Little Scientists

Spend time with a baby or small child and they will probably wriggle a lot, touch things, put stuff in their mouth, cry, have limited control over their emotions or body responses and then make eye contact with you, smile, fill your heart with love and make the world a better place. As they grow, they want to touch even more things, throw their little bodies around and play. Their knowledge is continually growing and their bodies and brains changing as they learn about themselves and their world.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, science is “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” (or possibly just “blah blah blah”). The point is that if this is science, and a scientist is a person who is studying or has expert knowledge of science, then I reckon this makes all babies and children little scientists!

As they grow their relationships with their family, themselves and their world, it is important that they have freedom to explore their world. Being given a space to play where they can touch things safely, put things in their mouths, respond as they need emotionally and be absorbed in their “work” (play) is fantastic for their development. You as their parent/carer have so much capacity to create this space and here are a few ides to get you started.

Get out into the Mud Kitchen

In the blog post “How to Make a Mud Kitchen (find it here) you’ll find all the instructions you need to set up a muddy, outdoor play space. Digging, squelching, ripping leaves, picking flowers, mixing with hands or a stick or a spoon and putting mud/plants into pots and pans are all ways to be a little scientist in the backyard.

Get cooking in the real Kitchen

Put your child’s enthusiasm for participation to good use and get them to “help” out in the kitchen, making real food.

If your child is very little, then perhaps they can participate by being held in a sling, close to your body as you prepare food and talk to them about what you’re doing (do keep away from the hot stove if they’re in front of your body though). If they’re old enough to sit up in a high chair or safely on a bench, then start with them there (make this call yourself as they can move quickly and fall easily). Older kids can stand on a stool to reach the bench. Once in a safe spot, the children can get busy stirring, tipping, pouring, chopping, cracking eggs and mixing.

There are a few previous blogs to inspire you with other kitchen activities. Find them here and here and here.

Give your child a bath

This one is hopefully pretty easy to achieve as most babies and kids gets bathed on most days! If baths are normally a quick affair in your home, then find time once a week (or more) for a longer, more playful bathing experience. Once they’re in the bath, you just need to provide your children with some equipment to experiment with. These don’t have to be fancy or expensive, any old cups or lids will do. Preferably get a few different sized cups/lids/plates/jugs and let them tip and pour from one to the other. This will give them a great opportunity to discover volume, fluid movement and temperature. Add some bubbles and there is even more to experiment with!

Toys such as boats, dinosaurs or other animals, squirty toys or bath crayons can also be a great “Little Scientist” bit of fun play. Your child can experiment with floating/sinking (also an excellent game to use outdoors in a bucket), they can play zoos or Octonauts or whatever else they find enjoyable and captivating.

As with any activity involving water, never leave your child alone in the bath, even for just a second. The fun that the kids can have in the bath can be endless, so make sure you’re planning to have an adult there for the whole experience!

Go for a Walk in the rain

Weather is one of the most easily accessible of the sciences as we can notice changes every day. Jump in puddles outside, watch the lightening from inside, listen as the rain hits the roof before gushing down the pipes. Go outside when the rain is really light and feel the softness of it. Feel the wind as it blows, maybe it will blow your hat off!

You could lie in the backyard and watch the clouds go by. Look at their colour, their size and their shape. Talk about what the clouds look like…sharks, elephants, a duck or a rabbit (they can also resemble all sorts of things that are not animals!).

Play with your shadow. Check out the position of the sun in the morning and the afternoon and see what’s different. Draw a picture of your shadow on a wall and see how much it changes over the day.

I think it’s important for parents/carers to know that being a scientist is not just for a select few members of society who wear lab coats and do experiments in laboratories. All of our kids are natural scientists as they grow, learn and discover and we can use our roles as their carers to create plenty of opportunities for creative, experimental play. As the kids get older and learn about maths and science in a more formal way, they will have a whole lot of experience to draw upon, which can help them understand themselves and their world. There is so much to know and so much more to discover. You might even find that you learn a thing or two along the way and will maybe even come to call yourself a scientist too??? And hopefully you’ll be able to sit back and observe them the next time they make a giant mess and view it as a wonderful experiment instead.

Happy experimenting!