Freeze Flowers in Ice and Explore Melting

Place small flowers in an ice cube tray, fill it with water, and freeze. Let your child explore the frozen cubes, feeling the cold surface and watching how the flowers are trapped. Try adding warm water or salt to speed up melting.

12. Sink or Float Experiment with Household Items

Fill a large container with water and gather various household items (e.g., spoon, plastic toy, sponge). Ask your child to predict whether each item will sink or float, then test it out.

13. Explore Smells with a Scent Matching Game

Collect small jars or containers and fill them with items that have distinct smells (cinnamon, coffee, lemon peel). Cover the jars with breathable fabric or paper. Let your child smell each container and match it to the corresponding item or guess what it is.

14. Create Sensory Bins for Magnet Exploration

Fill a bin with materials like paper clips, flat screws, metal washers, and small non-magnetic items like plastic buttons, pom poms, and dried beans. Provide a kid-friendly magnet wand and let your child explore what it can pick up.

15.  Explore Sound Waves with a Rubber Band Guitar

Stretch rubber bands of different thicknesses around an open tissue box or shoebox to create a simple “guitar.” Let your child pluck the rubber bands and observe the different sounds they make as they vibrate.

Physical Science Activities

Stretch rubber bands of different thicknesses around an open tissue box or shoebox to create a simple “guitar.” Let your child pluck the rubber bands and observe the different sounds they make as they vibrate.

16.  Build a Simple Ramp to Test Rolling Objects

Create a ramp using a sturdy piece of cardboard or a wooden plank. Gather objects like balls, toy cars, and blocks to roll down the ramp.

17.  Explore Gravity with a Homemade Parachute

Use a plastic bag or fabric square to create a parachute. Attach strings to the corners and tie them to a small lightweight object like a toy figure.

18.  Make a Rocket Car

Build a self-propelled rocket car using cardboard, plastic bottle caps, skewers, and a balloon for power. Once assembled, inflate the balloon and release the air to watch the car zoom across the floor. Find step-by-step instructions for making a rocket car here.

19.  Experiment with Domino Chain Reactions

Set up a line of dominos and let your child knock them over to see the chain reaction. Encourage them to create different patterns or longer lines.

20. Design and Fly Paper Airplanes

Fold paper airplanes with your child and test how far they fly. Experiment with different designs and techniques to see which one goes the furthest or stays in the air the longest.

 Space and Weather Activities

Introduce young children to the wonders of space and weather with these engaging activities. By exploring the skies above and the forces of nature, children can develop a sense of curiosity and begin to understand the world around them.

21. Create a Model of the Solar System

Use foam or rubber balls of various sizes to represent the planets. If you’d like, you can paint them to match the appearance of planets, otherwise a variety of balls in different colors and sizes will do. Arrange them in order around a central “sun” (a larger yellow or orange ball).

22. Explore Shadows and the Sun’s Movement

Spend a day outside observing shadows. Trace your child’s shadow in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and compare how it changes.

23. Make a Simple Rain Gauge to Measure Rainfall

Use a clear container (like a plastic cup) and mark measurements along the side. Place it in an open area during a rainstorm.

24. Use Flashlights and Balls to Learn About Moon Phases

Use a flashlight to represent the sun and a ball to represent the moon. Move the ball around a larger object (Earth) to demonstrate the moon’s phases.

  Everyday Science with Household Items

Science doesn’t require fancy equipment—many experiments can be done with everyday items you already have at home! These simple, hands-on activities are easy to set up and offer preschoolers and kindergarteners the chance to explore key scientific concepts through observation and play.

25. Test Different Liquids for Freezing Times

Fill small containers with different liquids like water, juice, milk, or soda, and place them in the freezer. Check at intervals to see which freezes first.

26. Build a Tower with Marshmallows

Use marshmallows and toothpicks or pretzel sticks to build simple structures like towers or bridges. Challenge your child to make their creation taller or stronger.

27. Observe How Water Moves Through Paper Towels (Capillary Action)

Place the ends of a folded paper towel into two glasses, one filled with colored water and the other empty. Watch as the water travels through the towel into the empty glass.

28. Make Your Own Bubbles and Study How They Form

Mix water, dish soap, and a little sugar or glycerin to create a bubble solution. Use a straw, a loop of wire, or your hands to blow bubbles.

29. Create a Moving Liquid Rainbow

Pour whole milk into a shallow plate and add drops of food coloring. Dip a cotton swab in dish soap and gently touch it to the milk’s surface to create swirling, vibrant patterns. Learn how to make Color in Motion here.

ABCmouse is here to support your child’s learning journey with interactive tools, games, and lessons designed to make science and other core subjects come alive for young children. Try it today!

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